The Movie Business

[somerfrost]

Wow, I don't see how some studios stay in business based on their recent releases dismal performance at the box office, they produce crap and nobody goes, some recent examples:
The Black Dahlia...out 19 days, $21,100,000...cost, $50,000,000
Flyboys (a real dog)...out 12 days, $10,300,000...cost, $60,000,000
School For Scoundrels...out 5 days, $9,700,000...cost, $35,000,000
Open Season...out 5 days, $26,300,000...cost, $85,000,000
Compare that to...Jackass II...out 12 days, $54,400,000...cost, $11,500,000
Keep in mind that studios get about 55% of domestic box and the costs are production costs only, advertising can be salty as well! I know they get DVD sales and sell the movies to TV but damn...somebody is losing money here!
A movie like Superman cost $270,000,000 in production alone, it's taken in about $199,000,000 both here and overseas (studios get only about 33% of those dollars) so while lots of folks saw it and it will sell a lot of DVD's...they still need a hundred million more to break even PLUS ad costs!