Summer Film Struggles: Producers Discuss How Digital Media Has Shaped Audience Turnout

Universal Pictures’ rough box office opening with “The Mummy” and Warner Bros.’ ups and downs this past month with “Wonder Woman” and “King Arthur” were points of discussion at the 2017 Produced By Conference, with producers giving their take on what’s going on this summer season.

Doug Belgrad, CEO of 2.0 Entertainment, says he believes the decision to announce “Dark Universe,” Universal’s cinematic universe with horror icons, before the release of “The Mummy,” has played out in a way that Universal may not have expected.

“I don’t think it was their intention to advertise it,” Belgrad said, “Their intention was to make a good movie that would light a fuse that would allow them to do things with ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ and other movies they could weave into this forged universe. I also suspect they’re going to be upset with how the media presented this as a failure before it had a chance to reach the audience.”

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The summer box office has been filled with big peaks and valleys so far this year, with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “Wonder Woman” continuing to bring in comic book movie-loving audiences. But other titles, like sequels to the “Alien” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises, have faced diminished returns. Warner Bros. has experienced both ends of this turbulent season, starting the summer with a major bomb in “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” followed by a smash hit with “Wonder Woman.”

Belgrad believes that part of this is because digital media has allowed audiences to form their opinions about a movie well before it comes out, and urged the producers in attendance to take into account how the movie is presented to media as well as with audiences.

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“20-25 years ago … there was a cynicism among studios that if you could cut a trailer or a TV spot, you could feed them anything. That has gone away. Now, quality matters more than anything,” he said. “But now, with social media and critics, there is an intermediary between your movie and the audience.”

“You have to make sure you understand how you’re telling the story of what your movie is to journalists and social media because it helps people think about what it is your movie has become.”

Belgrad thinks that despite these box office struggles, studios won’t exit their “arms race” for profitable IP that can become the must-see movie of the weekend. He noted that even labels within the extremely successful Disney system like Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures are competing to keep up with Marvel and Lucasfilm.

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As for production studios outside the Big Six, Belgrad believes that there is promise for producers who can package low-risk, mid-budget titles for big studios to release between their in-house event films. He pointed to financially successful, award-winning, mid-budget projects like “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land” and “Arrival” as examples of movies that can succeed outside the tentpole blockbuster model.

“I’m doing a lot of research of the average, negative cost of films in that mid-range, and the economics are pretty compelling.”

Oscars 2017: What's Next for This Year's Winners? (Photos)

For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.
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Best Actress winner Emma Stone will return to the big screen later this year in "Battle of the Sexes," a comedy biopic based on Billie Jean King's famous 1973 tennis match against Bobby Riggs. Linus Sandgren, who won Best Cinematography for "La La Land," is also on board.
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Viola Davis, of course, will head back to Shondaland to film Season 4 of "How to Get Away With Murder." She will also play the legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman in a biopic about the Underground Railroad.
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Mahershala Ali had a mammoth 2016 with two very different but equally praised performances: his Oscar-winning supporting role in "Moonlight" and his performance as the devious Harlem kingpin Cottonmouth on Netflix's "Luke Cage." He will have a chance to dive back into the world of graphic novels next year in James Cameron's adaptation of the manga "Alita: Battle Angel."
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After winning Best Actor for playing Lee Chandler in "Manchester by the Sea," Casey Affleck is moving on to write, direct and star in "Light of My Life" about a father and daughter lost in the woods. He will also play famed explorer Meriwether Lewis in next year's HBO miniseries about the Lewis and Clark expedition.
TheWrap
Though he was on the business end of that envelope flub, Damien Chazelle was still a big winner having received the Best Director Oscar for "La La Land." Next, he'll work again with Ryan Gosling on the biopic "First Man," which tells the story of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong.
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Barry Jenkins was floored when "Moonlight" won Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. Now he's going to continue to tell stories about African-American characters by directing episode 6 of Netflix's "Dear White People," due out later this year.
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Kenneth Lonergan moved audiences to both laughter and tears with his Oscar-winning screenplay for "Manchester by the Sea." Later this year, he will jump from original writing to adapted, as he turns E.M. Forester's novel "Howards End" into a Starz miniseries. The novel tackles the clash between social classes in early 20th century England, as three families with different levels of wealth cross paths.
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Ezra Edelman made Oscar history with his nearly eight-hour ESPN documentary "O.J.: Made in America." He's next slated to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill on "The Ballad of Richard Jewell," a biopic about an American security guard who saved thousands from being killed by a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be falsely accused of terrorism by the press and public.
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Byron Howard and Rich Moore earned Disney yet another Oscar with "Zootopia," and now they are moving on to new projects for the Mouse House. Moore will work on the sequel to his video game comedy "Wreck-It Ralph," while Howard is working on a yet-to-be-named project with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who will likely be making another run at that EGOT.
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Asghar Farhadi made the biggest political statement of the night, boycotting the event in protest of Donald Trump's travel ban. Now, after winning his second Oscar with "The Salesman," he is planning a new, yet-to-be-titled film starring husband-and-wife, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
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For Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone and Viola Davis, it’s right back to the set after their Oscar victories

For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.

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Oscars 2017: What's Next for This Year's Winners? (Photos)

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