Multiple Big-Budget Flops Slam Summer Box Office

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — It's been a summer to forget at the box office so far for some of Hollywood's biggest studios.

KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports the traditional blockbuster season have left film executives scratching their heads.

Dreamworks' $130 million star-studded animated flick "Turbo" and Universal's sci-fi action comedy "RIPD" - both of which happened to star actor Ryan Reynolds - opened in third place and seventh place respectively over the weekend.

The paltry performance follows a dismal showing by the Johnny Depp western "The Lone Ranger", which one analyst believes will be a box office loser for Disney.

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg apparently foresaw the string of flops back in May when he predicted a looming industry earthquake.

"There's gonna be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen of these mega-budgeted movies are gonna go crashing into the ground, and that's gonna change the paradigm again," Spielberg said.

Vincent Bruzzese, CEO of entertainment research and consultancy firm Worldwide Motion Picture Group, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO that Spielberg's remarks seem eerily prophetic.

"Every year, less and less total people are actually buying tickets and going to see the films," Bruzzese said. "What's really losing is the sort of mid-level movie...those seem to be fading away, and we're going towards an independent or tentpole model."

Some lower-budget movies have fared better than their blockbuster counterparts: the horror flick "The Conjuring" cost $20 million to make and raked in nearly $42 million over the weekend.

But fans seem to be more reluctant to pay for tickets and popcorn just to watch a disappointing product.

"They don't make 'em as good as they used to anymore," one moviegoer told Baird.