Surprise hits and falling stars

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 5th, 2024. This is WORLD Radio. Thanks for listening! Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: the state of movies in America. Here’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino.

MUSIC: [Can You Hear the Music - Oppenheimer]

COLLIN GARBARINO: It’s no secret that the movie industry has been experiencing a rough patch since 2020. The box office still hasn’t recovered from those pandemic lockdowns, and movie studios still haven’t figured out how to make streaming profitable. On top of those problems, 2023 saw Hollywood shutdown for about six months while the writers and actors went on strike.

That cost the industry billions and cut off the movie pipeline that theater owners depend on. But despite the gloom hanging over the industry, 2023 also saw glimmers of recovery.

Box office revenue in North America was up 20 percent from the previous year but that’s still down 20 percent from 2019. With fewer movies being released, though, the per film average in 2023 was actually higher than it's been in more than a decade.

So, people are clearly heading back to theaters. But the question is what kinds of films are they buying tickets for?

MUSIC: [Avengers theme]

Surprisingly, not superhero movies… For the last fifteen years, comic book films have dominated the box office, and 2023 attempted to continue that trend. But this year, Hollywood’s most profitable genre became box-office kryptonite.

Marvel Studios is one of Hollywood’s most consistent hit makers, but two out of its three movies last year misfired. DC Studios fared even worse. It released four big budget superhero movies. None of them landed with audiences.

Hollywood’s other staple is the big-budget sequel, but most of those failed this year too.

AUDIO: Hi Barbie!

Instead of seeing the usual suspects, audiences flocked to see Barbie this summer, and I think part of its appeal was that it was quirky and different. Listeners might remember that I wasn’t thrilled with Barbie’s humanistic message, but I must say, it was original.

After social media latched on to the somewhat absurd idea of watching Barbie and Oppenheimer back to back, the Barbenheimer double feature attracted thousands of people who hadn’t been to the theater since COVID.

With Barbie winning 2023’s box office, it was the first time in more than 20 years that a movie that was neither a sequel nor a superhero took the top spot.

MUSIC: [Peaches — The Super Mario Bros. soundtrack]

The No. 2 movie was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and it wasn’t a sequel or superhero movie either.

But the real surprise of 2023 was how important niche movies became for the health of the movie industry. A plethora of small movies with loyal fans kept theater owners afloat.

MUSIC: [Lavender Haze — Taylor Swift]

In the fall, Taylor Swift’s concert film broke records. Last month, Beyonce’s movie gave box office numbers a little boost too. And then Japanese movies also posted some surprising numbers. Both Godzilla Minus One and the animated The Boy and the Heron gave the holiday box office a little juice despite the dearth of blockbusters.

But the niche that overperformed the most was the faith-based genre.

KAY SMITH: I think these kids need help.

CHUCK SMITH: What they need is a bath.

I really liked Jesus Revolution, starring Kelsey Grammer.

And I was pleased to see it make more than $50 million in theaters. That’s a pretty respectable number for a faith-based film with a small budget. But, no one in Hollywood predicted what would happen later in the summer when Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom started outperforming those lackluster sequels like Indiana Jones 5 and Mission: Impossible 7.

Sound of Freedom ended up making $185 million against a budget of only $14 million.

BALLARD: All I see are those kids' faces.

Angel Studios, whose founders are Mormon, had three other films in 2023 too. And though none of them were monster hits like Sound of Freedom, they all exceeded their modest budgets while upping the standards for faith-based films. With this strong showing, you could make the case that Angel won the year.

The big loser of the year?

MUSIC: [When You Wish Upon a Star]

No Disney movie even cracked the top three despite the company owning Disney Animation, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel. And the 100th anniversary celebration seemed to make no difference.

So, what are we getting in 2024? It could be a slim year for movie theaters because studios have fewer films to release. It will take most of the year for Hollywood to recover from the impact of last year’s strikes. And many studios are retooling to adapt to audiences’ changing tastes.

This year, we won’t see nearly as many superhero movies. Both Marvel and DC are taking 2024 to revitalize and reboot their franchises.

And even though audiences rewarded originality in 2023, this year will still be dominated by sequels. There’s going to be a Kung Fu Panda 4, an Inside Out 2, and a Despicable Me 4, another Godzilla vs. King Kong movie and a John Wick spin-off. And Hollywood’s hoping to squeeze a little more nostalgia from old franchises like Ghostbusters, Alien, Beetlejuice, Gladiator, and Karate Kid.

None of these movies feel poised to capture our attention this year. People are craving experience and connection right now. Going to the theater takes effort, and it’s easier if you feel like you’re part of a movement or cultural moment. Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Sound of Freedom might not have been the best movies of 2023, but they all gave audiences that sense of being part of something bigger.

So, I have no idea what the must-see movie of 2024 will be, but I predict whatever it is will offer something original while fostering a sense of belonging.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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