A rough time at the Movies
Ars Technica has a
good story about Hollywood's late awakening.
Hollywood faces the music: bad movies mean bad ticket sales
Last summer's movie scene was a let down for Hollywood studio executives, and it looks like this year will be even worse, despite the best efforts of Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, and War of the Worlds. Attendance compared to last year is down 11.5 percent, and that leaves the industry rushing about looking for a way to stop the bleeding.
Of course, we all know that Hollywood is having a rough time in the theatres, but what's surprising about this New York Times article is that the studios are apparently now beginning to entertain one theory pertaining to their dwindling tickets sales that I never thought I'd see: that's right, they're on to the fact that most of their movies are garbage. Not only that, but they're also frustrated that they can't salvage their bad movies with marketing."Part of this is the fact that the movies may not have lived up to the expectations of the audience, not just in this year, but in years prior," said Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "Audiences have gotten smart to the marketing, and they can smell the good ones from the bad ones at a distance."
I'm not sure that Michael Lynton meant to admit that they knowingly bring bad films to the screen with the hopes of promotion and marketing victories, but he did. Add to that the fact that Sony had to settle a class action lawsuit for making up completely fake movie reviews involving a fictitious reviewer, and you've got the secret recipe for comedy gold.
Jan Jen and I can always tell when the trailer has the best shots.
The author brings up a very interesting idea:
This brings me back to something I've been calling for: simultaneous theatrical and DVD releases (and I like to throw in pay per view as well). Not everyone is a big fan of the idea, however. John Fithian, who happens to be the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said that the structure of the movie industry is "sound," and that Hollywood execs looking at simultaneous releases are issuing "death threats."
Actually, they're not death threats, they're wake-up calls. If you wanted to hear Beethoven 100 years ago, you went to the symphony because that was the only way you could hear and experience it. Now it's merely an option, and most of us listen to our modern "composers" on our own terms. In my area, two adult movie tickets will run US$22, and if you dare to get a medium popcorn and two drinks, that adds $10.50 to the cost. Sorry, but $32.50 is a ridiculous amount of money for that "experience," especially when two cans of coke and better popcorn at home costs $2, at most.
Posted by DaveH at August 25, 2005 7:51 PM