The Summer Belly Flop

The New York Times recently ran an article about Hollywood seeing disappointing numbers at the box office this summer. Let this be a message from the public to Hollywood – give us good movies, not just sitcom re-dos and sequel after sequel.

”Part of this is the fact that the movies may not have lived up to the expectations of the audience, not just in this year, but in years prior," said Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment

So it seems that the chairman of Sony Pictures is admitting that they were relying on the gullibility and boredom of “Joe Sixpack” to go to the movies. I can almost here a modified voice a-la Field of Dreams “If you make it, they will come”. It is finally starting to come back and bite Hollywood, now that DVD sales growth is slowing down, and big budget movies are flopping in triumphant fashion.

The current issue of Rolling Stone states:
“Dukes of Hazzard: Zero Stars! Can Movies Get any Worse?”

Wait a second, you’re telling me that a movie starring Johnny “Jackass” Knoxville, Sean William Scott (the actor still referred to as the guy who played Stiffler), and Jessica “Tuna is the chicken of the sea” Simpson didn’t give Oscar worthy performances?! You’re right that would be expecting too much, but it’s like they couldn’t even get their “big star” to promote this movie so they had to rely on Jessica Simpson’s uhmm…talents *wink* to promote the movie.

Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal, said Hollywood has been too focused on short-term box office payoff and not focused enough on what he called "the most elemental factor of all" - the satisfaction of the moviegoing experience.

So now that the idea that piracy is not the sole reason for the drop of revenue, and the demand for quality movies has started, maybe the music industry will get the hint as well. It will be safe to say that people aren’t dying to see I Dream of Jeanie the Movie, Kicking and Screaming 2: Harder and Louder, or a remake of Bullit. Although the latter would have been rushed to production on the heels of The Fast and the Furious and Gone in 60 Seconds.

If you make it, they wont necessarily come…