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In no universe should the megalodon-centered Jason Statham vehicle “Meg 2: The Trench” make more money than the latest installment of “Indiana Jones.” But when the budget of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” costs well over $400 million, then it’s no wonder blockbusters are now ticking time bombs waiting to blow up in producers’ faces at the expense of audiences’ entertainment.

Before 2020, studios such as Disney and Warner Bros. had long been throwing absurd wads of cash at tentpole releases, particularly superhero movies. 2019 was the last time a superhero property that wasn’t Batman or Spider-Man could make close to a billion dollars, no matter how lifeless the end product was. But after the pandemic screwed over multiple planned releases and productions, audiences are rightfully coming to their senses, growing fatigued with seeing latex on the big screen.

Apart from the success of the middling “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Barbie,” and “Oppenheimer,” of which the last two were liked by audiences and critics, 2023 saw more disappointments than welcomed surprises. Although the quality of the three releases plays a role, budgeting was among the primary reasons why so many movies failed despite the crop of pandemic-stricken films having already come out. Even for “Fast X,” which was #5 at the worldwide box office, the film is technically a bomb for having an astronomically high budget of about $453.6 million.

Unfortunately, the specialty box office also fails to garner audiences who aren’t all Letterboxd members. The first half of 2024 saw multiple original films reach #1 at the box office, ranging from A24’s commercial effort “Civil War” to the Zendaya-led tennis drama “Challengers.” However, their success is largely because of little competition, or lack thereof, allowing them to come out on top with crowds walking to the theater rather than running.

In the case of “Challengers,” whether or not it’s a bomb is not an easy question to answer. Besides the surprising $55 million budget and potentially bigger marketing budget due to a worldwide press campaign, the $15 million domestic opening might not matter for Amazon/MGM. Distributors focused on streaming typically observe any money from theaters as a nice bonus, especially for a film like “Challengers,” where production companies likely got their money back long before release.

Even if all of that is true, the reasons given by Amazon/MGM, Apple, and others sound more like excuses to avoid admitting which movies are flops. When “Killers of the Flower Moon” or “Napoleon” fail to break even, it’s convenient to say they were made for award campaigns, followed by an eventual turd dumping on Apple TV+. At the very least, there’s no denying “Argylle” failed on all fronts and is forcing Apple to scale back film efforts.

Then there’s Netflix, which has been vehemently against releasing its films in theaters outside of qualifying runs for award eligibility. One of the few times they gave a Netflix exclusive somewhat of a theater run was “Glass Onion,” but they still managed to flip off theaters by refusing to report official box numbers.

The rest of 2024 is not shaping to be any more promising than the low note of the “Mean Girls” musical remake. Many of the expected big money makers are sequels, prequels, or requels relying heavily on audiences’ memories of “Alien,” “The Lion King,” “Twister,” and “Gladiator.” While no word on how good any of these franchise follow-ups are, the influx in resurrections of tried and true IP seemingly forgets these films remained in the public consciousness because they were worthwhile watches.

For every “Top Gun: Maverick,” there’s “The Flash.” Apart from high production budgets that skyrocketed due to pandemic halts and delays, what separates the two is a wide gap in quality. However, not every movie can star Tom Cruise and make more than a billion dollars, which is not always guaranteed when the 2017 “The Mummy” reboot exists. Rather than spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” at every movie, studios should consider making safer bets. Or make better movies. That’s always an option.

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