Hollywood braced for budget cuts

[bijou]

After a summer bursting with expensive box office flops, a film made for a paltry $15,000 and starring an unknown cast is shaping up to become one of the year’s surprise successes.

Paranormal Activity, a horror film in the mould of the Blair Witch Project, has been selling out midnight screenings in a handful of US cities and looks set to become a bona fide hit when it is released across the US by Paramount this month.

The positive buzz surrounding the film is in sharp contrast to the negative reaction afforded several big budget releases this summer that flopped at the box office. As Hollywood studios tighten their belts, the lower budget film could be a sign of things to come.

The average cost of producing and marketing a studio movie has risen more than 6 per cent since 2007, according to The Motion Picture Association of America, while in the past 12 months profitable revenue streams, such as DVD sales, have sharply declined.

This has left the film industry facing some difficult choices. At Universal Pictures and Walt Disney, where several costly films have flopped recently, new strategies are being drawn up and senior executives have been replaced....

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edd9a0e8-b29e-11de-b7d2-00144feab49a.html

Perhaps they could make movies that people want to see. Just an idea!

[thundley4]

I haven't been to see a movie in a theater in over 10 years. We prefer to watch them in comfort, and having control of the volume. We subscribe to all the available movie channels,(that may change soon), buy DVD's and download movies.  I don't see the need to go and watch them at theaters.