6/23/06- Reuter's headline underscores a 14% decline in attendance since 2004... Attributed to lack of original material since 2004.. Too many sequels... Gee, why did original material peak in 2003 and 2004? and then taper off???
Good question for Linus....

It doesnt even have that much to do with creativity and originality. When was the last time the general movie going audience gave a rats ass about something original? It's about the fact that these sequels and remakes stink, they're just bad films.

Original material in '04? Didn't '04 have a record number of sequels?

Its more to do wil quality - but 2005 had some quality blockbuster films unlike this summer where MI3 and Cars are probably the best films so far.

However more than anything - it comes down to whether people want to see a film or not - and the DVD/piracy era has had an effect on Box Office whether people like to admit it or not.

BTW - do you have a link to the article?

i don't see much difference between 2004 output and 2006 output.

I still think it's the ticket sales and the theaters themselves.

As home entertainment becomes better and better with technically better screens with better color, etc. than many theaters, it becomes better and cheaper for your average family to stay at home watching a DVD. For a family of 5, a $19.99 DVD trumps a $30+ dollar night at the theater.

Now the theaters want people to pay more for that "privilage"

It's not worth it anymore in my opinion.

Great point. Why don't they try lowering the price of movies and maybe more of us will come.

The erosion in BO definatley comes down to DVD/Home experience aswell as piracy. Hence why i think overall box office is still strong.

Piracy really isn't that big of a deal, because the vast majority of users do not pirate, and those that do traditionally never fed into the box office in the first place. A kid may download 300 movies a year but he would have only gone to see 10 in the theaters, and chances are he still does. One of my friends pirates a ton, but as a working father with 2 very small kids, the alternative is not seeing anything (I still don't support his priacy though!).

How do I say this... it's like an Eminem CD. Despite the fact that there is piracy, his record sales were incredibly robust, the people that would download because they can would have traditionally never purchased the album to begin with (or gotten a cassette version off a friend, etc.).

Magnus makes valid points... What irks me is that many 'prime releases' build all the pressure to Friday.. Usually..
And then the parking lot overflows... They sell more tickets than can readily accomadated..
My answer- always offer the top release at a'true' matinee price on Saturday afternoon..
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Old School...

2005 wasd themost creative year in a while.

mr., mrs. smith, batman begins, wedding crashers, forty year old virgin.

Seriously. To say that 2004 was a better year than 2005 and 2006 doesn't strike me as true, but it's debateable. But to say that A) 2004 was a more original year, and B) That it was a better year is refelcted in the box-office is, you know, the absolute height of idiocy.

Seriously. To say that 2004 was a better year than 2005 and 2006 doesn't strike me as true, but it's debateable. But to say that A) 2004 was a more original year, and B) That it was a better year is refelcted in the box-office is, you know, the absolute height of idiocy.

I'd like to see more originality in Hollywood because I just don't care about the slump.

But the thing is, often times when a movie comes out of nowhere and makes a ton of money, it spawns sequels. Cases in point: Star Wars, Shrek, Meet the Parents, X-Men, Pirates of the Caribbean, Daredevil, King Kong, Rush Hour, Back to the Future, Rocky, Alien, etc. While many of the sequels are good, a hell of a lot suck. And boom, there goes your originality as well.