With Pacific Rim already being labelled a flop before it even hits cinemas, Anghus Houvouras believes the media is helping to murder movies….

Does negative box office perception affect potential ticket buyers? Five years ago I would have said ‘no’. Now I’m not so sure.

Crucifixion Principle: When critics and entertainment writers gang up to brutally murder an innocent film, often undeserving of the vitriolic rage being heaped upon it.

The Lone Ranger is the latest victim of the Crucifixion Principle. Like last year’s John Carter, the movie was raked over the coals and declared dead on arrival before the vast majority of critics had even seen it. The combination of a big budget, a few creative missteps prior to production put blood in the water. Entertainment journalists and critics went knives out and preceded to butcher The Lone Ranger declaring it a massive bomb before the box office tallies were totaled on the first day of release. I’m by no means denying the fact that The Lone Ranger under-performed. The Lone Ranger is going to lose money. Like all major Hollywood releases, it was a calculated risk based on past performance. Jerry Bruckheimer + Johnny Depp + Gore Verbinski had equalled billions of dollars for Disney with the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Disney, like all studios, was looking for some new franchises. They doubled down on The Lone Ranger and ended up losing house money. No big deal… unless you’re an entertainment writer looking to generate some page views by declaring it an epic failure.

The Lone Ranger is the latest victim of the Crucifixion Principle, unfairly panned and brutally beaten by online film sites all too eager to beat a dead horse. And it’s unfortunate not only because of the mob mentality that seems to permeate online film criticism, but because it continues a trend of destroying the idea of average. That there is no middle. That every movie is a pass or fail proposition.

In terms of Box Office, that is very much true. A movie is either profitable or unprofitable. I’ve discussed the uncomfortable emphasis film writers and fans alike place on box office. In the past, writers would wait until the end of the opening weekend to declare financial ruin on a particular film. Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke has passed judgement on a movie based on first day estimates. And now Variety has decided to write a cinematic post-mortem on Pacific Rim before the movie is even released. Yesterday they posted this story:

PACIFIC RIM LOOKING GRIM WITH 25 MILLION TO 35 MILLION OPENING

The phrase ‘poisoning the well’ comes to mind. Box office analysis is a sad facet of film journalism. It exists, and there’s not a damn thing that can be done about it. But when did it become kosher to start writing a eulogy before the film even hits theaters? Across all forms of journalism on the internet, the most important thing is getting the story out first. Whether it’s right or wrong is less relevant than having the earliest time stamp on your article. Even when it comes down to dancing on a film’s grave.

This article exemplifies what is wrong with entertainment journalism in general. It’s a hit-piece posing as news. An article that will get clicks and views, that will be picked up by other outlets, and that will taint the view of prospective ticket buyers. Variety used to be a trade publication read by industry members and insiders. Now it’s a website looking for hits. And it worked. On the front page of the popular Drudge Report, Variety got its story linked on the front page with the headline:

PACIFIC GRIM: Expensive 3D movie could be monster flop…

For many, their first impression of Pacific Rim may very well come from seeing headlines like this. Last week when I asked a friend about seeing The Lone Ranger, he said he didn’t want to for the following reason:

“I heard it flopped.”

When I asked where he heard that, he referred to an article on Reddit, which linked back to a story on Deadline.com. Box office reporting has now become a critical influence. My friend didn’t want to see The Lone Ranger because ‘he heard it flopped’. Not because he heard it was a bad film, or that someone had recommended against seeing it. He simply didn’t want to go because popular perception had been the movie wasn’t a qualified hit. What’s worse is that he openly admitted to not having read the article, but merely referenced a headline on the main page of Reddit. Millions of dollars in studio marketing negated because the media latched onto the idea that The Lone Ranger was a flop. And once the sharks ran with that idea, the parasitic remoras linked to the story and started sucking away ancillary traffic.

Certainly we can’t blame over zealous, hit hungry websites for making preemptive strikes on movies before they’re released (or can we?). However, I think we’re beginning to see the Crucifixion Principle impacting those on-the-fence ticket buyers who hadn’t quite made up their mind. Perception of success has become a ticket buying influence. Maybe it always has. With the advent of the internet, it’s becoming more and more valuable to be perceived as a success. Without a strong opening weekend, you’re dead in the water. And thanks to Variety, you don’t even have to wait until Monday to find out the film is a flop.

By Variety’s account, Pacific Rim is already doomed. Even though they hedge their bets in the body of the article by admitting the film is well reviewed, the attention grabbing headline is what gets picked up and distributed across the internet. The assertion that things are ‘Grim’ for Pacific Rim give every other publication a license to go knives out and start poking holes. Those acerbic headlines are taking their toll on the financial prospects for these films.

In the eyes of the media, Pacific Rim doesn’t stand a chance. They’ve dug the grave, and now they’re throwing dirt on the still breathing body, burying it under loose financial projections. Stabbing it with their steely knives. The question is, can they kill the beast?

Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.