As the movie industry becomes more and more about being a for profit enterprise and less about creativity, I think it’s crucial to look at the reasoning. The consumer in this day and age is no longer looking to indulge themselves in the creative worlds that cinema brings. As entertainment has developed and grown it has evolved into a tool for instant gratification in the form of short form personalized content and cinema is having to keep up. 

The modern day consumer is very conscious. It wants the company it supports to align with them ideologically. They don’t want to support someone who could possibly think a little differently than what they see as right. People have begun influencing companies like never before.

If companies don’t follow the beliefs of the people they begin to see their revenue drop. They get shunned by the market. Consumers turn their backs on them and begin to look for people who will conform to their will.

Although company inclusion is not a bad thing, it is leading to the death of creativity in cinema. Studios are no longer creating movies that challenge the normal. They are producing stories that follow the same blueprint. Money making machines used to fill theater slots and drive subscription rates to their platforms.

According to The Number’s domestic movie market summary 1995 to 2025 tickets sales are at an all time low since the bounce back from COVID. During this time period tickets sales peaked in 2002, with around 1.6 billion tickets sold. This is double the ticket numbers of 2025. Even though the difference in tickets sales is so large the box office numbers are not too far off

 The box office total from 2002 resulted in around 9.1 billion dollars in ticket sales. 2025 has accumulated 8.6 billion dollars in the box office. According to Yahoo! Finance the average ticket price in 2002, adjusted for inflation, was $8.04. According to Cinemark, today’s average ticket price is $16.08. Twice the average of 2002.

Movies are seeing less viewership than ever but are still seeing huge numbers in the box office. Studios don’t have to make groundbreaking hits anymore, they just have to get a few people in the theater seats to break even. Even if they don’t turn a profit they are covered by the massive income coming from the streaming services. 

The dynamic in Hollywood is changing. Long gone is the time of generation defining hits, now is the time of mediocrity. The age of just okay. It is becoming increasingly more rare that truly great stories are coming to theaters. I think as consumers continue to dictate the narrative and market, movies will continue to live in mediocrity. 

It’s time for us as consumers to support movies similar to the ones that made us fall in love with the medium again. These cash grab remakes are only entertaining for so long. We need to support original stories, and unique experiences. If the market continues to show that theres an interest in retold stories that’s what will keep being made. But if we can alter that narrative and show the market that unique stories hold their value then maybe the industry will begin to heal. 

This isn’t just a consumer issue. We also need filmmakers and studios to seek out new stories to tell. Somewhere someone is going to have to take a chance on a project. They are going to have to ignore the numbers and trust their instinct. We need these companies to remember their roots. The business should be left to the business men while the cinema industry should be left to the creatives.