Common Mistakes Leading to Box Office Flops

We have all seen hundreds of movies and, chances are, many poorly conceived filmwork. Why do some movies work out better in the box office than others? There are many reasons, however the real reasons cannot be understood. There are ways to determine whether a movie has a chance at being a box office flop.

Overhyping

This is a common mistake many make at the box office. These are the movies major production companies have spent millions on and they want to guarantee some return on their investment. Overhyping movies can help, but you have to realize they are often competing against other production companies. The real irony here is the similarity of topics between these competing movies. Many times when a production company starts overhyping a movie, they are rushing their productions, which causes severe time constraints. In turn, the directors do not get a chance to polish their movie the way they want or need to. Poor endings may be the result of an overhyped movie.

Underhyping

These are the movies released to the box office without alerting the press. There are reasons the production companies do not want the press coverage, so underhyping a movie is a way to get their movie to the box office and hope for the best. They will provide trailers, but not much more than they need to. Give the audience a little and hope they will show. Underhyping is a way to deliver the movie to the box office, knowing it did not turn out as the production company intended.

Poor Writing

This happens time and again, especially with newer screenwriters. These screenwriter's are not given the flexibility of a veteran screenwriter, which leads to rushed writing and often important scenes omitted to ensure the motion picture meets their time limits. A new screenwriter is given a certain page limit, for example, the production companies do not want scripts over 120 pages. One page equals one minute of a movie, therefore the screenwriter may have to trim up his script to make the script meet this goal. Audiences know poor writing when they see it and you see it happen time and again. Veteran screenwriter's are guilty of poor writing, too, especially when they get overly confident. The fact remains, poor writing is definitely a big reason movies flop in the box office.

Poor Direction

Directors are no exception. Sometimes we will see a brilliantly written script with poor direction of the film. Since the director overlooks all aspects of the film, they are the obvious people to take the heat for the success or failure in the box office. Poor direction can also be the result of a director disagreeing with the vision of the script, trying to make the movie into something it clearly is not. Poor direction is a major reason we see so many box office flops. The public is quick to notice a poorly directed film, especially since we love to point out the obvious flaws.

Poor Acting

Any actor putting forth a poor performance is going to send the fans scurrying toward the exit doors. You see it happen all the time. Most of the time is when actors overact, however there are moments where the audience cannot feel anything from the actor. When actors bore people to death, we are not going to pay to see that performance again. Poor acting performances greatly impact the film. These are huge reasons we see many box office flops.

Budgeting

Typically, a movie without financial backing is going to be under budget. Under budgeting leads to poor casting, special effects, wardrobe, production crews, and sound effects. Under budgeting in any of these areas is seen all the time and usually when we see a film facing any of these problems we will not like the box office result. With the growth of independent films, budgeting is really not one of the main reasons we see box office flops.

Bad Timing

This is one reason many films to bomb in the box office. Fads come and go, all the time, so if the production company is trying to get a film produced while the topic is hot. Production companies are always looking to their profits, of course they want to cash in on a film when it regards a hot topic. The danger is we might get a film after the topic has been wrung dry. Oversaturation of any given market is a sure box office blunder, however this happens in every market, not just the motion picture industry. Just ask the disco icons of the seventies and they can definitely tell you. If a seasonal motion picture is released at the wrong time, it is almost always going to end up a box office disaster.

These are several major reasons we see bad movies released. Sometimes they may be great movies, but their timing was way off the mark. In essence, the motion picture industry is one of the diciest industries to work in. The production companies have a lot in common with Dr. Frankenstein, who was chased off by the local villagers. A bad movie will have the same effect with the public and get ran off, just as quickly.