Weird: Even though Hollywood churned out a contemptible stew of reboots and woke garbage, the September box office was still the worst it's been in 25 years

Holly Ash

Sep 27, 2022

I tell you, the world is full of shocking, totally unexpected, not-at-all-foreseeable stuff like this:

Despite modestly budgeted successes like Sony's "The Woman King" and Warner Bros.' "Don't Worry Darling," this September's box office has sunk to the lowest levels in a quarter-century.

The overall total for the month is set to sink to 25-year lows, not counting 2020, when Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" accounted for nearly half the $86 million box office as most theaters remained shut down at the height of the pandemic.

With just $275 million grossed in North America to date, this will be the first September since 1997 with a monthly total of less than $350 million. To date, the running total for September 2022 is 20% behind last year's pace and 52% behind the pace set this month in 2019.

Are you seeing my face right now? That's disbelief. Total lack of belief right over here on this face.

I mean, and maybe this is naive of me, but I figured the more Hollywood churned out trash remakes and reboots, and the more it shoved woke dirge down our throats — why, I figured more and more people would just flock to see movies like that!

Don't worry, though, brighter times are on the horizon:

The hope is that November and December will outperform 2021, with Disney/Marvel's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and 20th Century's "Avatar: The Way of Water" leading a slew of holiday offerings to a stronger winter than last year, when Sony's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was deadlifting the box office all on its own. Ideally, a holiday box office boom will lead into a somewhat improved market in January and an early-year slate led by films such as Paramount's "Babylon" and Disney's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

Ahh yes: A winter of more sequels will surely bring the movie industry out of the slump.

Thank goodness they figured out the problem!


P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇

Keep up with our latest videos — Subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Ready to join the conversation? Subscribe today.

Access comments and our fully-featured social platform.

Sign up Now
App screenshot