bad news: Box Office Slump Good for Hollywood Propaganda

Disappointing business at the box office this past weekend adds to the news-making slump in movie grosses comparative to 2004. Now in a record eighteen-weekend losing streak that finally surpasses the seventeen-weekend rut of 1985, the motion picture industry appears to be taking the news lightly. Why? Because the MPAA has just won a bigger battle, and the illusion of lowered returns only serves as an encouragement for what plans they take next.

As usual, the news reports are a bit misleading. Most coverage gives the full story, but as many readers don't get much further than a headline, people are getting the idea that overall attendance and business is down. Not necessarily true. Most of the big films this year have made the greater of their grosses on weekdays; Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins and others have debuted mid-week, and the money earned on their opening days do not figure into the weekend figures. This wednesday's opening of War of the Worlds will not help matters, either. Another factor is 2004's record business -thanks partially to trendy draws The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 -making it a hard year to beat regardless of otherwise diminishing returns.

So despite the buzz, this new record shouldn't be hurting anyone in Hollywood, although it may still be a concern of some exhibitors. Theatre owners tend to revolve business around weekend attendance rather than that of mid-week, and the slump is likely to affect concession sales. Still, the movie studios might want you to believe they’re hurting, and that piracy –not bad product –is the cause.

Thanks to a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court today (MGM v. Grokster), file-sharing programs are now liable for illegal trading of music and movies on the Internet because they encourage the activity. This “historic victory” (as MPAA President Dan Glickman referred to it) reverses the decisions of lower courts to fault only individuals doing the actual sharing. Hollywood is now permitted to sue Grokster as well as other P2P programs possibly resulting in the altogether disappearance of such supposed piracy aids.

Meanwhile, Hollywood has still not embraced any ideas for legitimate movie downloading.

Article Author: Film Cynic

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