Okay, lifelong movie geek and former Manager of several large, multi-screen Movie Theaters in Central FL and Los Angeles.
The obvious TL;DR is easy... Major Money. But...
A lot of people might not know how we got to this place. It slaps logic in the face, but it's an observable truism... Year after year since around the turn of the century, Hollywood studios have shamelessly taken turns shitting out astonishingly awful, high-budget "popcorn" films--the majority of which turn big profits..
It's not a conspiracy. It's a business.
The Motion Picture Industry is, was, and always has been about turning a profit.
But the shift to flash over substance was actually a natural progression.
And it can be split into 4 PARTS:
PART 1 - The Rise of the Summer Blockbuster.
In the late 70's, unprecedented, box office smashes like JAWS and STAR WARS redefined many of the ways Hollywood Studios budgeted, produced and marketed films.
Throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's, the motion picture had come to dominate pop culture entertainment. It was a time when a diverse group of filmmakers and studios were producing a great number of films annually, in many different styles and sub-genres.
This was a time where interesting characters, complex stories and quality production were not just ends to a means--but rather essential elements in any major Studio release. Low budget films of that era had such a radically different production aesthetic, they were almost always graphic (for the time) Horror movies or Counter Culture pictures.
The 70's were an innovative, experimental, and almost mythical era in Cinema. The Directors and Writers who rose to prominence in that decade are still some of the biggest names in film history. Before the emergence of the 80's greed culture with its obligatory, laser focus on maximizing profit by all means necessary. The guys with the ticker tape adding machines were utility workers, while ballsy studio executives took exciting risks... A time where a major motion picture could be green-lit and financed based solely off of the artistic merit and well-earned reputations of the writers and directors involved.
But then JAWS/WARS re-wrote the rule book. The Summer Blockbuster existed and a huge, money-making opening weekend was now a proven concept. Success breeds imitators and by the Summer after STAR WARS, every Studio on the damn planet shifted their focus to producing more Blockbusters.
This major philosophical change became a motivating factor in another paradigm shift within the industry; the final collapse of Old Hollywood. As budgets swelled and profit margins grew wider, competition amongst the major players saw the last vestiges of Hollywood's Golden Era sold, bought, traded, aquired or hostiley taken over by a host of different corporate interests and multi-national conglomerates.
The white-hot injection of 80's corporate greed into the heart of New Hollywood helped to stimulated the establishment of new, standardized, and more-bankable methods of producing films. And once these cost-effective innovations proved successful, traditional Hollywood practices were abandoned almost overnight, and supplanted by the slick, new Profit-focussed standards.
As a consequence of the corporate takeover in LA, there where fewer Artists and more Middle Managers calling the shots on productions. And these business-minded Desk Jockeys very much coveted The Almighty Dollar more than almost anything. The general quality of films dropped sharply, and stylization was bumped to a lower priority.
The entire industry changed almost overnight to adapt to the new standards.
At the same time, the United States of America saw their previously high-quality manufacturing standards begin to deteriorate in the face of competition from China and Europe.
The Number Crunchers seeking corporate-style success in Hollywood hedged their bets and got very comfortable with the idea of selling an inferior product to quickly recoup losses. And just like bland Buffet Food, the movie going public seemed to forget about flavor and get familiar with flashy mediocrity.
AND just like the greedy cocksuckers they are, the Studios decided to start charging the Exhibitors more money to rent their bullshit film prints.
PART 2 - Dawn of the Mega-Plex.
As the standard practices of traditional Film Exhibition evolved and became corporatized, the actual business of operating a movie theater was now a potentially less lucrative venture. Many owners closed down their theaters and numerous theater chains were bankrupted or went out of business . The gaps in exhibition created opportunities for expansion that lead to yet another significant shift in the industry.
Around the mid 80's/early 90's, several companies and investment groups started snatching-up and acquiring the movie theater chains who were in financial trouble, and the timing proved to be perfect. By the end of the 90's, a handful of corporations (including Knoxville's Regal Entertainment Group) now controlled the entire Exhibition Industry.
By this time, the young Studio Accountants helping to steer the New Hollywood Movie Machine were now absolutely COUNTING on big opening weekends to jump start their profit-earning. Whereas in the past, if a film demonstrated verifiable Longevity (how long the movie plays in theaters before being pulled), it was recognized within the industry as a clear indication of quality filmmaking and popularity.
But because Exhibitors--and more specifically the National Association of Theater Owners--held so much leverage, they were able to capitalize on the situation and began structuring Exhibitions that utilized a "Sliding Scale" which adjusts the % of the Box Office Ticket revenue progressively more in favor of the theater based on how long the movie continued to play. I other words... The longer a movie stayed in theaters, the less money was collected by the Studio. When GLADIATOR became a hit, it stayed playing in first run theaters for nearly 2 months, reducing the Studio's share of ticket sales to virtually nothing.
It soon became even more apparent to the Production Companies that there was really no great financial incentive or fiscal advantage to keeping any film on screens for longer than 3-4 weeks. Regarding quality, giving up on longevity was the final nail in the coffin. Motion pictures of a dramatic or artistic significance were now the exception to Blockbuster Hit rule. As a result of the flip, any film that didn't scream "hit money maker" stood a good chance of being relegated to the Minor Leagues of alternative financing and independent production.
So just a brief recap:
A. Hollywood Studios go Big Corporate.
B. Movie Quality suffers.
C. The Film Exhibition Industry goes Mega-Corporate.
D. Movie quality plummets.
Sigh.