Friday estimates are in, and the horror movies (Obsession / Backrooms) are not splitting their audience - M&G is likely #3 for the weekend in the vicinity of $25M.
That's probably not hitting $200M, much less Solo, that may not even reach any of the Marvel movies from last year (Thunderbolts being the worst at $190M).
It's not just that M&G is worse than any number of action franchises and kids franchises, but depending on how badly it settles, worse than any number of lower budget horror movies - it'll probably(?) top Weapons' $150M, but I don't know if it will hit the last Conjuring's $175M.
To be clear, my issues are less with M&G itself (it's a hastily converted S4 arc that has no real tie-ins to anything else, starring two primary characters, one that doesn't talk and one whose face is barely seen, with an audience conditioned to watch it on streaming - what do you expect), and more that KK and Disney executives above her drove the franchise into the ground.
The larger trend is that Millenials and Gen Z have taken over - and they just don't care about action movies like Gen X and later Boomers did. Take a look at
Domestic Box Office For 2025 and generalize - it's kids movies Millenials and Gen Z have nostalgia for / are bringing their kids to, viral movies (mostly horror, but occasionally mass market stuff like Barbenheimer), and action movies that we don't have any guarantees were actually successful. It's unclear if Superman or any of the Marvel movies made a profit, Mission: Impossible absolutely did not recover its covid costs, and Avatar 3 still doesn't have any sequels greenlit. The only clear profitable action movie, Jurassic Park 7, is probably also just due to its kid appeal.
When I try to think objectively, the only action franchises of the Millenial generation (Marvel, John Wick, Fast & the Furious) have all driven themselves into the ground with overproduction - ten yeears from now, what will even be popualting the top 20 list for 2035?
The movie industry had long converted into a pile of low budget dice rolls propping up the few mega-releases of each year. But I'm not sure they should even bother with the mega-releases anymore, unless they're for kids / kid nostalgia.
www.forbes.com
