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poorwebmaster · 10-15-2005, 12:53 PM

This Just in: Flops Caused Box Office Slump
# Studio execs who pinned problems on factors beyond their control now take responsibility.

By Claudia Eller and John Horn, Times Staff Writers

One of Hollywood's basic tenets is that when things go wrong it's somebody else's fault.

Which is why it's so startling, suddenly, to hear studio executives and producers taking responsibility for the rows of empty seats in movie theaters this year.

"It's really easy for all of us to blame the condition of the theaters, gas prices, alternative media, the population changes and everything else I've heard myself say," said Sony Pictures Vice Chairman Amy Pascal, whose summer releases "Bewitched" and "Stealth" flopped. "I think it has to do with the movies themselves."

After months of hand-wringing and doomsday forecasts about the permanent erosion of moviegoing, the lunchtime chatter at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills and other industry haunts has turned decidedly inward. Now, four straight weekends of crowded theaters have forced moguls and creative executives to admit in public what they have spent months avoiding: They were clueless about what audiences wanted.

"There's always a year when the pundits say the movie business is over," said producer Brian Grazer, whose May release "Cinderella Man" was a disappointment despite strong reviews. "If there's a movie people want to see, they go see it. I just think we all have to do our best to make better movies."

Credit a healthy September with showing that people haven't completely rejected the multiplex. "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "Transporter 2" both drew throngs of moviegoers. Last weekend "Flightplan" (also produced by Grazer) and "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" pushed the box office 41% above the same weekend in 2004. From Labor Day through last weekend, grosses were 17% above a year earlier.

Nobody is predicting that 2005 will beat last year's record gross of $9.4 billion and attendance of 1.5 billion, which was driven by such hits as "Shrek 2," "Spider-Man 2," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and the surprise blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ." And this weekend may well fall short of a year ago, when the animated comedy "Shark Tale" surged to $47 million.

Still, to date, ticket sales lag behind 2004's numbers by only 6%, with attendance off 8.7%. Both those numbers are a vast improvement from a string of weekends this spring, when year-to-year comparisons frequently showed double-digit drops.

So much for the irreversible trends that prognosticators have spent months bemoaning. Amid 19 weekends of diminished box office ? a record stretch that started in late February and ended in early July ? many said they believed a cultural sea change was underway. Among the theories: People preferred to consume their entertainment in the comfort of their homes, whether watching DVDs on super-sharp plasma screens, surfing the Internet or playing video games.

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10-15-2005, 12:53 PM
poorwebmaster Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Earth Posts: 1,137	Movie sales down because movies suck, "no shit" sherlock. (I told ya so) This Just in: Flops Caused Box Office Slump # Studio execs who pinned problems on factors beyond their control now take responsibility. By Claudia Eller and John Horn, Times Staff Writers One of Hollywood's basic tenets is that when things go wrong it's somebody else's fault. Which is why it's so startling, suddenly, to hear studio executives and producers taking responsibility for the rows of empty seats in movie theaters this year. "It's really easy for all of us to blame the condition of the theaters, gas prices, alternative media, the population changes and everything else I've heard myself say," said Sony Pictures Vice Chairman Amy Pascal, whose summer releases "Bewitched" and "Stealth" flopped. "I think it has to do with the movies themselves." After months of hand-wringing and doomsday forecasts about the permanent erosion of moviegoing, the lunchtime chatter at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills and other industry haunts has turned decidedly inward. Now, four straight weekends of crowded theaters have forced moguls and creative executives to admit in public what they have spent months avoiding: They were clueless about what audiences wanted. "There's always a year when the pundits say the movie business is over," said producer Brian Grazer, whose May release "Cinderella Man" was a disappointment despite strong reviews. "If there's a movie people want to see, they go see it. I just think we all have to do our best to make better movies." Credit a healthy September with showing that people haven't completely rejected the multiplex. "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "Transporter 2" both drew throngs of moviegoers. Last weekend "Flightplan" (also produced by Grazer) and "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" pushed the box office 41% above the same weekend in 2004. From Labor Day through last weekend, grosses were 17% above a year earlier. Nobody is predicting that 2005 will beat last year's record gross of $9.4 billion and attendance of 1.5 billion, which was driven by such hits as "Shrek 2," "Spider-Man 2," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and the surprise blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ." And this weekend may well fall short of a year ago, when the animated comedy "Shark Tale" surged to $47 million. Still, to date, ticket sales lag behind 2004's numbers by only 6%, with attendance off 8.7%. Both those numbers are a vast improvement from a string of weekends this spring, when year-to-year comparisons frequently showed double-digit drops. So much for the irreversible trends that prognosticators have spent months bemoaning. Amid 19 weekends of diminished box office ? a record stretch that started in late February and ended in early July ? many said they believed a cultural sea change was underway. Among the theories: People preferred to consume their entertainment in the comfort of their homes, whether watching DVDs on super-sharp plasma screens, surfing the Internet or playing video games. .... __________________