Posted on 07/04/2005 4:12:15 PM PDT by timsbella
War of the Worlds" conquered the box office as easily as the movie's aliens overpowered Earth, but it did not have enough firepower to overcome Hollywood's prolongued box office slump.
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's sci-fi tale took in $77.6 million over the long Fourth of July weekend, lifting its total since debuting Wednesday to $113.3 million, according to studio estimates Monday.
That fell well short of the all-time high held by "Spider-Man 2," whose $180.1 million haul in its first six days led Hollywood to a record Fourth of July weekend last year.
The top 12 movies took in $160.1 million, off 25 percent from that 2004 record weekend.
It was the 19th straight weekend that domestic revenues were down compared with last year's, extending the longest slump since analysts began tracking detailed box-office figures. The worst downturn previously recorded was 17 weekends in 1985.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Oh believe me, I know. It's why Mel Gibson had pretty much no backing for "The Passion" (which only turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters in history), and why a patriotic 9/11 movie is a fantasy that will never happen.
$14. Per person. You read correctly. I know it's only that pretty coloured Canadian currency, but it still translates to over $10 USD. That's nothing compared with the concession prices of $8 for a medium soda and medium popcorn (single serving).
All this to park in a crammed lot, sit in an uncomfortable seat, have the sound up as high as my deaf grandmother's tv, watch strobe lighting that can set off a seizure, and view commercials for the first half hour.
Yup, that's entertainment.
They measure it by comparing it directly to the same weekend last year. Spider Man 2 in this case.
Well Passion was not a political film. It had nothing to do with U.S. It didn't get backing because the Studio execs like playing it safe. There was no precedent for a movie like that doing any business. You can be sure there will be backing for Mel's next project. Just like they hired his promoter to publicize the upcoming Narnia film.
"Mel Gibson had pretty much no backing"
Speaking of which, I haven't been hearing anything about his next project.
The girl in Hitchhikers Guide sure was pretty, though.
Please don't burst my bubble and tell me she regularly harangues against our president and our country. Just let me live in my little dream world, ok?
Taking a 'No poetry after Auschwitz' point of view?
Cinderella Man was an excellent, very engrossing movie. And I'm looking forward to seeing "Fantastic Four", opening this weekend. (Burger King has the little action figures to tie in with the film. They're kinda cute. Of course I'll pass 'em on to the kiddies when I'm done tweaking their arms, hehehe.)
"Well Passion was not a political film."
Woah, Nellie!
It struck straight to the heart of America's culture war, and I don't see how you can divorce that from the political in America today.
I beg to differ, my dear. The slump is very real for those fools.
The Passion, recall, wasn't an official "hollywood" production.
The box office didn't make money. Mr. Gibson and a few brave distributors did.
And they'd rather you didn't mention it, lest they be reminded.
I don't want it made trivial. One day, in the far distant future, they will allow people to view all of the footage shot that day. But I can't see it happening any time soon.
It became political because of the way it was recieved. Mostly by the people foolishly protesting it.
Also, I'v discovered a good series on PBS's "Mystery": the Inspector Linley series. Two more eps air the next two Sunday eves at 9 PM, repeat early Tues at 2 AM. The four episode series airs again in August.
Just making it was a political act, similar to Judge Moore's refusal to take down the Ten Commandments.
If someone were to take some advanced electronics to the Superbowl and override all the announcers and broadcasters with a pre-game prayer, in one sense that would be a religious act, but given the attacks on our constitutional freedom of religion, it would also be blatantly political.
But of course, it goes without saying that a patriotic 9/11 movie would be politicized well before it even came out by all the usual hate-America pressure groups on the left.
See the earlier post on this thread.
Which one? There are 195 of them, and only one is yours.
With the low cost of renting movies, seeing them on pay-per-view, or outright purchasing them, people just aren't going to the theatres any more. Hollywood is going to have to get used to that.
That's a good point. In many cases it's literally cheaper to buy a movie then to see it in a theater.
Follow the link to the post I was replying to (To 39).
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