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‘Compass’ Can’t Cure What Ails Box Office (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
The New York Times ^ | December 10, 2007 | Brooks Barnes

Posted on 12/10/2007 3:28:24 AM PST by abb

Hollywood is counting on the impending arrival of a naughty chipmunk, a treasure hunter and Will Smith to reverse a lingering box office malaise that deepened over the weekend with disappointing sales for “The Golden Compass.”

The movie business is running into the 2007 home stretch with a serious limp. Measured in dollars, ticket sales for the crucial holiday season, which began Nov. 2, are down 6 percent through Sunday compared with last year, according to the box-office tracking company Media by Numbers. Attendance, meanwhile, is off by more than 10 percent.

snip

Through summer’s end the box-office story was a much happier one for the studios as films like “300,” “The Simpsons Movie” and the latest chapter of “Pirates of the Caribbean” helped send attendance up 3 percent and ticket sales up 7 percent. But those gains have been whittled away as the mediocre holiday ticket sales have followed a lackluster September and October, when a glut of war-theme movies bombed, and high-wattage stars like Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller drew yawns. Of the past 12 weekends only one delivered an uptick in year-on-year ticket sales, courtesy of “American Gangster” and “Bee Movie.”

The holiday season could still rebound. Several high-profile pictures roll out in coming weeks, including a family movie from Fox (“Alvin and the Chipmunks”) and a big-budget sequel from Walt Disney (“National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” starring Nicolas Cage). Warner Brothers hopes Mr. Smith will turn “I Am Legend” into a blockbuster.

snip

It got more like a punch in the face from “The Golden Compass.” After mixed reviews and threats of a boycott by religious groups, that film sold $26.1 million worth of tickets at theaters in the United States and Canada in its first three days of release.

snip

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: compass; dbm; goldencompass; hollywood; movies
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Monday Morning Good News!
1 posted on 12/10/2007 3:28:27 AM PST by abb
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To: 04-Bravo; aimhigh; andyandval; Arizona Carolyn; backhoe; Bahbah; bert; bilhosty; Caipirabob; ...

ping


2 posted on 12/10/2007 3:29:00 AM PST by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: abb
" when a glut of war-theme anti-war-theme movies bombed"

Much more realistic.

3 posted on 12/10/2007 3:33:43 AM PST by Post-Neolithic (Money only makes Communists rich Communists)
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To: abb
$26.1 Million for the first weekend of The Golden Compass.

This is better than I dared hope. The studio was talking it down, and saying they were hoping for $30 to $40 Million. They did not even make that reduced figure.

This should be a wake-up call to Hollywood that people take attempts to tamper with their children's religious beliefs seriously. Of course it will not.

They will do like the NY Times is doing here, and speculate about some generalized malaise in the movie industry instead of focusing on the fact that their agenda driven movies Rendition, Lions for Lambs, Redacted, The Golden Compass etc, have actively driven away the viewing public. There are limits to what they can get away with. No child wants to hear that.

4 posted on 12/10/2007 3:47:00 AM PST by gridlock (Recycling is the new Religion.)
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To: Post-Neolithic

Oh well, with war comes bombs.


5 posted on 12/10/2007 3:49:09 AM PST by Socratic (“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom)
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To: abb
I can’t imagine why they would be having difficulties what with all of their Liberal and anti-Christian themes. What’s not to like?

I guess at some point Hollywood and the media will have a “come to Jesus moment” (Ahem, no pun intended) and stop their incessant indulgence in their own personal fantasies and feelings. A business can’t really survive for long if it regards it’s consumers as ignorant rubes to be hectored and inculcated with “correct thinking”.

Then again, the Liberal faithful have never been anything other than arrogant and narcissistic, so perhaps they will go down with the ship.

6 posted on 12/10/2007 3:51:22 AM PST by Carbonado
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To: abb

> ... lingering box office malaise ...

