Hollywoodjust can't help itself.
Theentertainment industry'sbox office declines over the past seven to eight years have been catastrophic. In 2018, total domestic box office was $11.9 billion. In 2025, that number was $8.65 billion, and it looks even worse adjusted for inflation. $11.9 billion in 2018 in today's dollars is nearly $15.5 billion, meaning that 2025'sbox officewas over 44% lower than seven years ago.
The reasons for this are complicated. Some if it is the rise of streaming services, making it so audiences can stay home and wait for films to hit Netflix, Disney+, or HBO Max. Some of it is that YouTube and TikTok have taken a larger proportion of leisure time viewing. But a substantial portion of the problem is that Hollywood has become progressively more antagonistic towards a majority of the country in the past half decade.
Marvel, the "Star Wars" franchise, Disney animated movies, "Snow White," the list of properties and studios incorporating obvious left-wing political messaging is endless. Hollywood in the past few decades has never been right-wing, but the obvious disdain with which they've treated those viewpoints has turned millions of people off from going tothe movies. Yet somehow, still, major studios are giving tens of millions of dollars to left-wing figures to make politically charged content.
The latest example? A retelling of the Frankenstein story, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, called "The Bride!"
You may not know it, but "The Bride!" opened in theaters this weekend, and with the first box office estimates in, it's on track to be one of the biggest bombs in film history.
Writer and Director Maggie Gyllenhaal (R) and Warner Brothers CEO Pam Abdy pose upon arrival for the world premiere for the film 'The Bride!' in central London on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Brook Mitchell / AFP via Getty Images)
In the lead up to the film's release, Gyllenhaal on her press tour spoke toThe New York Timesabout her decision to turn to directing and motivations for making the film. Sure enough, she mentioned "what's happening culturally," and Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election. Perfection.
"And I wonder if what’s happening culturally is going to bring an unstoppable response, especially from women," Gyllenhaal said. "I don’t know if I’ve said this out loud before. Again, maybe I’ll get in trouble, but I actually think that when I really became a director was the morning that Trump was first elected. I was like, I have a lot more to say than I’ve been saying."
Speaking to the media during her press tour,Gyllenhaal saidthat she wanted to make a film from the perspective of the bride of Frankenstein because in most tellings of the classic story, that character is rarely seen or heard from. This presented an opportunity to make the character more feminist and focused on "consent."
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