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Hollywood Can’t Agree on What Counts as a Hit Anymore

Box office, streaming data and theatrical stability have fractured Hollywood’s old definition of success into a dozen competing metrics.

I love that classic old Looney Tunes bit where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argue back and forth about whether it’s rabbit-hunting season or duck-hunting season. Their mutual goal is to avoid the wrath of Elmer Fudd’s shotgun. Any argument can and will be made to keep them alive. Strangely, that 1951 scene is eerily reflective of today’s Hollywood. Every stakeholder in the entertainment industry—studios, movie theaters, streamers—is working toward different goals. That means they all have different definitions of success. Coupled with Hollywood’s unparalleled PR spin, a consensus is hard to reach as a result. 

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Hits still exist, but every success story comes with asterisks, caveats and qualifiers. Box office hovers around 15 percent below pre-pandemic levels globally and roughly 20 percent domestically. From 2014 to 2019, 28 Hollywood films crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office. In the last five years, as of this writing? Only 11. Streaming success can be measured and argued via endless Beautiful Mind-esque permutations. Total hours viewed, total views, unique households, completion rates, subscriber acquisition and retention, engagement among high-risk users…I need an Ambien just thinking about it. 

No one can agree on which metric matters most. 

As Comscore head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian told Observer: “It depends who you’re talking to—audience, studio, theaters, financiers. What........

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