People may finally be objecting to 10% of every movie
ticket dollar going to the DNC.


7 posted on 12/10/2007 3:55:16 AM PST by Boundless (Legacy Media is hazardous to your mental health)
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To: Boundless
People may finally be objecting to 10% of every movie ticket dollar going to the DNC.

Unlikely, since according to the most recent Kongressional elections over half of the populace votes Democrat anyway.

8 posted on 12/10/2007 3:58:38 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your most dangerous enemy is your own government, Benito Guilinni a short man in search of a balcony)
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To: abb

So sorry it didn’t work out...should have brought it out on Halloween, rather than Christmas.

They’ll never learn.


9 posted on 12/10/2007 4:00:53 AM PST by madison10
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To: abb
"Measured in dollars, ticket sales are down 6 percent. Attendance, meanwhile, is off by more than 10 percent."

Typical liberal solution: When sales are down, raise prices. No wonder people are staying away in droves.

10 posted on 12/10/2007 4:10:13 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Planting trees to offset carbon emissions is like drinking water to offset rising ocean levels)
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To: from occupied ga
Unlikely, since according to the most recent Kongressional elections over half of the populace votes Democrat anyway

I was sort of depressed this weekend thinking about this. But then it occurred to me that, if it were true, the rats wouldn't need vote fraud to win elections.

Perhaps the country isn't as far gone as it would seem as first glance...
11 posted on 12/10/2007 4:11:40 AM PST by chrisser (Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between “conservation” and the neutron bomb.”- Mark Steyn)
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To: gridlock

Enchanted took in 50 million in it’s first weekend.

YES!!!!!!!

Go see Enchanted.


12 posted on 12/10/2007 4:17:06 AM PST by netmilsmom (Putting James Marsden's kids through college, 1 ticket, 1 DVD at a time.)
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To: gridlock
This should be a wake-up call to Hollywood that people take attempts to tamper with their children’s religious beliefs seriously. Of course it will not.

See my tagline.
13 posted on 12/10/2007 4:17:23 AM PST by Cheburashka (Liberals never think what they have done is wrong, they think they haven't done it enough yet.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

Unless they’re lying and saying they’re selling more tickets than they actually are...

I mean, I don’t know where they get the stats from or anything. I’m just putting it out there.


14 posted on 12/10/2007 4:22:04 AM PST by YoungHickey ("Those who say it can't be done should not interupt those doing it.")
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To: abb

It’s The Fall of the Hollywood Traitor movies.


15 posted on 12/10/2007 4:30:35 AM PST by DGHoodini (The Dems no longer have the humanity to grasp that there are things worth dying for.)
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To: Boundless
People may finally be objecting to 10% of every movie ticket dollar going to the DNC.

A lot of it is due to ticket price inflation, plus the increasing number of high-def big-screen TVs in homes

Why should I spend $40 - $50 bucks taking my family to the movies when I can rent a movie for $3?

16 posted on 12/10/2007 4:42:43 AM PST by PapaBear3625
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To: netmilsmom

We really liked 'Enchanted' too! A fun time at the movies...

17 posted on 12/10/2007 4:44:39 AM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
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To: netmilsmom
Enchanted took in 50 million in it’s first weekend.

Excellent kid-friendly movie. Saw it with my daughters this weekend

18 posted on 12/10/2007 4:48:28 AM PST by PapaBear3625
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To: abb
Maybe I'm wrong but "I am legend" looks like a remake of the old Vincent Price thriller "The Last man on Earth".

"Morgan!! Morgan!!"

It still freaks me out

19 posted on 12/10/2007 4:48:36 AM PST by Pietro
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To: Pietro

I’m already confused by the ads for “I Am Legend”. He’s been the last guy on earth for 3 years, yet he has gasoline for his car and, it appears, electricity?


20 posted on 12/10/2007 4:53:24 AM PST by TexasNative2000 (Is this tagline governed by McCain-Feingold?)
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