This past summer showed shifting tides in the film industry. For example, big franchise films released in succession every week of June such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which had an absurd budget of nearly 300 million dollars, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and The Flash were significantly underwhelming in the domestic box office, with The Flash becoming one of the biggest superhero film flops of all time. The lackluster box office performances of these films were likely a result of overblown budgets as a result of the pandemic and an overcrowded market with horrific release timing. The only film that performed very well in June was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was released first and was objectively the best film. As film tickets become increasingly more expensive, audiences are less likely to come to the theater ev ery week to watch the new addition in a big franchise, especially if the film is just okay.

The domestic surprising success of Sound of Freedom, a film bringing awareness to child trafficking, should also be noted as the film had a larger domestic box office return than Indiana Jones. Much of this film’s success can be attributed to its positive word of mouth and unique pay-it-forward method, which enabled viewers to donate money to the film after watching, which would then be used to purchase more tickets for the film. It’s unclear if this actually put people in seats but it did raise a lot of money for the film, allowing it to become a box office hit. Another surprise of the summer came in the form of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. While many experts were expecting excellent results from Tom Cruise, whose previous film, Top Gun: Maverick, brought cinemas out of the pandemic slump, the film had a lackluster return. Paramount unwisely squeezed the film in theaters a week before Barbenheimer. The film did garner both audience and critical acclaim, praising it as a thrilling action adventure, showcasing Tom Cruise finding inventive ways to put himself in danger for the sake of entertainment. Unfortunately after this first week of success, most of the film’s Imax screenings were replaced by Oppenheimer.

An argument could also be made regarding the change in the interests of audiences. The biggest hit of the summer occurred on July 21st, Barbenheimer, with the dual release of Barbie and Oppenheimer. Two polar-opposite films released on the same day turned out to be an excellent move for both films. While these films didn’t exactly compete with each other, having different viewership demographics, Barbie being based on the iconic Mattel toy, and Oppenheimer being an R-rated three hour historical epic, many audience members decided to watch both films on the same day. I remember walking out of the Thursday night screening of Oppenheimer and seeing many of my fellow viewers walking towards the auditorium showing Barbie. This dual release day became an event for everyone to see, with Barbenheimer dominating theaters and the internet, leading to Barbie becoming the highest grossing film of the year and Oppenheimer taking its place as the second highest grossing R-rated film. The success of Barbie and Oppenheimer indicates that audiences are incredibly invested in original content that may fall on the riskier side.