Hollywood blames Rotten Tomatoes for Poor Summer Box Office

Another day, another Hollywood blames Rotten Tomatoes on their poor summer box office showings article shows up.  I can think of some great films I saw this summer but they didn’t make much money being that they were independent movies and not the product of the Hollywood studio system. So it’s sad when I see Hollywood attacking us film critics yet again for their dismal summer when there were some great films released and they…

"Hollywood blames Rotten Tomatoes for Poor Summer Box Office"

Summer Loser: Franchise Fatigue

The summer movie box office was down this year and one of the reasons can be blamed on franchise fatigue. This summer saw the releases of Alien: Covenant, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Transformers: The Last Knight.  Unfortunately for the studios, audiences just really didn’t care to see them.  It didn’t help that several movies in the franchise preceded them. Despite the box office appeal of Tom Cruise and Russell…

"Summer Loser: Franchise Fatigue"

I Won’t See The Emoji Movie

(Hi there, if you’re being directed here from an article about TJM’s email, please click here). Heading into the tail end of last week, there was no score reported on Rotten Tomatoes for The Emoji Movie and there’s a reason for this–it wasn’t offered to us as a press screening.  In other words, if we wanted to consider this film for awards season, we’ll have to see it ourselves. I’m not going to consider it…

"I Won’t See The Emoji Movie"

Studio Tentpoles are hurting this summer

There’s no denying the power that Rotten Tomatoes has on making or breaking a studio tentpole. This is something that we’ve been seeing at the box office since the summer movie season started.  Studio tentpoles aren’t critic-proof no matter how many times these actors or filmmakers say that it wasn’t made for the critics.  Critics are people, too.  The first thing I ask myself when I start to write a screenplay is whether it’s a…

"Studio Tentpoles are hurting this summer"

Box Office: The Mummy tanks for Universal

Universal Pictures was hoping a reboot of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise would launch their Dark Universe franchise.  Unfortunately for the studio, critics and audiences alike panned the film. Starring Tom Cruise, the Alex Kurtzman-directed film finished this weekend in second place with an estimated $32.2 million at the box office.  In addition to Cruise, the film stars Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance and Russell Crowe.  Taking into account the four…

"Box Office: The Mummy tanks for Universal"

Summer Box Office: Is Tentpole Fatigue in Play?

Memorial Day used to mark the kick-off of the summer movie box office season but that changed the minute that Sony dated Spider-Man for release at the start of May 2002. Many films released this past month have opened below studio expectations.  Are audiences tired of these tentpoles or are movies thought to be critic-proof no longer critic-proof?  Before I started writing reviews regularly, I would turn to the likes of Roger Ebert for my…

"Summer Box Office: Is Tentpole Fatigue in Play?"

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Closes a Chapter

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales appears to be a fitting conclusion for the saga.  Whether Disney will opt to greenlight a sixth film in the franchise remains to be determined but a post-credits scene could very well open the door for another film. Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from a screenplay written by Jeff Nathanson (story by Nathanson and Pirates veteran Terry Rossio), Johnny Depp leads a cast that…

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Closes a Chapter"