Posted on 11/23/2004 11:24:10 PM PST by kattracks
Lights! Camera! Agita!Despite monster hits like "The Incredibles" and "Shark Tale," Hollywood is hurting this season, with overall box-office earnings down well below the take in the same period for the previous two years.
In the 10 weeks from Labor Day to just before Thanksgiving, the film industry grossed $1.39 billion, down 14 percent from last year's record of $1.63 billion and off 12 percent from $1.59 billion in 2002.
Fall ticket sales were a bust as well, dropping 18 percent from last year's figure, from 268.3 million ducats to 219.9 million. This year's sales also were below the 222.8 million reported in 1998.
Analysts lamented that the first part of the post-summer season was, to put it in movie terms, a colossal bomb.
[snip]
The Hollywood Reporter blames a shorter-than-usual season for some of the drop in income. This year's fall season was one of the more frequently occurring 10-week periods, while the previous two years were both 11-week seasons.
But the industry mag concluded the dramatic decline was caused by a combination of bad movies and bad buzz about them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Rule of thumb is; a film must do 250% of costs, including Prints and Advertising (P&A) in order to break even.
"Cage is one hell of an actor. His performance in "Raising Arizona" was nothing short of brilliant."
I liked him in Con Air. I know, I know, gratitous violence and action, but he played a military hero who was a do the right thing kind of guy no matter what the cost, and saved the day. I liked his character.
But he has done a string of weird movies, maybe he was afraid of being typecast. But I am glad to see him back in an entertaining, instead of an artsy "statement" flick.
And twenty minutes of commercials!!
You're right about Cage, some of his early work was great. Even though the subject matter is very adult - I know a lot of you think that no movie about bad stuff can be good, and that's okay - his performance in "Leaving Las Vegas" is great. It's actually an excellent portrayal of the vacuous, emptiness found in a life seeking approval and wealth at the expense of more enduring things.
Stone actually couldn't get the picture funded in H'wood. Had to go to Europe.
I'm reading through this thread thinking so what? Ho-wood makes a bundle on the worst boxoffice losers in rental and overseas distribution. But now they're not doing well overseas? Can this be so? (I hope.)
I refuse to see anything that has Oliver Stone's name attached to it. Absolutely refuse, even when it's shown on TV in the comfort of my own home. He makes such garbage - it's incredible people will actually pay money to produce it in the first place, much less get suckered into paying for it at the box office.
You and I are thinking alike, but we just said it in a different way (re: Oliver Stone).
Nicolas Cage always sounds like he's got a cold or allergies or something. He's a mouth breather and his raspy voice bugs the you-know-what out of me.
Here's some of the cast:
Brad Pitt .... Rusty Ryan
Catherine Zeta-Jones .... Isabel Lahiri
George Clooney .... Danny Ocean
Julia Roberts .... Tess Ocean
Andy Garcia .... Terry Benedict
Casey Affleck .... Virgil Malloy
Dina Connolly .... Virgil's Fiancée
Scott Caan .... Turk Malloy
National Treasure is rated PG and is doing great at the box office. If it came out with an R-rating (which it probably would have had it been made five years ago instead of today) it would have made much less. There is a lesson there.
An example, I would normally go see the new Tom Hanks movie "Polar Express" at least for the sake of the animation. However, I am so sick of Non-Christian Christmas movies I will never see the movie, nor, will I ever watch any of the other idiot Christmas movies out there.
These people are really, really stupid making comments like that. They have absolutely no sense of survival LOL.
The more they talk their liberal politics, the worse they will do.
I love Throne of Blood. I've got the Dreams DVD from Netflix, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. I will soon though.
My fave so far by him is Rashomon. There's a movie that's too inventive and original to ever be made in Hollywood today.
Well I guess with that cast, I'll pass.
TC
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