NEW YORK, NY.- So much for those theories about moviegoers being hungry for original stories.
After a dismal start to the summer ticket-selling season — Memorial Day weekend attendance was the lowest in 43 years — Hollywood has bounced back by delivering nostalgia-heavy sequels. The latest is “Twisters,” a loose follow-up to “Twister,” the 1996 action-adventure about storm chasers in Oklahoma. “Twisters” was on pace to collect roughly $80 million in the United States and Canada over the weekend.
That total, easily enough for No. 1, turned heads in Hollywood. Box office analysts had predicted “Twisters” would take in about $50 million.
“Twisters” probably took off at the box office for a variety of reasons, theater owners said. Reviews were largely positive. There haven’t been many natural disaster movies in the marketplace lately. It was smartly cast, pairing Glen Powell, a fast-rising broad audience star, with Daisy Edgar-Jones, a favorite among young women. The PG-13 film was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who charmed art house crowds with “Minari” in 2020.
Starting in spring 2023, evidence began to emerge that Americans were tiring of sequels and remakes. The third “Ant-Man” movie disappointed at the box office, as did the fifth “Indiana Jones” installment, the seventh “Mission: Impossible” chapter and sixth “Exorcist” effort, to list just a few examples. At the same time, stories that were new to big screens — “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Sound of Freedom,” “M3gan,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s” — became surprise sensations.
But originality has not been filling seats in the past few months. “The Fall Guy,” an original action comedy, cost at least $200 million to make and market and collected $179 million worldwide in May. “If,” an original animated movie, cost at least $150 million to make and market and has maxed out at about $186 million worldwide.
“Fly Me to the Moon,” an original romantic caper starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum that agents sold to Apple TV+ for $100 million, has only taken in about $16 million in two weekends of wide domestic release.
Meantime, sequels have been rocking it. “Inside Out 2” has collected $1.4 billion worldwide since its June arrival. “Despicable Me 4” has taken in more than $500 million in three weekends of release. The third “Quiet Place” film and fourth “Bad Boys” movie also arrived as instant hits.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.
