The box-office obsession

Has enjoying a film gone beyond loving the craft to caring more about numbers?

The second my eyes flicker open on a Thursday morning, I am ready to snag tickets to the next major release I’m excited for. I’ve only been looking forward to getting back to the movie theater since I last left a day or so earlier, after all. Before I conquer the day, though, I must quickly check my social media to see initial reactions, both for the fun of it all and to hype myself up. Any movie day is a good day.

Reluctantly tapping on the icon for X (formerly Twitter), I am immediately met with posts from the film accounts I follow. I subconsciously congratulate the algorithm for doing its job and scroll through the latest updates happening in the industry. A trailer for the millionth sequel set to release this year, an inside scoop of who just got cast in what and a report on the box office opening of the very film I am planning on attending. I scroll. Another post about which films released last weekend “won” the battle to make the most money. Another, touching on a director’s breakthrough project … whose opening is tracking to make a certain amount of money.

Is this what film culture has become? Discussing one of the most creative mediums of entertainment as if it is running in a political election? Studios that paid for a film caring about whether it is a financial success is to be expected. Fans and general audiences caring about the economics of a film? Not so much. Why do audiences seem to care so much about the numbers?

“Can I talk about Swifties?” DePaul University professor Dan Bashara asked with a grin when this question was raised. Bashara is a teaching fellow in DePaul’s College of Communication who specializes in the Media and Popular Culture (MPOP) program and teaches several film-related classes. He explained the economics of being a fan and wanting to ensure films that meet certain criteria for fans do well in theaters. “It’s like, ‘We have to make sure that this album sales hit a record to beat the last album sales,’ and it’s part of this parasocial thing, like they’re helping their ‘fave’ achieve some kind of success. [It’s] a little bit of a bummer because it’s equating a work of art’s worth with how much money it makes, which just feels like the ever-encroaching reach of capitalism into every corner of our lives.”

However, it’s not always parasocialism or making sure one film triumphs over another that makes audiences care about the numbers. DePaul sophomore and finance major Amelia Jones is not super in-tune to the industry and does not go to theaters often, so she checks on financial successes from time to time to determine which cultural moments she wants to experience or if she and her friends are looking for something to do on a night off, for example. 

“I see the number and it’s kind of like being part of the phenomenon or the experience along with everyone else,” Jones said, citing recent smash box-office hit Project Hail Mary as a recent example of a way going by the numbers has helped her find a film she enjoys. “I want to be part of the people who got to see it in theaters or be able to relate to everyone … especially at work or with friends. It’s a nice way to stay involved and up-to-date on pop culture.”

Box-office numbers are not the sole factor in Jones’s decision-making, but she is someone who does not keep up with every release and deems herself a non-guru when it comes to film. Looking at the numbers, plain and simple, helps give Jones a push to see what people are excited about that she might want to get in on. Trailers and social media promotion help inform her decisions and shape her taste as well, but the box office can at times be a guiding light.

“[Box-office numbers are] the second thought. It’s like I hear [a movie] had a good box-office weekend so I’m like, ‘Maybe I’ll see it,’ but usually it’s more so the trailer,” Jones said.

Film is a creative venture. There are behind-the-scenes roles audiences do not immediately think of like third assistant directors, there are A-list stars that sell the tickets, and there are creatives like screenwriters all working together. From the seemingly minimal roles to the faces of a production, it takes hundreds of thousands of people and sometimes years at a time to make a single movie. It can also take hundreds of millions of dollars more to turn one small concept into a larger-than-life reality.

With film being so imaginative and subjective, it can be hard for some to envision audiences looking at objective numbers to place worth to a film and use zeros to determine if something that takes so many hands to create merits time and energy. For Eos Gustafson, a DePaul sophomore with a directing major, using box-office numbers and online discourse about said numbers as a baseline is not worth his time.

“Both as a filmmaker and also as someone who enjoys films, I really think the financial aspect doesn’t matter that much,” Gustafson said. “I could love a movie that costs $5 to make, and then I could hate a movie that costs $500 million to make.”

Whether a big studio film makes its budget back is of no concern to Gustafson because he bases enjoyment on learning new things and having unique cinema experiences, not following “bandwagons that already exist.” Gustafson, despite not using social media very often, can also see how these platforms and being in a crowd of likeminded people can influence these conversations and discourse around budget. He detailed having better experiences with fandoms of niche media because the experience and conversations are more interesting and connecting is easier.

Gustafson also discussed the notion that there are movies every year that make plenty of money and aren’t always the best quality, so he enjoys being surprised by films that were recommended by friends or those that he gave more of a chance to than the masses. Ultimately, he understands that looking at box offices could be a result of rising moviegoing prices and viewers wanting to make an informed choice as to what they’re spending money on.

“I’m kind of surprised to hear that people are so interested in box-office numbers now, but in the world we live in, I feel like people are much more focused on money and are more serious about money than we used to be,” Gustafson said. “I understand in a way where we’re coming from just because everything’s becoming so expensive now. So if you are like, ‘I don’t want to spend $20 to go see a movie,’ you might be more likely to look at: which one’s popular? Which one do people like?”

While factors like parasocialism, pop culture awareness and being mindful of how we use our money all contribute to the box-office obsession, there is also a growing concern over the sheer number of sequels, remakes, reboots and franchise films Hollywood prioritizes that are oversaturating the market and leaving audiences dissatisfied. From 2020 to 2025, of each year’s top 10 highest-grossing films domestically, 85 percent were sequels, reboots, remakes or franchise films, while just 15 percent were original films.

While unoriginal films were among the highest-grossing films of their respective years, it may be due to lack of choice. The highest-budget films that have the means to aggressively market to gather revenue by the billions are placed at the top of the ticket searches, and part of how theaters choose what to keep showing is based on box-office performance. Smaller-scale films might not get the same chance at success if Avengers: Endgame is the first thing consumers are met with.

So, when original films with fresh approaches and innovative styles are released, which Bashara referred to as “diamonds,” it’s important for movie lovers to support them and show Hollywood that viewers want less live-action Disney remakes and more one-of-a-kind stories being uplifted from the industry. Bashara said that he purposefully looks the opposite way of major studios in his viewing habits to uplift those diamonds and the artists committed to the creativity and immersion that guides audiences to them.

“The things that are studio-engineered to get a big box-office opening weekend are exactly the kind of thing that I’m not interested in seeing because they’re engineered to get it,” Bashara said. “It’s like an industrial equation rather than a work of art from a person.”

Header Image by Annie Price