oh...thats hot!
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.
How about a violence tax on Hollywood movies? Get Rob Reiner to collect the moolah and get fatter
Another good one would be Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" series.
Lots of stuff besides hollywood
Millee,
Yup, Johnny does end up/June...they were actually married in real life for like 35 years....
Exactly. It has gotten to the point where we have to protect our children from the harmful, negative values promoted by TV. The sad part is that many parents are unable or unwilling to do it - the tragedy of "throwaway children," as some have labeled it.
It's the filth, the repetition, the concession prices, and the movie prices.
I foresee a new reality show called "P*ssy-Whipped" where female contestants will compete to see who can make her boyfriend see "Bareback Mountin".
But seriously folks, aren't we missing something this year ? A Mel Gibson movie. When the most popular male movie star vanishes because the sodomites and secularists have blacklisted him doesn't that create a big whole ? Weren't those missing dollars the Mel Gibson movie that wasn't ?
Isn't even a gay cowboy movie a remake? Midnight Cowboy was close enough to be first! lol
Hey your right, and guess who pushed that promiscuous behavior!
Joe Buck wasn't gay.
oh...thats hot!
>I like sci-fi too but I like more intellectual sci-fi instead of explosions, space battles, and bug-eyed aliens.
Serenity was relatively intellectual.
It is primarily the rise in ticket prices and the movies this year. Not to mention if I'm not mistaken 2004 was a record setting year for box office revenue. As nice as it would be for them that isn't going to happen every year. Next year is already looking like a big year though, Superman and X Men 3, Pirates of the Carribean 2 and Ice Age 2 all scheduled already. That doesn't even mention any surprise hits that may come out. The big problem with all of these is that they are sequels. Hopefully something original will come out. There is also a Miami Vice remake coming out, don't know how well that will be recieved. Although I think Michael Mann is directing and he usually does an outstanding job.
Now Hollywood is trying to build its hype around King Kong, but I am not watching it. Not in the theater, not on DVD. I already know what its about, why should I spend $10 bucks just to see some CG. I hate CG in the movies, the novelty of CG was gone after Jurassic park. If I want to see computer animation I will watch a cartoon.
The Aviator. Well worth watching.
Maybe America doesn't Hate America as much as SoddomWood Hates America??
Pray for W and Our Troops
I agree with you on North by Northwest, what a great movie that was!
The reason Hollywood movies don't make much money anymore is they don't know how to write good scripts like they used to.
I heard a fellow on the radio talking about how older screenwriters, with really good scripts in their past, can't get their scripts looked at anymore by the studios. The studios now only want to read scripts by young writers. So now what these older writers have to do is give their scripts to a younger writer and that younger person then pretends it's their script!
What's really funny is, if they are only interesting in seeing younger writers scripts and the box office is falling, why don't they hire some older writers to write for the older audience out there? Supposedly there is this huge wave of baby boomers out there, where are movies written for us?
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