Which Movies' Box Office Fortunes Are People Most Interested in Tracking?

It seems obvious enough that people have different reasons for interesting themselves in how well this or that film does at the box office. They may be a fan of an artist or the source material or of a franchise, and naturally enough hope that it does well. Or more disinterestedly, as habitual box office-watchers, they may be interested in how a particular kind of film does. (Looking at It Ends with Us I was interested in what it would imply about movies based on books, as these haven't done so well in recent years, and in the prospects of the movie being one of those low-budgeted movies that outdoes most of the tentpoles at the level of the bottom line that I suspect we are going to increasingly see.)

However, it may be that what provokes the interest of a wide audience in a film's chances is some very vocally hoping to see a film fail--and plausibly, also the way this provokes those who hope that it won't do so into paying more attention.

Consider, for example, Disney in recent years, and how a great many people were angry at the company, and gloated over its recent failures. Many were openly eager to see its movies do poorly--and as it happened, had plenty of cause for satisfaction these past few years, as Disney racked up flop after flop (two colossal animated flops in 2022, the underperformance of Marvel's movies in Phases Four and Five culminating in the debacle of Captain Marvel 2, and further disappointment with the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, its remake of The Haunted House, and what was supposed to be a centennial event in Wish). There were others who were on Disney's side, but I doubt they would have paid so much attention to the box office if it wasn't for the fact that they were so aware of those eager for Disney to suffer.

Lately, I think, the enmity has lost its edge, even dissipated--no one seeming to have it in for the studio over Inside Out 2, or Deadpool & Wolverine, both of which actually seem to have been enjoyed by many of those who had expressed hostility earlier. Whatever else one makes of that, it also seems likely to mean less interest in how Disney's movies do in the months ahead.