There is nothing more Hollywood than “Take me to the moon.”
The Apple production stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a romantic comedy related to the space race of the 1960s and the “hoax” of landing on the moon.
Big stars! Big budget (Reportedly $100 million)? A sweet premiere in the summer programming and the perfect counterprogramming for the children’s hits (“Inside Out 2”) and the horror scares (“Long Legs”).
And… bang!
“Fly Me to the Moon” grossed a modest $10 million in its opening weekend. It will need the legs of a supermodel to keep from losing too much money after its theatrical release.
What happened?
The film had virtually no buzz leading up to its release date, which never helps. Summer audiences weren’t wowed by the attractive stars or the 1960s setting.
And we’re still addicted to sequels, prequels and reboots.
Here is the visual proof.
The other must-see films of the year (“Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Joker: Folie à Deux”) should all make it into the current top 10 list. Add two more sequels to the box office list.
The people have spoken. We want sequels, prequels, and reboots. “Reign of the Planet of the Apes” is both a reboot and a sequel… two in one!
Last year may have been an anomaly.
The two standout films were quite original: “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” “Oppenheimer,” a truly original film, also made the top 10 list. The same went for “Sound of Freedom.”
Each of them presented an original proposal to entire audiences.”Barbie” connected to generations of doll-loving fans. Any Christopher Nolan-directed film is an event, and “Oppenheimer” proved that. Hollywood storytellers have finally cracked the video game code, which means we’ll be seeing a lot more of Mario and company in the future.
“Sound of freedom?” A real dreamlike sensation.
However, no original films made the top 10 list in 2022.
Studio marketers have their work cut out for them. Original stories are important. They also need sophisticated advertising campaigns to get audiences to try them out.
As for consumers, they should stop complaining about the overabundance of sequels, prequels and reboots and give these original stories a chance. They might like what they see and that will help ensure that Hollywood makes more of them.