Well, let's go into the story! According to Rottentomatoes.com A Good Day to Die Hard: 15% fresh Gangster Squad 32% fresh Texas Chainsaw 3D 12% fresh Broken City 30% fresh Parker 39% fresh The Last Stand 59% fresh Dead Man Down 38% fresh Bullet to the Head 48% fresh Stand Up Guys 36% fresh Let's also consider that the early part of the year has also long been known to be studio dumping grounds for movies expected to underperform. Certainly quality plays into the equation here, but perhaps there's a saturation point - not with the number of violent action movies, but with one's exposure to their elements. We're coming off of a major national tragedy and the gun debate has sharply divided many in this country. Those who don't have an opinion on the matter at all are still subjected to endless media and news segments on the topic to the point where EVERY instance of gun violence seems to make headlines and I can't help but think that may play a part into the equation, especially for those who frequent movies as a form of escapism.

TBBB, spot on re Jan-Mar traditionally being a dumping ground for movies that don't turn out all that well. But over the years, there have been some big movies break out from the first quarter. Just this year, for example, Mama, Identity Thief and Oz the Great and Powerful. So while attendance may typically be low the first three months of the year, audiences demonstrate if you give them a movie they WANT to see, they will go see it, especially if it develops good BWOM and develops legs like Thief did. Personally I don't believe the issue is action films per se, but as you note there is a saturation point. It's possible, though not likely, this could be the very front edge of that saturation point, at least in terms of domestic B.O., for violent R-rated action movies. More likely the lack of response is based on the fact the movies, per Rotten Tomatoes, just weren't that good.

Does that mean Hollywood has committed too much focus to the R-rated action genre? If these type of movies continue to have soft numbers, might that cause buyers to pull back in the action genre?

I certainly hope so. I like action movies as much as the next guy -- watching and writing them -- but, when producers constantly nudge you to fit more action into a script because that's what's selling, it drives me crazy. My hope is that the dearth of great drama caused by the exodus of so many talented writers to television will create a vacuum in the feature industry, and we'll have a backlash, a rush to fill the market with actual content -- character, plot, drama -- and not just explosions and one-dimensional protagonists out for revenge that we've been seeing.

A bunch of formulaic action flix. Yawn! If you want people to spend 10 bucks (or more), give them something to see... not cliched heroes in cookie-cutter plots.

I go to matinees which means three bucks cheaper. Nevertheless I want to be able to remember the movie at least for a few days. I know that my memory ain't what it used to be but still, there have been so many wasted 7 bucks this year. I used to think it was my obligation to see the film on the big screen. Les Mis yes. I believe more Americans are staying home and waiting to stream or rent, which is sad because for me going to the movies was akin to religion, i mean you are sitting with a bunch of people you don't know and are having this experience TOGETHER. As to the action films, there is just too much shooting. After a while the gunshots are just soothing. I sometimes fall asleep during long action scenes. But not during Olympus's action scenes which I attribute to Athol Fugard and Conrad W. Hall (whose father Conrad L. Hall was one of the greatest of DPs.)