Has Following the Box Office Lost Its Appeal and Luster?

[Flamengo81]

1 hour ago, ZeeSoh said:

We in India also call it Football, never Soccer. But I had to say Soccer to avoid confusing our American users otherwise they would take me to be a fan of handegg. 

Fair enough 🤣

[Flamengo81]

39 minutes ago, Menor Reborn said:

The confusion is among the non US folk not realizing that soccer is the appropriate name for association football.

 

Gridiron football is the real football. This is because gridiron is a cooler word than association.

Why do you guys call it football and not "Gridiron" then? I would argue that a sport that came before, is way more popular pretty much everywhere and is actually played with feet is more suited to be called "real football".

[Menor the Destroyer]

21 minutes ago, Noctis said:

 

No. The rest of the world isn't wrong. The US is. Just like how they use fahrenheit instead of celsius because...America.

[Brainbug]

Its called Football. Its not called soccer. There is no discussion.

[Menor the Destroyer]

1 minute ago, Brainbug the Dinosaur said:

Its called Football. Its not called soccer. There is no discussion.

Well, we just had a discussion. 

[Warmaster506]

I still really enjoy it. I  just hate the Disney dominance and hope one day DC can deliver the beating that Disney/Marvel deserves. 

[Brainbug]

1 minute ago, Menor Reborn said:

Well, we just had a discussion. 

 

Well ... yeah.

 

Cant actually argue with that.

[DAJK]

I started following in November 2012 with Skyfall’s run. I was 13, so for most of my non-child life. I’m too attached now to ever really give up, but I would say that 3 things have made following the box office slightly less fun:

 

1. The BOM change

 

2. The pandemic... but I will say that when there was no box office, it did make me miss it. Distance makes the heart grow stronger I guess.

 

3. How predictable the box office has gotten. Big marvel sequel = hit. Everything else = flip. It’s just less interesting when we don’t see many original films surprise at the box office, but to each their own.

 

 

That being said, I also manage a movie theater now, and will do so for another few months. That aspect makes the box office fun to track, because I can compare local or regional data to the domestic box office, it makes my work life so much easier with forecasting etc. So I would say that I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, but at the same time I’m hoping that I’m tracking does get more exciting in the months ahead.

[Brainbug]

For me following the box office was, is and will be fun for the foreseeable future two main reasons:

 

1) I really like following the box office for movies im passionate about because i like seeing them be successfull. Its like a football team i support.

 

2) The box office is directly connected to the future and trajectory of the movie industry/business. Which movies are successfull and which are not determine the kind of films we will get in the years ahead and as massive fan of movies in general im very interested in that. No matter which franchise/which kind of movies are dominating right now, that aspect of the box office never changes.

[Eevin]

yeah i started tracking and lurking in 2015 when i was 13 and to me that’s still without a doubt the best year. the age of ultron meltdowns, jurassic world’s insane ow, force awakens just posting absolutely crazy numbers… of course that was before last jedi/BvS discourse kinda poisoned everything and marvel really became dominant.

 

i don’t think the magic is gone though. we’re witnessing history in the making with the BO’s return to normalcy and even if the numbers and breakout hits aren’t what they were 5-6 years ago, holding on to the idea that they could be is what’s making every new weekend fun. even got me back here after like four years of being inactive.

 

i will also say when i joined in 2016 we had nothing close to the tracking team operation we have now. genuinely one of the coolest parts of being back is seeing BOT basically predict the future, weekend after weekend. that’s added some novelty and excitement for me the past couple weeks.

[That One Girl]

yeah easily. imo there’s yet to be a truly exciting box office run in the pandemic era. hoping that Nope or something changes things but it’s looking bleak

[Noctis]

Or maybe having moderators that ban you from a weekend thread to the only film you have been anticipating for years. 

 

Honestly, some really enjoy making someone's time here negative.

[CJohn]

Yes. The pandemic killed it. It is just a waiting game to see how hard the next big release will disappoint.

[YM!]

1 hour ago, DAJK said:

I started following in November 2012 with Skyfall’s run. I was 13, so for most of my non-child life. I’m too attached now to ever really give up, but I would say that 3 things have made following the box office slightly less fun:

 

1. The BOM change

 

2. The pandemic... but I will say that when there was no box office, it did make me miss it. Distance makes the heart grow stronger I guess.

 

3. How predictable the box office has gotten. Big marvel sequel = hit. Everything else = flip. It’s just less interesting when we don’t see many original films surprise at the box office, but to each their own.

 

 

That being said, I also manage a movie theater now, and will do so for another few months. That aspect makes the box office fun to track, because I can compare local or regional data to the domestic box office, it makes my work life so much easier with forecasting etc. So I would say that I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, but at the same time I’m hoping that I’m tracking does get more exciting in the months ahead.

Second that. I started following box office at 11 though, with my first IMAX movie….

 

[Ozymandias]

Yes it has.  The biggest reasons are Disney domination and COVID.   Disney's business model is diametrically opposed to creative freedom outside of certain boundaries and COVID has permanently turned a significant portion of the population away from movie theaters, mostly people over 30-35 which is pushing adult dramas to streaming services because they just aren't economically viable for theatrical release.  The pre-COVID world altogether feels like an ancient time already, boy how things change.  

 

I don't think theaters are dead because Spiderman just did insane numbers, but its not the same anymore because everything that makes money now is so predictable. 

 

I joined the BOM forums in January of 2010,  Avatar actually played a big part in me getting curious about BO.  Believe it or not I don't actually hate Avatar(its merely an okay cookie cutter CGI vehicle with some cheese, no more no less), I just started critiquing it hard to cut all those annoying threadshitting Cameron stans down to size.

My favorite, or at least most memorable year was definitely 2012, the summer of 2012 was a wild time.  You had The Avengers unexpectedly breakout big time and TDKR under perform a bit both critically and domestically which created forums enemies where uber Marvel stan BKB with his bold text and overuse of the popcorn/wtf emojis reigned supreme.  That year also had that shitty Spiderman reboot with iJack making his legendary walls of texts everyday in the TASM thread for months on end about how awesome the movie was.  2012 was also the year Prometheus came out and I was one of the few who didn't hate it, I remember defending that flawed one against angry nerdom.  2012 was also the year of the first Hunger Games movie which was a big unexpected hit and shortly after gave us The_Futurist and his mega hard on for all things Jennifer Lawrence along with his trademark edgy and sarcastic posting style.  Also, 2012 also had the massive unexpected hit of Skyfall which was awesome...I could keep going.

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Ozymandias

[CJohn]

Holy fuck at that iJack mention. All the memories coming back. Insane times.

[AniNate]

I do not miss Neo, I'll say that

 

I think 2013 was the highlight of the past decade, you had the unexpected megahit in Frozen and the original adult sci-fi Gravity, along with a very healthy share of adult comedies and dramas cracking nine figures.

 

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by AniNate

[Legion Again]

I know I compared it to moneyball earlier, but some interesting analogies to modern vs 00s Psephology also come to mind. Mainly, an informationally empowered consumer leading to more polarized results, and more powerful models reducing surprise.     
 

I do sort of understand the longing for earlier eras, but I’m usually happier to work with the powerful tools than be surprised.

[Poseidon]

The thing is: We now pretty much know what's coming numbers wise. The big surprises are missing. Excited and tired midnight screening reports are missing. 

 

Knowlege and information is everywhere nowadays and while it is great on one side, it also took a bunch of wonder from the world. 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

It hasn’t lost its muster if you like MCU

 

Otherwise, yeah. And it’s because insane, unexpected runs like Knives Out, The Hangover, etc are more unlikely than ever