WSS opening weekend flop suggests pandemic destroyed moviegoing habit of older audiences

[quote] pandemic destroyed moviegoing habit of older audiences

Lousy movies destroyed moviegoing habit in this particular older audience member

[quote]After all, “West Side Story” is based on one of the biggest musicals in theater history and hails from Hollywood’s most recognizable director. If a well-executed movie that exudes commercial appeal can’t get audiences to go to theaters… can anything?

First ask if "older audiences" were demanding a woke remake of an old time musical, then ask the other questions.

In any intellectual endeavor start with your small, close-minded prejudice and then look for the evidence to rationalize your bigotry.

no one wants to see a remake of WSS, the original was good enough

Weird. Twitter seems to love it.

I haven't set foot in a movie theater since way before the pandemic. Attendance at them has been declining for years. I hate crowds, I hate rude people talking, chomping and slurping through movies, screaming brats and people getting up and down. It's so much more pleasant watching in my own home with pause and a bathroom.

This was one of the most popular musicals ever. Sixty two years ago. The average ticketbuyer is like 15-20. Fox also had their ass handed to them on Anna and the King, which cost well over $100 mil. no music involved but people didn't give a shit.

This one stings and theres a lot of questioning because 1) its supposedly great. 2) spielberg 3) well known property.

I would bet it is very good. I still cant motivate to go see it. and i can see up to 12 movies per month at AMC for one price.

There are many movies that do not need a remake -they were superb as is . So a remake with today’s tiresome requirements will likely not appeal to The movie going public .

Movie theaters suck nowadays. Who wants to pay inflated ticket prices and concession sales, not to mention dealing with COVID breathing assholes texting during the picture, when you can wait a few months and watch it on your own huge flatscreen TV?

When did House of Gucci open?

I'm debating if I want to see this in a theater. It would be nice to see WSS on the big screen...but covid still has me wary. Even vaccinated people are getting sick, but not as serious as an unvaxxed person.

I think word had gotten out that the new WSS is mainly a vehicle for political correctness, and not for entertainment, and so people don’t want to pay money for it. Also, it’s a movie that has zero need to be remade and Ansel is not big enough to carry a movie like this. These things would make it a flop regardless of pandemic. However, moviemakers are going to use Covid as an excuse for every bad film that flops for as long as they can.

I guess you're right, R10. I mentioned in another thread that my mom really wants to see it, but she's older, has a few (minor) health issues and also, has to visit the ladies room often, so she's waiting till she can stream it at home.

I saw it on the big screen and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Watching movies on a computer reminds me of the pandemic. Yuck!

My elderly parents haven't gone to the movies in years. They have a 72-inch TV, every streaming channel you can think of, and a killer Bose sound system (paid for and set up by yours truly). Though long retired, they complain they don't have time to watch everything that's available as it is.

What R13 said. Plus, who wants to see a movie about DANCING GANGS?

Dr. Tobias Funke, R17.

Ansel = Edsel

You can stop with the it should never have been remade nonsense. That is pure small-minded, limiting and ridiculous imaginary rules made up by philistines that no artist would ever abide by. There is nothing so sacred in this world that we can not re-examine, reimagine and recreate as we see fit. You might as well be medieval Islamic mullah if you have such a narrow perspective. It just makes you look moronic to offer this as a reason in the 21st century in the West.

Calm down, Stephen. It's not our fault nobody is going to see your stupid movie.

Stephen and I don’t care if anyone goes but it is pretty extraordinary that he was able to make a movie worthy of the original. Some great movies just don’t click when they are released and are “found” years later i.e. Blade Runner and sometimes really bad movies become phenomena that are forgotten i.e. My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

I think it will pick up at some point. It started out a little slow...will give it a chance. I think Titanic (1997) didn't have a gangbuster opening, but picked up momentum and became a huge hit after a few weeks? I still have faith in WSS. It got very good reviews. A lot of people who've seen it like it.

Sick of woke being used as a reason why the movie didn’t do well this past weekend. The original has the SAME exact story (with the addition of the brown face) and was just as WOKE whatever the fuck that means.

