Posted on 12/13/2005 11:34:35 AM PST by Millee
Even a much-hyped giant gorilla, a geisha and a schoolboy magician won't be able to create a happy ending at the US box office, as Hollywood ends its most disappointing year in nearly two decades. Plunging movie ticket sales, after a string of uninspiring remakes and movie sequels coupled with an explosion of the DVD and video game markets, are keeping audiences at home and have sent Hollywood into a deep existential crisis. "This industry is facing significant challenges said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp, a business support and research body.
Ticket sale revenues dropped five percent in the first 11 months of 2005 while the number of Americans going to the cinema fell by 6.2 percent compared with the same period in 2004, according to box office trackers Exhibitor Relations Co Inc.
The result is Tinseltown's most disappointing box office performance in 15 years as audiences, dazzled by their entertainment choices and disappointed by the mediocre films on offer, turned away from the cinema in droves.
Even the late November and December releases of blockbusters "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "King Kong", "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" are unlikely to turn around the downward trend.
"It's not just a slump in box office, but also in sales of DVDs," Kyser told AFP. "This is mainly because of unattractive movies that don't appeal to young male audiences, the cost of movie tickets, parking, the shrinking window a movie's theatrical and DVD releases.
In addition, Hollywood faces a major external threat: runaway production costs, the growing trend of movie producers to shoot in places such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand to cash in on much lower staff and production charges.
"Some studios are doing some moderate lay offs. LA's future is at stake," Kyser said, demonstrating the depth of despair in the nine-billion-dollar a year industry.
Industry movers are battling to isolate the true causes of the slump, crossing their fingers that the big-budget money-spinners up Hollywood's sleeve will help ease the pain.
"Is it the movies? Is it the ticket prices? Is it because home theater and DVD?," pondered Exhibitor Relations Co's chief Paul Dergarabedian."I think is it because all this happening at the same time, it is a combination of facts."
But he was optimistic for the future of the industry, saying that when Hollywood does dish up a good film, audiences still go rushing to see it.
"'Harry Potter' is showing that people still want to go to the movies but still they need a good reason to go," Dergarabedian told AFP.
The fourth film of JK Rowling's cult novels opened on November 18 and has so far raked in 244 million dollars, making it second most successful film of 2005, behind "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith".
"When a good movie strikes, people go to the theatres," said Dergarabedian.
The last in the "Star Wars" series raked in a whopping 380 million dollars in North American box office, "War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise took 234 million, the comedy "Wedding Crashers" notched up 208 million in ticket receipts and Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" took 206 million.
But the successes were few and far between in 2005.
Ron Howard's 88-million-dollar biopic "Cinderella Man," starring Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, took only 61 million dollars, while Ridley Scott's crusade epic "Kingdom of Heaven," which cost 130 million dollars to make, reaped only 47 million at the all-important domestic the box office.
Other fizzlers that did not recoup their budgets included the much-touted sci-fi flop "The Island," which hauled in only 35 million dollars, while Jamie Foxx's military drama "Stealth" bombed with a US and Canadian haul of 31 million dollars. It quickly disappeared from screens.
"Movie goers are very picky and they want the price of the ticket to be worthwhile, the studios had to offer more," said Gitesh Pandya of movie industry tracker Box Office Guru.
"There should be more creativity and new ideas, not just sequels and remake. Let's hope Hollywood listens to the audiences," he added.
Because "The Passion of The Christ" was true work of art. The most powerful I have experienced. It leaves Hollywood products looking like graffiti.
Don't worry. The Bareback Cowboys will save the day.
I'll tell you what started doing it for me long before I got tired of the political messages.
I liked a lot of different genres, and yes there were several leading men who were my favorite. At first, their love interests were my age, and I actually had some things in common with the love interest characters.
Fifteen years later, I still see my favorite leading men, and guess what, the leading ladies aren't like me. First, they are still the same age as I was 15 years before, and I have nothing in common with them.
After a while, when I went to movies, no matter what it was, I NEVER saw myself represented, and if they did have characters in my age range, they weren't very flattering, or they were fringe and unimportant.
I'm with you on that. He screwed the pooch in my book, and I used to really like him.
When I go to the movies I want to be entertained not preached to.
Wrong. Hollywood can blame it on the trash it is putting out at the box office and Hollyweird's actors, actresses, singers, songwriters, directors, and producers, the bulk of whom are communists/socialists/liberals, who are anti-God, anti-morals, anti-values, anti-American, anti-military, anti-patriotic, anti-conservative, anti-family, pro-homosexual, and in favor of life for murderers but in favor of death for innocents.
It's called: boycotting.
I think you just described television.
I might have been to a half-dozen movies this year, and that's a lot compared to recent years. The two big things are the price ($10 per ticket, and then I have to watch commercials before the movie?) along with the short time between the movie and DVD. If the DVD is $20 on discount and I can watch it when I want, as many times as I want and have my own cheap popcorn, why should I go to the theater?
The problem for the movie studios is two-fold: the movie genre is old - that's why they're constantly remaking old titles. Imgaine how fresh and interesting movies must have been the 1st time around in the 20s & 30s. In addtion, there are many other entertainment options to choose from, including well-known factors like computer-games, and also less obvous elements such as sports & travel.
Taken as a whole, entertainment is booming; looking at a certain sector like movies just means that perhaps its time has past.
Good plan. :)
ROTFL!
Here's a suggestion-
1. Come up with a GREAT story idea that is not a blatant advancement of an agenda of the radical left, gay, athiest, liberal Hollywood elitists.
2. Hire some fresh, new actors with TALENT who are not currently the bratty, obnoxious, political loudmouths we've come to know and HATE from Hollyweird.
I'd like to box the ears of the person who decided to sell candy in crinkly wrappers at theaters.
"My spending on video games has risen significantly in the last 5 years while my spending on movies has declined significantly."
I haven't considered that even though I have been doing the same.
I simply hate going to the movies because:
1. Other people talking during the movie.
2. The smell of other people's feet.
3. The constant lip smacking and crunching of people eating and slurping.
4. The indifference and lackluster customer service.
5. The traffic.
6. The parents that insist on bringing their babies and very young kids to the movie for some reason.
Don't watch a lot of movies, but if we do it is at home in front of the big screen. Furthermore, I think most of the movies nowadays are frankly nothing but bilge anyway.
Exactly---
I've been on a movie jag the last few weeks--
After a bit, I realized that everything I've watched has been pretty old-fashioned in message, method or story.
I mean, I've watched The Incredibles about 4 times,
all of Harry Potter's movies at least 3 times each,
All of LOTR more than twice,
Hellboy, Bridget Jones (both movies), Last of the Mohicans over and over....
There is a trend for sure--- heros, good guys winning, love and devotion etc.....
Oh yeah,
and The Christmas Story "You'll put your eye out!"
Touch of Evil is considered to be the best B movie ever made.
So you were the guy!
For me it's LoTR hangover... I waited in line to see those movies, three years in a row, more times than I can count. Loved them, and I hate theaters. Love movies, hate theaters.
We're ~thinking about~ seeing Narnia in the theater, but it has to be pretty special to get me in a theater.
"Touch of Evil" is a very good movie.
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