Written & Edited By: Lee Fenton
1:48 PM Feb 02 2024
Recent Blockbuster Failures &
the Unexpected Success of Arthouse Cinema
(Opinion Piece)
Mathew Vaughn's big budget production 'Argylle' hit theaters on February 2nd and proved to be a dud, ironic, since the movie features more than its share of explosive set-pieces, in tandem with high stakes action; an all-star cast and some slick looking CG-I --- so, what could have possibly gone wrong?
Alot.
And it did.
Argylle's opening weekend proved to be a fiasco, with it earning a meager $17.4million against a hefty budget of $200m, which was a severe disappointment to the studios and all involved.
The word of mouth advertising that's usually beneficial to the performance of a film — worked against 'Argylle' due to the general audience goer perceiving that a "bait & switch" had occurred with the lead actors of the movie. On the posters for 'Argylle' (and digital promotion) Henry Cavill & Dua Lipa are displayed prominently, in the foreground and center focus. This lead people to believe that they were going to see a Mathew Vaughn action-flick starring those two actors.
However, this was not the case.
(WARNING SPOILERS)
The true stars of the spy-thriller 'Argylle' are... Bryce Dallas Howard & Sam Rockwell.
Which is fine.
In fact, I actually happen to be a huge fan of Rockwell's. I can't downplay it enough, when I see Sam Rockwell is in a movie, I know he's going to deliver a unique approach to acting that will standout in a film, whether the overall product deserves that type of quality -- or not.
And Bryce Dallad Howard is swiftly proving herself to be more than just another nepo-baby! I very much enjoyed her in an episode of Black Mirror (might be my favourite of all-time) and her portrayal of Clarie Dearing in the Jurassic World trilogy is one of the strongest elements of said films. Honestly that franchise might’ve sunk without her. Sorry to all the avid Chris Pratt fans out there, in advance! But, Bryce Howard supplied most of the emotional resonance that elicited empathy from the viewer.
So if the issue was not the desirableness of the leads; then why such a harsh reaction from the public?
Well, believe it or not --- the perceived ‘bait and switch’ was simply the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.
The real problem?
Good will has ran out for the studios. The public is fed up with over-glossed, bloated action-flicks that offer nothing new or creative, for their insane amounts of funding. The public notices the price tags on these nearly a quarter of a billion dollar ventures, and at the end of the day --- if you're not getting what you paid for — it makes you angry. Here’s some stats to back up what I’m saying:
Argylle (2024)
-from boxofficemogo.com
Budget: $200 million est.
DOMESTIC (48.4%)
$29,148,200
INTERNATIONAL (51.6%)
$31,117,000
WORLDWIDE
$60,265,200
Poor Things (2023)
-from boxofficemogo.com
Budget: $35 million
DOMESTIC (37.1%)
$30,422,696
INTERNATIONAL (62.9%)
$51,529,586
When comparing these two films — one a huge budgeted blockbuster with considerable star power — and the other an ‘arthouse’ film (Poor Things), utilizing only three known actors (Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe), we can see the huge gap in returns on investment, it’s then easy to draw the conclusion that there is an apparent changing in the winds. The average moviegoer no longer wants to go see big tent-pole movies, instead they’d rather spend their hard earned cash to take in something with nuance, imagination, and dare I say artistic expression? That’s not to say that there’s no heart in some of these bigger films. I might even enjoy Mathew Vaughn’s take on the spy-thriller genre.
I haven’t seen ‘Argylle’ yet, and I do plan to.
No, I bet what caused this backlash against big budget pictures was the host of throwaway Marvel properties
that Disney has churned out in the past decade …
Super-hero fatigue and all that.
Speaking of which — am I a traitor if I go catch up on Loki (Season 2)?
-Lee Fenton of WD Movies(c)
(Additional edits & updates on 2024 - 03 -02)