Watch the original movie again sometime. It’s made pretty clear that the bigoted characters in it are in the wrong. Hell the attempted rape scene with Anita makes it crystal clear who the bad guys are.

R24, people aren’t going to go to the trouble of verifying whether or not it’s indeed “woke”. Having heard that it’s a sterile PC version of the story is sufficient to keep people away.

[quote]The original has the SAME exact story (with the addition of the brown face) and was just as WOKE whatever the fuck that means.

I don't remember Anybody's correcting the use of her pronouns in the original.

I just found out that Nightmare Alley which officially opens Friday is actually doing advance screenings tomorrow, Wednesday which is EXTREMELY unusual. I have never heard of a wide release targeted at adults opening like that. Nightmare Alley is also a Disney release thru Searchlight.

It seems to me like Disney is expecting another difficult sell of an adult picture despite its seemingly golden cast and director.

Spider-Man is tracking for a massive $100+ million opening (could go as high as 150).

With a two and a half hour run time, it’s possible Nightmare Alley could open at the same numbers as another Disney Fox acquisition, The Last Duel, which did a disastrous $4.7 million and $10.8 million total domestic.

The remaining Fox acquisitions that are dated are Death of the Nile and the Bobs Burgers Movie - expect both to go to Hulu after this weekend.

Titanic had a giant opening weekend, R23, almost $29 million (in 1997 dollars) which would be $50 million now.

Titanic IIRC did not open #1, it was second to the Bond film. It subsequently did 20+ million weekends for something like the next four months.

If WSS was going to be remade it should have happened in the late 80s to 90s. WSS was still a known commodity at that time and there were enough people willing to see "arty" musicals (Evita). J-Lo could have played Anita in the 90s.

I will see it eventually, and I would like to see it on the big screen but COVID cases have doubled in my state in the last 9 days.

Wss remake?=ugg not ANOTHER remake

I wish to god someone would actually explain what is so fucking "woke" about this remake. I saw it and can't think of a thing.

But I would also say that part of the reason older people don't go to the movies as much is:

1. it's loud as fuck

2. they play 20-30 minutes of commercials and trailers before the feature

3. popcorn and soda are insanely expensive now

4. all movie theaters are these giant multiplexes now and are sort of baffling mazes to get around

r12 You can now use the sites used to buy tickets in advance to see which theater the film is in and how many seats have been sold. If you can't handle a single person 15-20 feet away from you in a giant theater, by all means, don't go. I am very selective about which theaters i go to and what times, and check to make sure its near empty.

[quote]1. it's loud as fuck

So what? Older people hear less well.

[quote]2. they play 20-30 minutes of commercials and trailers before the feature

Older people are smart enough not to arrive early at the movies.

[quote]3. popcorn and soda are insanely expensive now

It's millennials who are broke, not older people.

[quote]4. all movie theaters are these giant multiplexes now and are sort of baffling mazes to get around

Older people are used to being in the real world and navigating places outside of cyberspace.

Lots of people decided not to go see it when they heard it’s not being sub-titled. Everyone’s waiting for the home release where we can turn on closed captioning.

Not sure why anyone expected a remake of a 60-year-old musical released during a pandemic to be a guaranteed smash in the first place. If anyone's getting off their asses to go to a theater these days it's probably to see something with family, and there are a lot of people (straight men, especially) who would likely veto this out of hand in favor of Bond or Dune or another comic book movie. And honestly, the original film was a bit old fashioned even in 1961 (as Pauline Kael's review attested).

I doubt "woke" enters much into people's calculations. Most people are probably just sick of hearing the word at this point.

I like to think Natalie Wood's spirit caused the new version to flop, after the vile comments about her from Rita Moreno and the new girl playing Maria who said Natalie could never have understood 'my lived experience' ugh.

If a well-executed movie that exudes wide commercial appeal for everyone can’t get audiences to go to theaters then nothing can.

Only a small percentage of people under the age of 40 will even watch musicals. They’re cheesy and mawkish .

Seems like "West Side Story," "Being the Ricardos," & "...And Just Like That" were three big projects that got hyped beyond measure. And audience response to them seems mixed, at best.

