Ep. 29: What Have we Learned From Summer 2017?

It’s been a strange few months for film. Box-office revenues are down 13% from last summer, Game of Thrones hijacked the cultural conversation, and despite a few great original stories, studios continued to shovel the vast majority of their money towards franchises and sequels. So where does film go from here, and what lessons can we gather from this confusing period? To find out, Rob and Geoff sit down with IndieWire’s Tom Brueggemann. Brueggemann explains why the international market can’t get enough of sequels (2:40), how studios are becoming more economical (5:45), and what film studios could learn from the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight (14:20). He also breaks down why, despite successes like Dunkirk and Baby Driver, original ideas continue to struggle at the box office (16:30), why reviews really don’t mean anything anymore (21:00), and why the biggest film of Summer 2017 didn’t come from Hollywood (28:50).