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 ...
The chickens coming home to roost.
There is only one problem with this. It is only taking into consideration one source of revenue. Total income for all we know could be way up if other sources are included like dvd sales, cable and tv, foreign box office etc etc.
Ive not seen any movies nor do I plan to.
I strictly limit my viewing to programs/movies that are pro American 100% of the time.
Got some recommendations for us?
"Could it be that, when the price of basics goes up, discretionary spending goes down?
Gee, I would love to go to the movies, but the price of gas is too high...
Boo Hoo... Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch.
Actually I think media companies make more than ever these days.
Box office accounts for less and less of total revenues. DVD sales and PPV sales are through the roof.
IMHO, leftist Hollyweirdos make more than ever - someone prove me wrong.
Hey jack! It's Us :^) Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel. ;^)
19... 19... 19... I have 19... do I hear 20???
They suck in Hollywood
the leftist pinko scum in Hollywood
Theyre really proud that they destroyed our culture
each money vulture
Laughs as he goes to the bank
They give opinions to all their minions
Who believe them when its the fans they thank
They suck in Hollywood
theyre so political in Hollywood
They claim compassion that is very phony
its all baloney
They covet each others wives
Its T & A theyre grabbing
into backs theyre stabbing
They lead such scandalous lives
They suck in Hollywood
weve really heard enough from Hollywood
They play a role and then theyre testifying
but whos relying
On what these airheads will say
Theyre merely acting and fan attracting
Why do people give them the time of day?
They suck in Hollywood
how many breasts are real in Hollywood?
Its for our planet that they say theyre caring
theres no ride sharing
Theyre in their own limousine
And as I watch them fake it...I'll no longer take it
Theyre reading lines in a scene
Ask, and you shall receive. Here's a Reuters article from a couple of days ago: DVD slump challenges studios.
I'm a little surprised. I thought DVD sales would be more popular than ever because of the increasing aversion to watching movies in theaters.
Yup. I was surprised, too. When I began hearing the news that theater-ticket sales were down, I didn't think much of it because, like many here, I just assumed people were transfering their spending from the movie theaters to DVD and PPV. However, we're being proved wrong.
Actually, this is one instance where I don't mind being wrong. Instead, it's a pleasant surprise. :-)
We cancelled cable & haven't even re-hooked up the DVD player. Don't even have the TV plugged in. With the 'net, who misses them?
The more actors open their politcal mouths, the less money H'wood will make.
Thanks, SSR1:
It's just that spent most of my childhood weekends either at the Langley Theater outside Takoma Park, MD. Or at the Chillum Drive-In.
Even the worst low budget cheapies I remember from then are far, far better than most of the dreck today.
At least films then moved you. Most films today, you forget a few minutes after you've seen it.
Jack.
I suspect it has to do with the quality of what's being offered. Few movies I want to see, fewer still I want to own.
When the money people wake up and realize what side their bread is buttered on, maybe they'll change...or lose out to someone who steps up to fill in the vacuum.
BTTT
I saw War of the Worlds this weekend. They spent a hundred million on special effects and about six bucks on the script. Take away all the special effects and it makes Roger Corman look like Ibsen.
The central message of Life After Television for the film industry is that the new technologies are targeted directly at Hollywood. Today some 70 percent of the costs of a film go to distribution and advertising. In every industry -- from retailing to insurance -- the key impact of the computer-networking revolution is to collapse the costs of distribution and remove the middlemen. In an information industry such as the movie business, distribution costs will predictably plummet. p 203
Anyone with access to the information highway will be able to distribute a film at a tiny fraction of current costs. Moreover, webs of glass and light will free the producer from the burden of creating a product that can attract miscellaneous audiences to theaters. Instead producers will be able to reach equally large but more specialized audiences dispersed around the globe. Rather than making lowest-common-denominator appeals to the masses, film-makers will be able to appeal to the special interests, ambitions, and curiosities of individuals anywhere, anytime. p 204
Just as digital desktop publishing equipment unleashed thousands of new text publishing companies, so the new digital desktop video publishing will unleash thousands of new filmmakers. The video business will increasingly resemble not the current film business, in which output is a hundred or so movies a year, but the book business, in which some 55,000 new hardcover titles are published annually in the U.S. alone. After all, scores of thousands of screenplays are already written every year. In the next decade, thousands of screenwriters will be able to make and distribute their own films. p 204
Generally a director is more important to a movie then the writer. WOTW is a great piece of cinema that's concerned with nothing more then provoking tension. It's a throwback to stuff like Duel. That didn't have a great script either.
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