Musicals appeal to a tiny and decreasing audience, hip hop Musicals notwithstanding

r12 that is not true, a vaccinated co worker got very sick when he caught COVID.

Another vaccinated co worker that tested positive did not get sick at all and another vaccinated co worker got sick but not severely.

I work in film and I know many people (on different shows) who have gotten sick. I know three guys who tested positive last fall before the vaccine, they got sick and they all had mild symptoms.

These people are between the ages of 45 and 63.

More full frontal nudity in clear view and give those movies PG-13 rating. Problem solved.

Who wants to sit in a movie theatre with potential Covidiots, rude people who walk in late, pull out their phones and, instead of engaging with the film on the screen, engage with the screen on their phone, or rudely talk throughout a film. Not to mention 30 minutes of commercials, overpriced popcorn. And who knows if the film will be any good considering the quality of films these days?

[quote] And who knows if the film will be any good considering the quality of films these days?

If only there was a website which collected hundreds of reviews and gave the movie a score.

Well, until they make a site like that, I won’t be going to the theater. My money is too precious to waste on rubbish!

It is not a comic movie. Most young people don't give a fuck unless it is some thing culturally relevant like house of Gucci or countless super hero movies. Since most young people know the brand. Maybe Hollywood will stop remaking very old shit.

The problem with House of Gucci is in the name, Gucci. It a garbage label for ghetto trash these days. No one with money and class buy this trash except for Rappers, Kardasians, Caitlyn and Milo.

[quote] very old shit.

That needs to go down the toilet, R49.

R39 the girl said that? Ugh indeed. I heard about Rita’s comment, she’s so full of herself.

Natalie was known to be intense, someone who took great offense to slights, maybe even from the beyond..

R51 you must be referring to yourself boomer.

R50 but the movie is more culturally relevant than dinosaur West side story and if you disagree you are a boomer.

For many people, the pandemic is still going on and they aren’t close to going back to old habits. That and we have two years of social activities to catch up on, going to the movies just isn’t a priority.

I blame the declines on the film industry’s worship of “IP,” which has replaced creative thinkers with financiers who have less imagination than a box of cardboard. For all the complaints about “wokeness,” it’s the lack of diverse (defined broadly) and unusual thinking at the top that’s gotten us to this place of dull remakes, superhero everything, and boring biopics.

I haven’t been in a movies theater for over 7 years. And this isn’t going to be the movie to put my fat ass back in a theater seat. It’s a creaky old musical that doesn’t appeal to younger audiences. And older audiences who remember the original just shrug and stay home. What were they thinking?

This older audience member has no interest in paying $15 to see a lot of commercials followed by a remake of a musical that was never my favorite, in a huge auditorium of people spewing germs, coughing, talking, and playing on their phones. I have a big screenTV and endless movies and TV shows at my fingertips in the comfort of my home...why go to a theatre? I say this as somebody who LOVED going to the movies while growing up, but it was a different world.

[quote] What were they thinking?

Everything now is done on a spreadsheet. Some boring finance exec said “X% of the country knows what West Story is, that’s valuable IP, we can assume Y% of those people will buy tickets” and thought it was a safe return on investment.

[quote] This older audience member has no interest in paying $15 to see a lot of commercials

Why all the old people complaining about commercials? Would you rather they show a blank screen?

Well I saw it today and I loved it - it’s grittier than the 1961 one hence more realistic (yes there’s blood and swearing). The dance numbers are phenomenal. The chemistry between Tony snd María is 1000 times better than that between Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer (Wood couldn’t stand Beymer because she wanted her boyfriend then - some guy named Warren Beatty - to play Tony, and the chill showed in some scenes). Rita Moreno’s role looks a bit forced, but the lady is a fabulous actress and she hit it out of the ballpark. My only disappointment was “Cool” where we learned Ansel Egort (and his dance double) can also dance, but at the expense of the Jet girls, who are kicked out. The guy has a lovely voice BTW (no dubbed performances in this version). And the Sharks can actually sing in this one (they were quite off-key in 1961’s “America”)

WSS will drop by 50-60% this weekend proving good word of mouth is not enough to save this at the box office, and that the moviegoers who go to these pics are staying home.

