Moviegoers went into this year’s summer movie season with excitement and high expectations. It was the first summer movie season since the pandemic that seemed to have some sense of normality and variety. We finally got to see several films thatpreviously suffered delays, such asGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, andThe Flash. We also got new additions to well-established franchises such asFast X,Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, andIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. And, of course, there was the “Barbenheimer” hype as bothBarbieandOppenheimerled the way in this year’s summer box office.
But, while this summer offered up some new enjoyable films and some familiar faces from famous franchises, it wasn’t all plain sailing. Despite this movie season being the most exciting post-pandemic, there were still plenty of flops among the success stories. So, was this summer’s box office a success?
The Hits and Flops of the Summer
The 2023 summer movie season will always be remembered as the summer of “Barbenheimer.” WithBarbieandOppenheimerreleasing on the same day and both films being polar opposites regarding subject matter, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon began as a bit of lighthearted fun on social media. But as time went on, “Barbenheimer” began to grow legs and grow in hype.
From that came memes, merchandise, and, most importantly, it reminded people how fun the movie theater experience can be. It encouraged moviegoers to see both films on the day of release, and while it is hard to calculate how influential the “Barbenheimer” trend was to both films' success, there is no doubt it played a huge role in it.
Thankfully for the fans,OppenheimerandBarbielived up to the hype and were massive box-office hits. The record-breakingBarbiehas passed the $1 billion mark globally and has become Warner Bros.‘shighest-grossing global release ever.Oppenheimerhas been equally impressive as it has grossed over $800 million worldwide, become the second highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, behindJoker, and grossed over $300 million domestically. Both films surpassed the hype and continue to draw an audience.
Unfortunately, “Barbenheimer” had a negative effect on other films, particularlyMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. The latest installment to the Mission: Impossible franchise promised to be the most ambitious yet. Those who saw it loved it, and it has received brilliant reviews.
However, because of the domination of Barbie and Oppenheimer in theaters and online,Dead Reckoning Part Onefell to the side. And just over a week after its release,Oppenheimertook over the IMAX screens, something Tom Cruise was not happy about. It may have been naivety or bullishness that caused the studio to release the film at the same time as the two biggest films of the summer. Or maybe they just underestimated their competition. Either way, in hindsight, a later release would have massively helped the film.
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The budget for the latestMission: Impossiblewas just under $300 million, and the film has earned over $550 million worldwide and almost $170 million domestically. However, it looks likely that it will lose the studio money. Similarly, another sequel with a budget close to $300 million is set to lose its studio money, too.Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyhas made just over $380 million worldwide and almost $175 million domestically. The film was a huge bomb, and unlikeDead Reckoning Part One,it received mixed reviews.
One of the biggest flops of the summer is, of course, Andy Muschietti’sThe Flash. The film always seemed destined to fail. There were several delays, Ezra Miller was involved in numerous controversial incidents, and the DCEU hasn’t had the best track record, to say the least. ButThe Flashstill received lots of hype. James Gunn even called the movie “probably one of thegreatest superhero movies ever made.”
It most certainly wasn’t one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Unfortunately, it was one of the most expensive DCEU movies ever made. It cost about $300 million to make and grossed just under the $270 million mark worldwide and $108 million domestically. Its poor box office performance was matched by its equally poor reviews. Bad CGI, a convoluted story, and a lack of interest from moviegoers resulted in one of the biggest flops of the summer.
Is the $4 Billion Box Office Really a Success?
There were a lot of ups and downs during this summer’s movie season. There were some exceptional highs and some abysmal lows. But overall, the summer movie season of 2023 can be viewed as a success. For the first time since 2019, the summer box office haspassed the $4 billion mark. It is a figure that resembles some sense of normality within the movie industry. After the lack of theatrical releases during the last few difficult years, the summer box office passing $4 billion is a huge positive for the industry.
However, it might not be an indication that everything will be fine in the future, and there are certainly a lot oflessons to be learned. One of the biggest things that has to change is the massive budgets. It isn’t sustainable, and a film simply shouldn’t cost what some of this summer’s films have cost. Films such asThe Flash,Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, andDead Reckoning Part Oneall cost about $300 million to make. With such ridiculously huge budgets, the films are already fighting an uphill battle before release. Even if the movie performed quite well at the box office, they would still struggle to break even.
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These astronomical budgetshave predominantly been for sequels or films part of a cinematic universe. In previous years, these films would have been safe bets to be summer blockbusters, but with highly inflated budgets and moviegoers seemingly losing some interest, things have changed.
The likes ofDead Reckoning Part One,Fast X, andTransformers: Rise of the Beastshave all performed worse than the majority of previous films in their franchises. Fans don’t want to see sequel after sequel. And they don’t want to see cash grabs that prey on nostalgia likeDial of Destinyor a sloppy superhero movie plagued with issues likeThe Flash.
Fans want something fresh, an event they can get excited about rather than another addition to a bloated franchise. This is why “Barbenheimer” became as big as it did. While Barbie certainly isn’t a new entity in pop culture, it was a fresh and innovative approach to the character, and fans appreciate that.
Oppenheimer, a long historical biopic, achieving the success it has, shows that fans are dying for something different from what we have gotten in recent years. So, while this summer can be viewed as a success, it is mainly due to only two movies. A lot still has to change within the industry, and there are some big lessons to be learned.
