It’s no secret that the summer blockbusters of 2024 haven’t exactly been financial successes. Typically, big-budget films released during the summer are some of the most profitable movies of the year. The movies released in 2024, however, have been some of the lowest earning in quite some time. With critics loving the likes of The Fall Guy and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a franchise sequel releasing with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and a family film filled with big names releasing with IF, it’s quite shocking that the numbers have been so low this summer.

This is especially surprising after the “Barbenheimer” weekend managed to reach record heights last year. With such an odd occurrence happening with movies that theoretically should have made huge profits, it’s worth looking into what could have caused this mass underperformance.

For starters, the box office has heavily relied on something in the last handful of years; that being the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are usually several MCU movies each year, but there’s only one releasing in 2024. Deadpool & Wolverine is hitting theaters in late July, which could counter this curse. Only one Marvel movie could mean people going to the theaters less. Obviously, people do go see other movies and other movies do make money all the time, but there are certain audiences that have been a bit brainwashed to think they’re the only flicks worth shelling out the money to see in the theater.

Between folks making such a big event out of Barbenheimer last year and with there being such a gap between the usual superhero flick, audiences might be using this time to take a break from the theater. They might be using this as an opportunity to save some money and catch a breath after the anxiety-inducing FOMO that comes with keeping up with modern movies.

Another element that could have played a role is advertising. Perhaps people haven’t been seeing the advertising for these particular movies. It was everywhere for each of them, but there’s a chance enough people somehow missed it all. 

It’s also worth looking at each of these blockbusters individually. Moviegoers became familiar with Furiosa when she was played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. Some fans could have been put off by Anya Taylor-Joy playing a younger version of the character. Regardless of how great the movie is, perhaps a prequel based on a character that’s not Max also caused some folks to shy away.

2016’s Ghostbusters could have potentially left a sour taste in fans’ mouths, causing them to have second thoughts about seeing the two latest Ghostbusters films even though they’re great. If not that, then perhaps the franchise had been away too long between Ghostbusters 2 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, so they’re not as interested to see Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. 

The Fall Guy and IF aren’t parts of hugely-known franchises, which are the types of movies that usually do well these days. Some audiences only seem interested in movies if they already know every superhero, giant monster, or galactic warrior who’s appearing in it ahead of time. If it’s not adding to an existing franchise or building up to some other story or character, these folks don’t seem to care about it, which is an unfortunately sad thing to think about.

It’s also worth noting that many movies head to streaming services much quicker these days. A lot of people are now in the mindset of waiting a month or so just to watch it at home and save the money.

Another possibility is the state of major theater chains. The big companies like AMC are charging more and more for people to get worse food and to watch movies in dirty theaters. If someone doesn’t have an indie-owned theater (or at least one owned by a smaller chain) near them, they may not want to bother going at all.

With all this in mind, remember that blockbuster bombs are nothing new. Movies like The Iron Giant, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Blade Runner 2049, Bros, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves are all excellent movies that financially failed while they were in theaters. There could be no real rhyme or reason for a movie to underperform, and how much or how little a film makes doesn’t indicate the quality of it.

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