Plummeting 2005 box office sparks Hollywood crisis

AFP ^ | 12/13/05 | Staff

[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.

[kevkrom]

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.

California/Hollywood can still be the porn capital of the world, though, even after all of the mass-market productions have left for cheaper ground. It's about all they're good for anyway.

[One Proud Dad]

Same way with tv crap. Almost every show has at least one queer. Funny how they keep making that representive number climb from less than 1% of the population to 50% by their views.

[MamaB]

Poor LA. If they made movies which did not hate most of America, and other junk, then just maybe people would go to see them.

[b4its2late]

Plummeting 2005 box office sparks Hollywood crisis

Keep trying to get murders off, keep sticking up for losers, keep bashing the President when he's a Republican, keep saying clinton is the greatest, keep saying the election was a selection, keep denying 4 more years, keep saying you'll move to another country if the democrat loses, keep Michael Moore, Ed Anser, and Michael Jackson as your heroes...... You'll keep spiraling yourselves into the ground.

[Madeleine Ward]

I would still go to the theaters for a good movie, if they made them.

My husband and I tried a couple over the holidays. We liked Walk the Line, but didn't think it was GREAT.

And the Harry Potter movie was just a snoozer. Some really dead parts.

[JZelle]

Cinderella Man was good.

[najida]

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 think you hit on a big factor in movies....that people have to have characters they identify with and care about.

But when you don't see anyone you have anything in common with or worse, see 'you' treated with disrespect--- why go?

[CFC__VRWC]

I might have been to a half-dozen movies this year, and that's a lot compared to recent years.

I haven't been to a single one this year.. I went to all of three in 2004, a huge number for me. The only current movie I would even think about going to see is Walk the Line (I would want to read the C.S. Lewis book first before going to see Narnia - otherwise I wouldn't have a clue what was going on).

[toadthesecond]

For reference: All-Time Worldwide Boxoffice (from imdb)


1. Titanic (1997) $1,835,300,000
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1,129,219,252
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $968,600,000
4. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $922,379,000
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $921,600,000
6. Jurassic Park (1993) $919,700,000
7. Shrek 2 (2004) $880,871,036
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) $866,300,000
9. Finding Nemo (2003) $865,000,000
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $860,700,000
11. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $847,262,555
12. Independence Day (1996) $811,200,000
13. Spider-Man (2002) $806,700,000
14. Star Wars (1977) $797,900,000
15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) $789,458,727
16. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $783,577,893
17. The Lion King (1994) $783,400,000
18. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $756,700,000
19. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) $735,600,000
20. Forrest Gump (1994) $679,400,000
21. The Sixth Sense (1999) $661,500,000
22. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) $653,200,000
23. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) $648,200,000
24. The Incredibles (2004) $624,037,578
25. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) $614,300,000
26. The Passion of the Christ (2004) $604,370,943
27. Men in Black (1997) $587,200,000
28. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) $572,700,000
29. Armageddon (1998) $554,600,000
30. Mission: Impossible II (2000) $545,300,000
31. Home Alone (1990) $533,800,000
32. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) $533,800,000
33. War of the Worlds (2005) $529,300,000
34. Monsters, Inc. (2001) $528,900,000
35. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) $527,939,919
36. Ghost (1990) $517,600,000
37. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) $516,800,000
38. Aladdin (1992) $501,900,000
39. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) $494,800,000
40. Twister (1996) $494,700,000
41. Toy Story 2 (1999) $485,700,000
42. Troy (2004) $481,228,348
43. Saving Private Ryan (1998) $479,300,000
44. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) $470,656,431
45. Jaws (1975) $470,600,000
46. Pretty Woman (1990) $463,400,000
47. Bruce Almighty (2003) $458,900,000
48. The Matrix (1999) $456,300,000
49. Gladiator (2000) $456,200,000
50. Shrek (2001)

[kevkrom]

Don't forget marketing tie-ins, licensing, and product placement, too.

[gathersnomoss]

However the movie with the happy butt pokers will get an award from the self serving poo sniffers.

[p. henry]

Speaking of decades old movies, The Third Man with Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, and Trevor Howard was on recently. What a great movie.

[MamaB]

There is nothing to appeal to females either. I have not been to see a movie in about 8 or 10 years.

[mnehring]

We're ~thinking about~ seeing Narnia in the theater, but it has to be pretty special to get me in a theater.

It is worth seeing it in the theater unless you have a really great home theater and are willing to wait. Like LOTR, some things are best on the really really big screen. Even my 52" plasma doesn't give the same experience.

[ichabod1]

They only count the money. They never let you in on the head count.

[BurbankKarl]

Those ticket grosses are fudged....NO PUN INTENDED!

>>>I saw in Variety that that homosexual cowboy--shudder--movie ('Brokebutt Mountain' 'Buttstroke Mtn'?) is doing great, in limited release.
That is, in NY NY, El A and Frisco.

[Madeleine Ward]

Keep writing movies where conservative characters with conservatives values are made out to be the bad guys, and the liberal characters are the ones we are clearly supposed to be sympathetic with.

[gridlock]

Fear not, Hollywood. Brokeback Mountain will stem the tide...

[najida]

Funny how almost all those movies listed are pretty old fashioned in theme and not 'cutting' edge at all.

[HairOfTheDog]

Point taken, and we probably will - are there lines and sellouts for Narnia like there were for LoTR? I do love my elbow room.