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BOP Daily NewsMarch 18, 2005The spirit of BOP News lives on in
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| Those nutty science nerds at IMAX are at it again. The big screen (and I mean BIG) corporation has debuted their latest technological feat for the crowds at ShoWest. The idea is sublime. They have crafted a conversion device that allows any 2-D 35mm film stock to be transformed into a 3-D environment. Ain't it cool? Now, all some enterprising filmmaker has to do is shoot some 35mm footage of Pong. Then, we will finally be able to live the dream of the greatest game of all time being played in 3-D. The unspoken promises made in Tron have finally been brought to fruition! |
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2004 was a glorious year for bland, comfortable cinema. From the moment the FCC cracked the whip on CBS for a wardrobe malfunction, the message was sent loud and clear. It was to be a year of family-friendly entertainment, and the final box office numbers bear this out. For the first time in two decades, PG releases accrued more money than R titles. The younger-skewing titles, keyed by the Shrek, Pixar and Potter releases, earned an impressive $2.3 billion while R-rated productions managed $2.1 billion. But don't send a congratulatory note to the RNC just yet. When informed of these numbers, a spokesman for Vivid politely said 'congratulations' then mentioned that they remembered a time in the mid-90s when $2.3 billion seemed like a good year. Then, he hung up the phone and rolled around in wads of hundred dollar bills for a few minutes while shouting, "I'm rich! I'm rich! I'm fabulously wealthy!" |
| Speaking of box office news, new MPAA authority figurehead Dan Glickman offered up a couple of theoretically positive comments about the moviemaking business. Speaking at ShoWest 2005, Glickman stated without any note of irony that production and marketing costs were down 5% in 2004. This is good news for those of you ready to break open your piggybanks and set off to become movie moguls. All you need is a passbook account with $98 million in it, and you can sign McG to direct your dream movie where a man and a talking pie travel back in time for some reason. |
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Glickman later trumpeted the fact that marketing costs did a full reverse from 2003, when such charges spiked 28%. In 2004, advertising expenses and movie prints cost an average of $34.4 million, down 12%. The good news for you prospective moviemakers is that negative costs are only $63.6 million on average, meaning you can save over a third on the price of your movie as long as you can handle all the grass roots marketing yourself. But don't get too excited. You still have to pay the $98 million upfront then fill out a rebate form to Best Buy. Eight to 12 weeks later, they may or may not send you the rebate check of $34 million depending on whether the mood hits them. And God help you if you don't make a copy of your receipt and rebate form. |
"Why do they call you Red?"
"I guess it's because I'm Irish"
Previous edition's quote: Tombstone
Box Office Prophets offers quality, reliable news about the entertainment industry. BOP is also entertaining. To that end, please be advised that some content in this column is intended to be humorous and should not be considered factual.
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Saturday, April 27, 2024
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