[IP] This Just in: Flops Caused Box Office Slump
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Forno <rforno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 1, 2005 11:49:57 AM EDT
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: This Just in: Flops Caused Box Office Slump
Give it a week, the MPAA will blame file-sharing for this slump and
say the
execs quoted in this article were quoted out of context....../
conspiracy.
-rick
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
October 1, 2005
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."
< snip >
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-boxoffice1oct01,0,5042859.story
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