I didn’t even know this movie existed, but apparently, another A-list celebrity ensemble film was released in 2022 — and it bombed terribly.

The movie, Amsterdam, not only features some of the most famous actors in Tinseltown today, but it also had an established writer and director at the helm: David O. Russell, the man behind hits like Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle.

The cast is massive: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Robert De Niro, Taylor Swift, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek… This is an Ocean’s Eleven-style project with a staggering $80 million budget and Disney behind it.

So what happened at the box office? In the U.S., it has grossed only around $14 million and $31 million worldwide. If you factor in marketing cost, this movie must have lost more than 100 million.

For comparison, Ocean’s Eleven had a similar budget in 2001 and made $180 million in the U.S. and $450 million worldwide.

Amsterdam is just another example of the era of the Hollywood moviemaking coming to an end. Sure, we still have Christopher Nolan, Tom Cruise, and Leonardo DiCaprio, but beyond these three, no one seems able to draw audiences by name alone anymore.

They are trying to give us new stars, basically pushing them down our throats. But the audience isn’t swallowing it.

Social media has given us independent content creators and a glimpse behind the Hollywood mask — and the reality is grim. Most of these movie stars are not just misguided ideologues; many come across as outright arrogant and condescending toward fans. Opening a Twitter account may have been the worst career move most of the Hollywood people ever made.

I remember a new mid-budget hit coming out every month in addition to the big budget blockbuster every quarter. In my youth, I went to the video rental store every week to get the newest releases – and I always found something I couldn’t wait to see.

Today, the only movies that reliably make money are superhero films, animated features, or franchise installments (Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, Top Gun). Nobody rushes to see mid-budget films trying something new. I am not waiting for the next Margot Robbie, Zendaya, or Chalamet movie, and even Steven Spielberg’s projects no longer guarantee big money (or big entertainment).

The magic is gone. Movie stars aren’t cool anymore. James Dean was, Marlon Brando was, even De Niro was at some point. In the ’80s, Tom Cruise could make everyone want to wear a Top Gun jacket. The Matrix influenced an entire fashion movement in the late ’90s. Today, the youth simply aren’t looking to Hollywood to see what is “cool”.