The pandemic seems to have hastened a worrisome decline at the box office for bread-and-butter dramas, musicals and comedies, except leviathan fantasy franchises and the occasional horror movies
Billboards for “Don’t Look Up” feature Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, along Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Dec. 16, 2021. Boldface names have always mattered at the movies, but a number of recent casts have been full of them — that hasn’t always helped at the box office. (Mark Abramson/The New York Times)
LOS ANGELES — On Friday, Netflix began streaming “Don’t Look Up,” a big-budget satire starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Timothée Chalamet.
It sure seemed like a must-watch event, mixed reviews be darned. Casts so ultracelestial — embarrassments of celebrity riches — don’t come along every day.
Except that now they do.
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