The media’s new mantra is that adults aren’t going to the movies and that’s why films targeted to older demos are under-performing.
Pandemic pressures sound plausible, but actually, other problems are to blame. Searchlight’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY, for instance, opened 12/17 — head to head with Spidey! It’s rated R, which isn’t ideal for Christmas moviegoing. Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER) was passionate to remake it — from a long-forgotten 1947 film noir.
NIGHTMARE has a dream cast (Bradley Cooper & Cate Blanchett – pictured), but lacks critical acclaim & great word of mouth. On Rotten Tomatoes, it’s a blah 80% with critics & a dismal 66% with audiences. Top tracking demo: +25M.
WB/Village Roadshow’s THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS is also an R for holiday moviegoing, also is targeted to +25M, and also opened opposite Spidey (in weekend 2). On RT, it’s a grim 65% with critics & a poor 63% with audiences. Moreover, it debuted day & date on HBO Max, where Samba TV said it did great with 2.8M households viewing it “free” in its first 5 days. At maybe $13 a ticket, those roughly 5M people could have spent about $65M to see it in theatres.