Originally published at: Disney just delayed a ton of upcoming movies | Boing Boing
…
5 Likes
Production houses: but if the writers stay on strike we can’t guarantee the future safety of your favorite shows
Viewers who 1, have already lost their favorite shows because they were cancelled in spite of good ratings and good reviews or 2, have stopped watching new content entirely until the entire series has aired and concluded as a result of so many good shows getting cancelled on cliffhangers and thus leaving said viewers unable to gain closure with those characters and with a hollow viewing experience, so they’ve begun a, watching older shows they know came to a planned conclusion or b, revisiting their old favorites and enjoying the nostalgia or c, reading new books or fanfic instead: YOU ALREADY CAN’T GUARANTEE THE FUTURE OF OUR SHOWS SO GET FUCKING WRECKED AND PAY WRITERS WHAT THEY DESERVE!
It strikes me that the streaming “revolution” is about to come crashing down… Maybe this whole “move fast, break shit” mindset isn’t particularly great for creating culture (among many other things).
29 Likes
There’s also the streaming model where a whole season drops at once and each season has a central story arc that reaches a reasonably satisfying conclusion even if it also leaves the door open for future seasons.
I wish more shows would go that way, but showrunners are probably incentivized to throw in cliffhangers as a gambit to pressure the distributors to give them another season.
13 Likes
Sure, but maybe they could order a whole series instead of going season by season? 
The only reason they don’t is so they can “cut the waste” if a particular show doesn’t hit a particular set of metrics by a specific point (usually within the first couple of weeks).
And in some cases, that doesn’t make sense - such as if it’s pulling on a coherent already established narrative. Sometimes you have to make choices about where you cut the narrative via seasons. That’s what happened with American Gods, where the last season ended with Shadow on the World Tree, sacrificing himself for Odin. There was just not much of a good place to cut that season that would not end on a cliffhanger.
I guess, but that’s nothing new. Star Trek: TNG liked to make use of season ending cliffhangers…
And they were entirely in syndication… I’m sure showrunners want to have cliffhangers to get people to come back to the story, but given how streamers seem to only focus on the first few weeks of streaming numbers, vs. a longer period of people engaging with the shows that might happen over a long period of time.
11 Likes
I don’t think you’d ever get a seven-season series that way though. Nobody would have put up enough money to bankroll the entire run of a show like Star Trek: The Next Generation before they were sure it was going to catch on. I think that show in particular was able to get away with cliffhangers because by that point they were well-established enough that they knew they were going to get a season 4 before they wrapped up season 3.
The Mandalorian still would have had a pretty strong ending if they’d ended it with Grogu taking off with Luke, and Breaking Bad would have still been a great show if it had ended with that shot of the plant on Walt’s back patio a the end of Season 4. Both shows benefited greatly by allowing the stories to continue but the fans wouldn’t have been left hanging if they hadn’t.
3 Likes
Seriously why bother with more Avatar movies? That last one, wow what a stinker.
5 Likes
I think it could work with some - at least with shows where there the show runner already a multiple season plan in mind (even if all the details are not worked out). These corporations are already more than happy to shovel out multiple millions of dollars for films that are meant to have an interconnected story line.
Short-term, profit driven thinking is not a great way to make culture. Until we get out of that mindset, then most corporations aren’t going to push for more than a season at a time. That mindset is what is driving the revolt of the writers (and soon, possibly actors if they can’t come to terms with the producers).
5 Likes
it was the highest grossing movie of the decade so far, and likely will be the highest grossing movie of the decade. (Or one of its sequels will be.) It’s carrying a 92% for audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Why WOULDN’T they make another?
6 Likes
Teens, the group that would most likely go out to watch a movie, has TIkTok and lots of other free and interesting forms of entertainment.
1 Like
They might not make another. It all depends if China allows the next one into the country, and that all depends on politics. Most blockbusters total can’t hit the big money, unless the movie is distributed in China, and that is all politics.
3 Likes
The network offers to pay big bonuses if a show gets several seasons, but then they cut shows to not have to pay out.
5 Likes
That part.
12 Likes
The first episode of Muppets Mayhem ends with a silly, literal cliffhanger, with one of the band members saying something to the effect of “a cliffhanger? Disney Plus is gonna love this!”
3 Likes
So Avatar 3 and an untitled Star Wars movie are going to come out on the same day, December 19th, 2025? That’s going to be one busy day at movie theaters! But how badly will one cannibalize the other?
Still I’m probably not going to see either in the first two weeks they’re available. My local theater is basically between the mall and a shopping center and across the road from a second shopping center. Going anywhere near there in December is bad enough, and the last weekend before Christmas? ha ha ha hell no.
4 Likes
I dunno about everyone else but I’m kind of exhausted with sequels… and the like how about something new?
6 Likes
B-b-b-but new ideas are scary, and so are the people who come up with them!
10 Likes
MBA Voice: “It sure is good that what we make here is content!”
3 Likes
It was mentioned on another thread but they actually have been doing a lot of original stuff too, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Recent examples include:
Elemental
Coco
Encanto
Luca
Insde Out
Raya and the Last Dragon
Zootopia
Moana
Soul
Strange World
Onward
The Good Dinosaur (ok, it’s fair to forget that one)
19 Likes
i think that’s the key difference between most tv cancellations and streaming ones. while i’m sure there are exceptions, it seemed shows knew earlier whether they were ending . that left shows time to wrap up.
it feels like a lot of streaming shows are left in limbo, so the writers never know if it’s the last season or not
4 Likes
Wait, who is saying this is a result of lackluster ratings or monetary losses? Shifting these movies and series is directly related to the STRIKE going on right now. Saying otherwise gives the company an out, and gives them more reasons not to negotiate.
Side note: I love the discussion of cliff hangars. For decades, they were televisions own little jokes. Season ends on a cliff hangar, and you wait four or five months for it to get resolved. Everyone did it, not just Star Trek. Remember “Who shot JR?” I’ve loved not having to deal with that in most streaming shows, it’s refreshing.
7 Likes
