Re: Seems to me that a rarity...
A friend has an interesting take on this - to paraphrase:
Fast And Furious 7 (yes, they made 7 of them) has taken $332m in China, more than it's taken in the US (where this festering stinker is inexplicably popular too). Previously China's biggest grosser, in both senses, was Transformers: Age Of Extinction.
The export market now is typically worth more than the US domestic, and a film with explosions and no meaningful characters, plot or dialog translates universally. So Hollywood is going big on VFX, short on stories.
Contrast with HBO (amongst others) turning out quality, complex and sometimes fairly challenging stories with decent casts, excellent writers and top budget production. The film and TV market have switched the roles they were 20 years ago, and it's looking to stay that way for some time.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
