Column: Hollywood’s high-pressure expectations game has created a box office doom loop

After days of morning to mid-afternoon gloom, Memorial Day bloomed bright and early over Los Angeles — the clouds blown away, no doubt, by the powerful current of sighs, groans and complaints generated by the weekend’s disappointing box office. I don’t know what bean-counting genius thought that “The Fall Guy,” a sweet if highly energetic rom-com based on a mildly successful early-’80s TV series, could pass for the sort of early Marvel-ish blockbuster Hollywood has increasingly built its summer ticket sales upon. For the record, my husband and I chose “Furiosa,” which was pretty much how I felt after I emerged; as The Times’ Joshua Rothkopf wrote, “It takes the fun out of survival.” Even without the strike, this summer’s box office was destined to be a bit of a letdown — you can’t capture the glorious, “movies are back” lightning of last year’s “Barbenheimer” in a bottle. Another “Planet of the Apes,” “The Garfield Movie” and a “Mad Max” prequel — even one that premieres, to mixed reviews, at Cannes — do not register as new and varied content. “The Fall Guy,” which was quickly dubbed a herald of woe for this summer’s box office, is closing in on the $150-million mark in global sales, despite moving to streaming.