So we just finished up the month of October and over at the movie studios they’re wondering…

October Box Office Scare: Why So Many Movies Bombed

The above article by Pamela McClintock and presented on CNN.com, examines the large uptick in failed movie released during the past month.

While The Martian is doing well, so many other films have severely underperformed.

Films such as:

The Walk.

This movie, directed by Robert Zemekis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, etc) received generally positive reviews but audiences stayed away in droves.  Personally, I wasn’t all that interested in the subject matter.  And if I was, why would I watch this and not Man on Wire, the 2008 documentary that focuses on, and features footage from, the actual tightrope walk?

Further to that, I have a big fear of heights and, from what I understand, this film really wanted audiences, especially those going to the IMAX presentation, to experience a strong sense of vertigo.  Mr. Zemekis wanted audiences to feel the heights which Phillipe Petite (the man who did the walk) felt.

Regardless of how good the film might be:  Why would I want to torture myself like that?!

Another film that didn’t do so well was Steve Jobs.  Written by acclaimed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, and Seth Rogan (who in particular received great reviews for his portrayal of Steve Jobs’ partner Steve Wozniak), the film nonetheless also tanked at the box office…even though it too received generally positive reviews.  On Rottentomatoes.com, the film has a positive rating of 85% and yet audiences weren’t interested.

I suspect the problem here might be that we’ve already had our fill of Steve Jobs documentaries…if there ever was a desire for such a thing in the first place.  Only two years ago Jobs, featuring Ashton Kutcher in the title role, came and went and no one cared then -though to be fair unlike Steve Jobs this film was almost universally panned- so why should they care now?

Then there’s the Bill Murray vehicle Rock The Kasbah.  While I felt the trailer was amusing, this one may have fallen victim to very bad reviews.

Truth, starring Robert Redford and Kate Blanchett and focusing on the controversial George H. W. Bush military service story that sunk Dan Rather’s career also didn’t do well.  The reviews for this film were decidedly mixed but I suspect the problem in finding an audience with this movie might lie in that almost everyone -including conservatives- wants nothing more than to forget all about George H. W. Bush and his presidency.  Why go to the movies to revisit even one aspect of it?

Our Brand is Crisis, starring Sandra Bullock, in my opinion, simply didn’t look all that interesting.  Then again, like Truth we’re again dealing with politics and maybe people just aren’t in the mood at this time to deal with it.  Regardless, apart from some humorous content, the movie’s trailer didn’t grab me all that much.  Your mileage, of course, may vary:

Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper as an arrogant chef, was even worse, trailer-wise.  Does anyone want to see the film after this:

Slick though the trailer is, almost nothing about it grabbed me and the scenarios presented felt awfully familiar.  If I want to see an arrogant chef scolding his “pupils” I can watch Hell’s Kitchen.  If I want to see people making great culinary confections, I can watch any of a myriad of programs on the Food Network.  Perhaps this subject matter is a little too overexposed?

My comments above, of course, benefit immensely from 20/20 hindsight.  Though it may not sound it, I do not relish hearing about troubles at movie studios.  As an author, I know the backbreaking efforts that go into creating a work and it must be crushing to see the end results receive (as some of those features did) great reviews but be met with public indifference.  Besides, while these films didn’t appeal to me personally for the reasons I’ve listed, at least the studios were trying to do something different.

Unfortunately, it appears the studios entered a perfect storm of sorts and audiences simply weren’t buying what they were selling this past month.