Several of 2026's biggest box office successes, including The Odyssey, Project Hail Mary, Backrooms and Obsession, have leaned heavily on practical effects and location filming rather than digital trickery, and their marketing has made a point of highlighting this "old-school" approach. By contrast, franchise films with built-in audiences, such as Masters of the Universe, Supergirl, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and Moana, have underperformed and drawn criticism for looking artificial or overly reliant on CGI, suggesting audiences are increasingly rewarding tangible, effortful filmmaking over polished but "fakey" spectacle.

Figures cited include The Odyssey's $264 million and Project Hail Mary's $683 million takings, alongside Backrooms' $384 million and Obsession's $442 million, despite the latter two having budgets of just $10 million and $750,000 respectively. Christopher Nolan reportedly refused CG set extensions for The Odyssey despite the physical demands of filming at remote real-world locations, while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller publicised their use of puppetry over green screens on Project Hail Mary. The article argues this trend coincides with growing public backlash against "AI slop", and notes that even the highly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday has faced criticism that its trailer looks artificially soundstage-bound.