This was massive outside the US

Americans only want Marvel movies and cartoons

It always seems like the majority of films do much better outside the US .... look at Tom Cruise movies.

It seems like Americans are getting increasingly more cynical to enjoy classically made movies. This was the case for a long time... for instance people outside don't care about private lives of celebrities enough for them to determine whether to go see their films, words like cheesy don't even exist in translated form or the same context in most languages of other countries around the word, I would say that overseas audience is less spoiled and more humble in general... it has a lot to do with education, upbringing and culture. Or maybe more imagination too, as millions of people overseas used to watch films dubbed in another language since they were kids and dont care, for example I can't imagine to ruin a film for myself by watching it in the original language if the dub makes the film better and is more convincing. As someone from Europe I also have to see a film that is bad, I can enjoy anything, more than just a film, but the experience of watching itself is enjoyable. Of course a lot of things are also Americanized, in the sense, that people are susceptible to the cynical mentality with the influence of the western media, this was never the case under Soviet regime in the Eastern block, there was a huge difference in consciousness of people. Sometimes restriction breeds more humility and respect, because with ultimate freedom one is easy to lose self control of how they wish to maintain their values and outlook on life. Maybe that is why someone like Trump is a welcome breath of fresh air, for re-evaluating of what people take for granted and self-restriction.