People are just way too picky when it comes to movies.
What do I mean by this? Well, what I mean is that by and large most people just don't take chances when it comes to new content. So many just play it safe and go for the same old movies again and again.
No one really watches a movie for the sake of giving something a try. There's no adventurism with the general public. They just want a familiar franchise or a safe cultivated brand. This isn't just in cinemas where ticket prices are forcing the general public to be picky. It's something that is on streaming services alot as well. People in my experience will outright refuse to watch a movie that they don't know is good or isn't a familiar IP. People want their good movies basically given to them and don't want to go out and find them.
Tbh I blame the movie companies particularly Disney for cultivating this mindset in the general public. Only with this mindset would movies like the Lion King remake or the Little Mermaid remake which are both the exact same as their originals except in live action, make any sort of money. There's people out their that can only afford to go to the cinema once every year and this is what they decide to see.
I think it's kind of the other way around, it's that people aren't picky about their movies and so take what's heavily marketed to them. I enjoy movies but I'm not a cinephile or into them enough to follow a bunch of sites that cover the whole range of movies from big budget to indie, and I think that may put me in with a lot of folks, and from this position, it's honestly kinda hard to hear/see about anything but big budget movies.
A little while ago I started to try to find some movie news sites to follow that cover mid-budget/indie films and quickly realized I don't really know enough about this area to determine what even really counts as lesser known/indie in the movie industry.
Exactly this. People aren’t picky enough, and so studios know they can shit out the same exact thing year after year and people will just unquestioningly eat it up. If people were picky about films they would insist upon better films.
For me, the bigger the budget, the bigger the ick factor, so I stick with Indies. I prefer smaller scope films anyway. Most people want dumb shit to melt their brains to and the big studios have refined their formula so much that they are guaranteed a pay day without having to innovate.
Also, I reckon calling the lion king movie live action is a bit of a stretch (or even most super hero movies), it's all CGI at this point.
I'll take that even one further. Not only will I rarely seek out new movies, for the most part I stick to rewatching my favorites in my personal collection over and over.