The Box Office Podcast

Since there really isn’t much box office news to discuss, we spent the entire show discussing the Oscar season that just ended. Lisa Laman explained the commercial realities that helped make Anora the lowest-earning Best Picture winner since The Hurt Locker in 2010. Jeremy Fuster argued that it was more important for the Academy Awards to honor the “best” movies of the year even at the cost of remaining a top-tier pop culture event. Scott Mendelson noted Anora’s place alongside a slew of pre-COVID pictures like Parasite, Joker, Knives Out and Hustlers which acknowledged that income inequality was more structural than just “Bernie Madoff =bad!” All of us agreed that A) it’s consumers’ responsibility to sample the honored films, but B) it’s partially due to corporate consolidation (especially among studios that have tentpole-level leverage) alongside an overall decline in available screens that makes the difference between a Birdman that earns $41 million and an Anora that earns $15 million in North America. We also discussed which Best Picture winners qualified as genuinely “anti-establishment” while we agreed that A) Conan O’Brien was a pretty damn solid host and B) the James Bond tribute as essentially a eulogy [https://www.thewrap.com/james-bond-amazon-jeff-bezos-commentary/]. Oh, and Jeremy gets angry (and we always like him when he’s angry) about perhaps the laziest post-telecast “take” of the season. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Brandon Katz of The Observer and Parrot Analytics serves as our special “fourth participant” with whom we discuss how badly Marvel has messed up (or been undermined by corporate overlords) in the post-Avengers: Endgame transition to Disney+ television, why The Monkey is performing well outside of comparisons to breakouts like Longlegs and M3GAN and whether Amazon MGM Studios will unnecessarily interfere with the established James Bond formula or dilute the brand through streaming offshoots. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Scott Mendelson, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman pontificate on why a $101 million Friday-Monday debut isn’t great news for Captain America: Brave New World and could be terrible news for the theatrical industry, which is banking on the MCU tentpole to deadlift the entire first quarter. Concurrently, longtime LA journalist vet and before-it-was-cool geek culture expert Luke Y. Thompson is our special guest in a conversation discussing the give-and-take of politically-minded tentpoles, how disingenuous politically-minded operators exploited the genuine (explanation is not justification) anger over the diversification of stereotypically niche fandoms and whether Marvel’s current mixed track record is a natural evolution or more execution-driven. In terms of the written word… Scott Mendelson tipped his hat to Disney for doing the smart and right thing [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/p/pixar-disney-elio-flees-dreamworks-how-to-train-your-dragon] in moving Pixar’s Elio away from the June 13 opening day it previously shared with DreamWorks’ live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake. Jeremy Fuster dove into the work being done [https://www.thewrap.com/hollywood-workers-palisades-eaton-fire-recovery-resources/] amid and for the artistic community in beginning to rebuild areas devastated by last month’s wildfires. Lisa Laman offered a quick study guide as to those pesky Serpent Society folks [https://comicbook.com/movies/news/captain-america-brave-new-world-serpent-society-mcu-history-explained/] who show up in Captain America 4. Ryan Scott’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” notes the 30th anniversary of [https://www.slashfilm.com/595736/essential-movies-about-high-school-you-need-to-see/] Disney’s Heavyweights. Luke Y. Thompson used the momentary online outrage over Terrifier director Damien Leone’s online declaration that Terrifier movies are apolitical (even if they aren’t necessarily secular [https://lytrules.substack.com/p/horror-and-the-zeitgeist-making-art]) to pontificate about the complicated notions of being apolitical, at least in your personal relationships and your professional life, in an inherently political time. As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you want to bother us and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or offer ideas for bonus episodes, ping us at Asktheboxofficepod@gmail.com. Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/] and Puck News [https://puck.news/author/scott-mendelson/]Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap [https://www.thewrap.com/author/jeremy-fuster/]Lisa Laman - The Dallas Observer [https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/dallas-forths-best-trans-inclusive-bars-and-businesses-21590543], Looper [https://www.looper.com/author/lisalaman/], Cultress [https://culturess.com/author/llaman], Comic Book [https://comicbook.com/author/lisa-laman/] and Autostraddle [https://www.autostraddle.com/author/lisalaman/]Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm [https://www.slashfilm.com/author/ryanscott/] and Fangoria [https://www.fangoria.com/authors/ryan-scott/]Luke Y. Thompson - ill LYTeracy [https://lytrules.substack.com/] and /Film [https://www.slashfilm.com/author/lukethompson/]. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

This weekend, we will discuss a disappointing Super Bowl weekend in North America (RIP Heart Eyes and Love Hurts), why Companion struggled to find post-debut momentum, and the consistently strong performance of Ne Zha 2 in China. Additionally, we spent the second half of the show answering a few listener emails, so keep those coming. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

This weekend’s episode goes to the Dog(s), Man. Jeremy Fuster couldn’t make it, but Lisa Laman and Scott Mendelson welcome Kenny Miles to this week’s episode to discuss both the new releases (Companion and Dog Man) in a general sense and share his experiences and opinions related to his work as a CinemaScore pollster. We all agree that actually polling folks walking out of the movie on opening night is a better word-of-mouth measurement tool than opt-in online user polls that, of course, can be gamed and skewed for one reason or another. Also, we discuss the many positives of Dog Man’s strong domestic debut (yay for another DreamWorks franchise based on a comparatively lesser-known kid-lit series) and whether New Line and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Companion underwhelmed due to poor marketing or just being a more challenging concept. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]