Did Geostorm tank at the box office due to recent natural disasters? While that question might seem silly, it’s on the mind of Warner Bros. Studio who asked the question in a survey to individuals that are part of a community of theirs. Warner Bros. regularly uses the community to ask questions about possible shows, packaging, and what fans are interested in. This particular survey was about the film with questions as to whether the recipient has seen it or was planning on seeing the film in the future.

In a recent survey the movie studio focused on Geostorm which stumbled in its opening weekend where it earned just $17.1 million domestically. For a $120 million budgeted film with a pretty heavy marketing push, that’s a poor debut even when you include the $52 million earned at the foreign box office.

Specifically, Warner Bros. asked:

Given recent environmental events (e.g. Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Mexico City Earthquake, Fires in Northern and Southern California, etc.) does this make you more or less interested in buying this movie?

It’s an interesting question and one that’s worth to ponder.

The last “disaster” film Warner Bros. released was 2015’s In the Heart of the Sea which debuted with $11.1 million on a $100 million budget. It went on to earn $93.9 million worldwide. The movie studio more than likely expected a San Andreas which opened with $54.6 million domestically and went on to earn $155.2 million domestically and $474 million worldwide on a $110 million budget.

It’s clear from the question the study is attempting to figure out why the movie flopped in its opening weekend. But, the poor box office wasn’t limited to just that film. Its opening weekend was a week one earning $30 million less than the same weekend last year. October is down about 13% compared to last year. The domestic box office as a whole is struggling no matter the film. The question Warner Bros. should be asking isn’t why did Geostorm struggle, but instead it should ask why are movies struggling domestically as a whole?