It’s definitely a drop in quality. Just look at what is out in movie theaters these days. 90% of the movies are either sequels, marvel movies, or live action remakes of films that were already made. The amount of original storytelling or unique content has dropped rapidly in the past 5 years. As someone who grew up loving going to the movie theater, it makes me so sad, and I rarely go anymore.
Whether you like or hate Barbie or Oppenheimer, they were pretty much some of the only completely brand new high production value movies that came out in the last year, which I believe is part of why they were so popular. People are craving originality, even if a lot of them don’t realize it