Hollywood is consistently creating reboots, sequels and spin-offs of the same stories that in the past have gained the production companies a plethora of money.
Over time, this decision has been riskier due to the fact that these stories have become redundant and the audience has been getting tired of the overdone plots. The movies are also over-budgeted because of the expected box office profits, and the higher the budget, the higher the turnout. Since these movies tend to do poorly compared to the originals, making too many could cause a loss in revenue if the projected profit of the film is overestimated.
In 2015, we will see many of these films come to light, including the sequel to Man of Steel, another Mission Impossible and Avengers 2 to name a few (I suggest looking up the list because there is so many that it is ridiculous). These movies are competing against each other, and when one does better than another, the worse one goes down.
For example, if Batman vs. Superman were to come out two weeks before The Avengers: Age of Ultron, people who have not yet seen either film would have to choose between two films that are very popular. They might go to the Superman film at the opening of the Avengers movie because they are more likely to enjoy Superman because they have heard more peer reviews about the film from friends who have seen it, making it less risky than going to a movie that might turn out bad.
On the other hand, the opposite could happen, and people could want to see the new movie and ignore the new Man of Steel film because they know everyone has already seen it. Either way, both of the movies are losing revenue because they are coming out at about the same time. This will become significantly worse in 2015 when a lot of these big-budget films come out close to one another.
Although this is a bad thing for production studios, this might be a good thing for people like me who are interested in media.
Producers have been trying to cut back on the amount of money they have to spend to make profitable films. One of the top ways to do this is by making Hollywood films a little less “Hollywood.”
Studio sets have recently been moving out of the state more and more to lower the cost of making their movies. Last August, the Michigan Film Office announced that Warner Bros. will give $35 million in incentive to have Zack Snyder film part of the Man of Steel sequel in Detroit. This is because it would employ many people at the time of production and would also increase the number of consumers, especially ones with lots of money to spend in Detroit. More business would also be created for local shopping venues. This is projected to increase state spending by $131 million and hire 400 workers, according to CNN.
Studios have also been recently entering Ohio because of its low tax rates. Movies such as The Avengers and Red were filmed in Ohio because lower taxes means lower costs, so in the future we can expect more movies to come to Ohio for filming, which is good for OU students like me who want to get experience learning about our areas of interest.
Abdalah El-Barrad is a freshman studying economics and a columnist for The Post. Has a movie ever been filmed in your hometown? Email him at ae738513@ohiou.edu.