Spider-Man is doing mammoth $200 million this weekend meaning franchise IP is the only true savior of theatergoing. A sad reality for film fans.

Movie theaters are Done sweeties. We will never ever go back to packed theaters. Its so unhygienic and unfortunate.

I’m really glad I saw Belfast in the theater. It really makes the film to have the surround sound music. I’m guessing this is true for WSS as well.

[quote]Why all the old people complaining about commercials?

BECAUSE THEY'RE [BOLD]SO FUCKING LOUD![/BOLD]

I don’t know of anyone talking about House of Gucci. Everyone is doing talking about Spider-Man

I watched the 60 minutes interview with Rita and Steven and she came off a batshit crazy, annoying old bag. I was on the fence but after that it was a solid no.

[quote] It's so unhygienic and unfortunate.

And yet sucking dick and eating ass remains as popular as ever.

Wesht Shide Shtory

[quote]Spider-Man is doing mammoth $200 million this weekend

I expect to see Omicron cases skyrocket in the next 2 weeks as all those young people who went to see it in crowded theaters spread it within their communities. Most of them weren't wearing masks and haven't had booster shots. Omicron is extremely contagious and it will spread like wildfire in theaters.

Steven should've made a XXX rated version with his talented adopted daughter as a horny Maria in order to drum up more interest in the film and target the youth market via a Only Fans viral campaign.

Spider man X whateverthefuck just had the biggest opening since Endgame. It's not the pandemic.

R70 = THE SKY IS FALLING!!!

Spider-Man Has the second biggest opening in history. Stop blaming poor box office on the pandemic. People are coming out in droves to see the movies they want to see.

I also heard from a few people that they were going to see Spiderman no matter what. They were determined to see it.

I said this in another thread.

The old audiences they’re talking about are either dead or too feeble and old to go to a movie theater. They’re in nursing homes!

My Aunt would have taken me to see this 15 years ago. Now she’s almost 90’s and she’s about 80 pounds and blind. I very much grew up with Great Aunts and Uncles who loved musicals and Gershwin and Crosby and Garland and “Meet Me In St. Louis”. And they’re ALL dead.

A 70 year-old today would have been 10 when the first “West Side Story” came out. They would have been 24 when “Jaws” came out.

It’s like a 70 year old today would be of the “Jaws” generation. None of the 70 year olds today I know would be able to sit through a musical or listen to Bing Crosby and Judy Garland or things that are labeled as things old people like without realizing those old people are mostly dead.

And of course there’s fans of these things from every generation but my point is that based off this article, this person doesn’t really know what an old person is today. And to me, the average old person still alive couldn’t fuck a fuck about musicals.

My parents were young adults when the first WSS came out. My mom told me the other day that she didn't think there was all that much to the original film--it's a Romeo and Juliet rehash, and it seemed old-fashioned even in 1961. She and Dad have zero interest in watching the new one on any platform, as it appears to be a rehash of a rehash.

SS is OVAH.

I had planned to see Nightmare Alley but then I remembered that I would have to wear a mask for 3 hours and I need to wear glasses to see the screen and they always fog up when I wear a mask so I didn't go.

67% decline this past weekend!! Ouch.

All people are talking about is Spiderman.

Sorry, Steven.

We gonna see Spider-Man late tonight.

[quote] We gonna see Spider-Man late tonight

We're going to see it when it shows on TV in 14 months.

At least we'll see some of it as we flip between channels.

Though we may be slightly confused because I know it will be indistinguishable from the previous versions of this kids movie.

Yeah Spider Man did $253 million.

People are going to the movies.

[quote] I am very selective about which theaters i go to and what times, and check to make sure its near empty.

Get a whiff of YOU!

No one wanted this shit. Spielberg is a hack.

House of Gucci is a hit. Spider-Man is a hit. Spare me the excuses. No one wanted WSS.

And furthermore, this woke WSS is something that REALLY irks audiences. Hollywood needs to stfu and get a clue.

As a Gen-Xer the original was way before my time, I tired to watch it when I was young, hated it. The new one sounds like an even worse mashup. So we're out.

