Why All The Movies In The Theater Today Are Awful

January 30, 2015 in Daily Bulletin

Johnny Depp’s Mortdecai has flopped at the box office. Walt Hickey wrote that this wasn’t particularly surprising:

  • Low turnout during the cold winter months and attention being drawn to the awards season mean that January and February are months with low movie turnout.
  • This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy since studios release all the films they expect to do badly in these months…further driving down attendance.
  • But the first two months of the year aren’t the worst months for movies. Those released in September usually do the worst.
  • This is because by the time September rolls around, a movie is too late to be a blockbuster, but too early to be Oscar bait.

See some fascinating visualizations showing how movies perform across different months, and read more details here.

Source: FiveThirtyEight