Hollywood’s lackluster performance in the box office has been well documented this year. Just this past week, the box office was down 30 percent from where it was last year.
There are a handful of reasons for this: a struggling economy – nobody wants to spend $12 for a movie – and the dominance of Neflix and On Demand viewing.
Still, why are people not going to the movies?
Some fans are just sick and tired of the remakes and sequels inundating the theater. Some sequels can be warranted. After all, we want to see Tom Cruise kick more ass in “Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol.”
But then, we are then stuck with films like Liam Neeson’s “Taken 2.”
The original “Taken” was an awesome film, but the plot of the movie revolved around Neeson’s daughter being taken by a group of human traffickers. It worked in the first film, but what is going to happen in the sequel, will she be taken again? I’m surprised the director of “Taken 2” optioned not to add “The Streets” to the end of the title – seems to be a formula the “Step Up” franchise enjoys to use.
If it isn’t just people refusing to sit through more sequels and remakes, maybe the geek and fanboy culture can be blamed as well.
The movie “Dredd 3D” was released this weekend with very positive reviews on the film critique website Rotten Tomatoes. However, “Dredd 3D” performed poorly this past weekend even after riding the hype after its trailer was released at Comic Con.
The geeks didn’t show up because they probably were able to find a version to download online. Back to the idea, why would I spend $12 to see a movie when I can watch it for free at home? Mom even provides the popcorn.
Chasen Doerr is a senior journalism major and the opinions editor for the Daily 49er.