[quote] As a Gen-Xer the original was way before my time, I tired to watch it when I was young, hated it.

BLAINE EDWARDS: "Our next film was the original 'West Side Story'!"

ANTOINE MERRIWEATHER: "A movie musical where a girl sings 'I Feel Pretty' with all her female besties!"

BOTH: (in unison) "HATED IT..."

My grandparents took me to see the original West Side Story when it came out. This remake was targeted towards them. But they aren’t going to go see this. They said they have no desire to.

The movie is a remake, it's a period piece, it's a musical and the lead they cast can't act to save his life. Those are a lot of obstacles to overcome.

When I watch this movie, I didn't feel pretty witty or gay anymore. Just kind of Meh.

Let’s be honest: in 2 weeks’ time, the Spider-Man opening is going to be considered a major super spreader event. No lie.

But people still wont care

The same Hollywood that made this are the same Hollywood that want to bring back Billy Crystal to host the Oscars because they think he can still bring in ratings.

[quote] My grandparents took me to see the original West Side Story when it came out. This remake was targeted towards them. But they aren’t going to go see this. They said they have no desire to.

It came out sixty years ago this year.

If they were grandparents back then, just how old does that make them in 2021??

Spielberg is done. It's a totally different generation. The people that we revered are non entities to them.

Honestly, Streisand's Gypsy would have done 2-3 times more box-office than WSS.

[quote]First ask if "older audiences" were demanding a woke remake of an old time musical, then ask the other questions.

I look forward to these older audiences, you and the word "woke" as a cudgel, to all just die.

What's really funny about gays who bitch about "woke" is that if any movie came out now similar to like a Birdcage with over-the-top gays or shows didn't endlessly feature gays in reboots, you'd be the first to whine about it. The lack of self-awareness with some of you who don't think constant representation of gays in endless commercials IS the very definition of "woke," is pathetic.

How do you not know that gays being highlighted more now than ever is what "woke" is?

New to the English language, r99?

Seeing “woke” used sincerely in a comment is a quick alert that I need not waste my time reading it.

I’m sick of re-makes! Can’t anyone come up with a new idea that’s not based on comic books or TV series or anime?

Two franchise sequels targeted at adults are flopping: The Matrix Resurrections (awful B- Cinemascore) and the long delayed King’s Man.

Meanwhile Spider-Man will easily end up among the top 10 all time grossers.

[Quote] First ask if "older audiences" were demanding a woke remake of an old time musical, then ask the other questions.

To conservative trolls, “woke” applies to any movie with brown people

[Quote] And furthermore, this woke WSS is something that REALLY irks audiences. Hollywood needs to stfu and get a clue.

Only white actors should be allowed to be in movies

Older people aren't offended by "woke" whatever, if they are, then odds are they wouldn't be seeing a musical in the first place. Some of the older people who are WSS's target audience are just waiting to stream this movie because of Covid. My mom is in her 70s and can't wait to see it but she doesn't feel comfortable in a theatre even though she's been boosted. A couple of her friends feel the same way and so does my aunt.

Older people are skipping movies because nothing is worth getting covid

Nobody asked for a Matrix sequel. Only the first film in the original trilogy was any good. Nobody asked for another lame Kingsman movie, either. Maybe Hollywood should quit serving audiences stale leftovers and come up with something new.

People are clamoring for original stories, not warmed up retreads. Give them an original and heartfelt story like Spider-Man: No One Home and audiences will cum running. It’s not COVID.

The corporate studios exist purely to extract profit, any critical acclaim or artistic merit is purely incidental to the bottom line. Marvel films make billions, both domestically and in the critical Asian markets, ditto Star Wars, Trek, et al -- and once Hollywood finds a profitable formula they shake the shit out of it like a terrier with an old sock. No studio corporate executive wants to risk his reputation by backing Pose: The Fiercing.

Well, studios need to get smarter about extracting profit. Audiences have made it clear they won't show up in theaters for reboots or superhero films if they aren't any good. Companies have become obsessed with monetizing IP and audiences are tired of it.

It was obviously suicide.