Instant Messaging to Blame for Lackluster Box Office?
August 22nd, 2003
Hollywood's 2003 summer will go down as major dissappointment. Several big-budget tentpoles ("The Hulk," "Gigli," and "Charlie's Angel's: Full Throttle") died quickly despite massive pre-release marketing. Movie executives are trying to find a reason for the low turnouts, afterall it can't be their fault, and according to reports they've found a scapegoat, and surprisingly it's not the screenwriter, it's you the moviegoer!
That's right, you and your cell phone (and computer) text messaging has Hollywood on its knees, or so says Rick Sands, COO of film studio Miramax. "In the old days, there used to be a term 'buying your gross,'" stated Sands. "You could buy your gross for the weekend and overcome bad word of mouth, because it took time to filter out into the general audience." What Sands is essentially stating is that information flows much faster than it used to, and word of a movie's onscreen palatability now travels in hours, not days or weeks.
Text messaging is the key, complains Sands, because moviegoers are "txting" their friends while still viewing the movie. As a result, second week falloffs for films are at 51%, up from 40% 5 years ago. Movie execs are griping that their films aren't given a second chance because the movie comes and goes through the theater so quickly.
(Source: http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Aug/gee20030822021436.htm)
That's right, you and your cell phone (and computer) text messaging has Hollywood on its knees, or so says Rick Sands, COO of film studio Miramax. "In the old days, there used to be a term 'buying your gross,'" stated Sands. "You could buy your gross for the weekend and overcome bad word of mouth, because it took time to filter out into the general audience." What Sands is essentially stating is that information flows much faster than it used to, and word of a movie's onscreen palatability now travels in hours, not days or weeks.
Text messaging is the key, complains Sands, because moviegoers are "txting" their friends while still viewing the movie. As a result, second week falloffs for films are at 51%, up from 40% 5 years ago. Movie execs are griping that their films aren't given a second chance because the movie comes and goes through the theater so quickly.
(Source: http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Aug/gee20030822021436.htm)
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