Why shark movies slay at the box office

Why shark movies(ˈmo͞ovē) slay(slā) at the box office

By Ashley Rodriguez

Hollywood(ˈhälēˌwo͝od) is one of the least predictable(priˈdiktəbəl) industries in the world. Yet even during a decade of dwindling(ˈdwindl) theater(ˈTHēətər) attendance(əˈtendəns), there are a few things movie studios count on: franchises(ˈfranˌCHīz) like Star Wars, action heroes like Dwayne Johnson, and shark movies. That’s right, shark movies.

Ever since Jaws(jô) hit the big screen in June(jo͞on) 1975, becoming the first summer blockbuster(ˈbläkˌbəstər) by opening in more than 400 theaters—a feat(fēt) at the time—and bringing in a whopping(ˈ(h)wäpiNG) $7 million its first weekend, shark movies have slayed at the box office. Jon Turteltaub’s The Meg, a spectacle(ˈspektəkəl) starring Jason(ā) Statham(ā) and an enormous(iˈnôrməs) CGI shark, hopes to carry on the tradition(trəˈdiSHən) this weekend. It hits theaters in the US, China, and other parts of the world on Friday. With an estimated(ˈestəˌmāt) $150 million budget(ˈbəjit), it’s the most expensive shark movie ever made—but it’s banking on turning a profit(ˈpräfit).

“People love shark movies,” Jeff Bock, box-office analyst(ˈanl-ist) at Exhibitor(igˈzibitər) Relations, told Quartz(kwôrts). “No shark movie has ever not made money.”

Shark movies have made for the perfect summer thrill(THril) since Jaws kickstarted the genre(ˈZHänrə). They blend(blend) horror(ˈhär-,ˈhôrər)—another genre that tends to do well at the box office—with our morbid(ˈmôrbəd) fascinations(ˌfasəˈnāSHən) with sharks, giving us scares(ske(ə)r) that will make us jump the next time seaweed(ˈsēˌwēd) brushes up against us at the beach(bēCH). “We love to be scared(ske(ə)rd),” said Bock(bäk), “and there’s nothing scarier(ˈske(ə)rē) than a real-life monster.”

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https://qz.com/1352662/the-meg-why-shark-movies-slay-at-the-box-office/