Showbiz Sandbox 380: Hollywood Gets Pummeled by Rotten Tomatoes
September 12, 2017
With North American box office declining 15 percent over last year, Hollywood suffered its worst summer box office in 20 years. One main reason, studios believe, is the popularity of the movie review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which brands titles as either “fresh” or “rotten”. The site has become so influential studios now try and game the system by handpicking critics for certain releases.
Disney, on the other hand, isn’t waiting for reviews to be in on its latest Star Wars movies before tweaking them. “Episode IX” is just the latest to lose its director over creative differences with Lucasfilm, which is quickly gaining the reputation as a tough place to be a filmmaker.
Meanwhile, one of North America’s largest brick-and-mortar book retailers reports that sales are off 6% in the latest quarter as consumers shift to buying online. Don’t worry however, the company has a great plan for fixing their sales problem; open more stores.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Amazon wants to produce a hit television show, the end of an era at Vanity Fair magazine and the mystery behind who will distribute the next James Bond movie.
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Showbiz Sandbox 264: Globes Have Golden Opportunity To Expand Awards Season
January 12, 2015
Not even two weeks into 2015 and the annual slog known as awards season has commenced in earnest. This year’s festivities were kicked off by the Golden Globe Awards over the weekend which pull double duty by honoring the best of both movies and television. We wonder if it might make more sense to hold two different ceremonies throughout the year; one for movies and one for television.
The BAFTA nominations were also announced last year, though there was very little British about them, as has traditionally been the case. Guild nominations have also started pouring in as well, though what everyone wants to know is how all of this will affect the upcoming Oscar race.
Meanwhile, some established artists in the movie and music industries have started to offer their latest work directly to fans. By some accounts these experiments have proven incredibly successful and profitable, or so it would seem. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to tell since sales figures for such efforts are often hard to come by.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including John Travolta’s return to television, why actress Charlize Theron requested a pay raise on her next film and an update on the Sony cyber attack.
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