’Bad Boys 4′ will be good

A senior executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment says they are „optimistic” about the future of cinema, despite a slow North American summer and talk of superhero fatigue in the industry.

Speaking on a Sony Group Corp. conference call (Thursday in Los Angeles, Japan), Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra blamed the current box office torpor on three fronts that have plagued filmmaking over the past five years: competition with streaming; disruptions and cost escalations caused by the Covid era; And last year’s writers and actors strikes. All this together led to fewer films hitting the theatres.

„What’s really happening is that people have gotten out of the habit of going to theaters. When the market starts to recover in terms of big films, you’re going to see people go to theaters again,” Vinciguerra said. „In the second half of the year, you’re going to see a resurgence. One film improves the chances of the next film. Starting in July, you’ll see a big film coming out every week.

„Once we get back to the normal level of making films, I think you’re going to see a comeback. We may not be able to go back to pre-pandemic levels. It’s very difficult to make a film that creates cultural activity in the community, but we’re very optimistic in the next couple of years,” he said. Consultancies such as Gower Street Analytics predict a slight year-over-year decline in global box office in 2024.

Vinciguerra identified some upcoming highlights as he sees them. He said the upcoming fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” is being strongly tracked. „We’re pretty sure it’s going to be good,” he said. He also said SPE raised internal box office projections for „The Garfield Movie” last month.

In a rebuttal to the superhero-boredom argument, Vinciguerra made a rare comment about another studio’s content. He suggested that Disney’s Marvel franchise title „Deadpool & Wolverine” could be the first or second biggest film of the year.

A lot more to come…