This continues a century-old trend of betting against the genre.
In 1936, Universal Pictures was at the forefront of the American horror genre.
But by the mid-point in the decade, conventional wisdom suggested horror had run its course.
That is definitely one way to look at two horror movies doing big business around Halloween season.
While horror fatigue is a fallacy, there is no denying superhero fatigue in some form exists.
Whats changed is the certainty for the executive class that a good bet can also be an absolute guarantee.
But such fixations on dollars and cents risks missing the forest for the trees.
It isnt just that horror ischeapto produce (as theTHRarticle unremarkably stresses again and again).
It is also that the genre is elastic and open to constant interpretation and reinvention.
It still works too.
The diversity of horror comes from filmmakers being liberated to target individual niche audiences as opposed toeveryone.
Furthermore, did audiences even really reject comedies in the mid-2010s?
Unfortunately, no studio wanted to seriously bid for it, so Netflix got the rights.
Well,Joker 2allegedly cost in the neighborhood of $200 million, andSmile 2cost under $30 million.
Maybe its time to rethink which genre is the safe bet?
