The Town with Matthew Belloni The Fall Box Office Crisis: A Phase, a Fluke, or the Future?
20 snips
Nov 17, 2025 
Lucas Shaw, an entertainment reporter for Bloomberg, joins to dissect the troubling fall box office season. They explore the impact of shortened theatrical windows and the trend towards streaming. Shaw ranks issues affecting indie films, discussing whether cinematic quality or distribution strategies hold the blame. They ponder if the lack of big releases marks a new norm or a temporary blip. Finally, they touch on the effectiveness of press tours and make predictions for the Oscars following the premiere of Netflix's 'Jay Kelly'.
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Historic Fall Box Office Slump
- The fall box office was historically weak with many mid-budget and indie releases failing to reach $50M domestic.
- This collapse highlights a larger problem for specialty films beyond just absence of tentpoles.
Windowing Trains Audiences To Wait
- Shorter theatrical windows trained audiences to wait for streaming rather than see niche films in theaters.
- Lucas Shaw ranks windowing as a major reason smaller titles underperform theatrically.
Content, Not Just Stars, Determines Draw
- Many recent fall releases simply lacked commercial appeal or distinct content hooks.
- Lucas cites Springsteen, Christie, and Die My Love as examples where tone or content limited theater demand.
