Original Movies in 2025: Oops, All Flops!

Summary by Krater

Two film critics discuss the recent trend of box office trends, where original movies fail and IP-driven films struggle, using specific 2025 movie box office data and budgets to analyze the state of cinema and streaming windows.

From the video

Answers: Why are original movies flopping while IP movies struggle at the box office?

• Box office performance of 2025 movies
• Movie theater vs streaming windows
• Original movies vs IP-driven films
• Marketing and box office success

What it concludes

• The top three box office hits of 2025 all featured recognizable intellectual property, but received terrible reviews.
• Mid-budget horror movies produced by Blumhouse consistently make a profit despite low budgets.
• The short window between theatrical release and streaming release disincentivizes going to the theater for non-event movies.
• Major studio IP films keep movie theaters in business so smaller independent movies can occasionally play there.
• Streaming services have fundamentally changed the economics of movie distribution and audience habits.