Moe_Syzlak
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I feel like there should be a topic about the general movie business. It’s a topic that interests me and, I hope, others. I feel like I’ve seen some threads that address the business side of the industry such as Disney’s acquisitions. But I’m hoping that this can be a good place for general discussion, hopefully including people with a firsthand knowledge.
My impetus for starting this today was a discovery I made while rabbit holing on another subject. I happened to discover that the highest grossing film of 2021 is a movie I’ve never even heard of. It’s a Chinese comedy called (in English) “Hi, Mom.” It’s grossed nearly $1B at the box office in about 8 or 9 months.
Now, this has obviously been an unusual year at the box office and I’m sure another film would’ve taken the crown if not for COVID. But you can’t ignore those numbers. And obviously studios are not. They are desperately trying to make their movies appeal to more and more demographics.
I think the (mostly white male) American audiences like to scream that movies are too “woke.” But I’d argue (rather plainly) that “wokeness” has little to do with it. There’s profit in representation. I’m not so cynical as to believe that there aren’t people that see other benefits as well, not to mention a vast pool of talent.
But the raw numbers of “Hi, Mom” show that global appeal is going to be of paramount importance going forward, especially for large budget blockbusters. I wonder if anyone is more familiar with “Hi, Mom” or has any firsthand knowledge of the business strategies being employed at the major studios.
My impetus for starting this today was a discovery I made while rabbit holing on another subject. I happened to discover that the highest grossing film of 2021 is a movie I’ve never even heard of. It’s a Chinese comedy called (in English) “Hi, Mom.” It’s grossed nearly $1B at the box office in about 8 or 9 months.
Now, this has obviously been an unusual year at the box office and I’m sure another film would’ve taken the crown if not for COVID. But you can’t ignore those numbers. And obviously studios are not. They are desperately trying to make their movies appeal to more and more demographics.
I think the (mostly white male) American audiences like to scream that movies are too “woke.” But I’d argue (rather plainly) that “wokeness” has little to do with it. There’s profit in representation. I’m not so cynical as to believe that there aren’t people that see other benefits as well, not to mention a vast pool of talent.
But the raw numbers of “Hi, Mom” show that global appeal is going to be of paramount importance going forward, especially for large budget blockbusters. I wonder if anyone is more familiar with “Hi, Mom” or has any firsthand knowledge of the business strategies being employed at the major studios.
