Category: Movies

Domestic box office hit a record $10.6 billion in 2009 according to the MPAA and is on track to soar even higher this year. Worldwide box office hit $29.9 billion in 2009, up 7.6% over 2008.

The Blu-ray disc biz also boomed in the first quarter of 2010 vs. the same period last year, with sell-through up 74% and rentals up 36%, per trade org Digital Entertainment Group. Digital distribution, including download purchases and VOD, rose 27% to $617 million.

So why are the studios capping star salaries, laying off workers and squeezing suppliers?…

https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118018573.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

DVD revenue up 70 percent, driving parent company’s profits…

https://www.thewrap.com/article/redbox-dvd-rentals-soar-16863

The Chinese box office could approach $1.5 billion this year, a rise of 61% on the previous year…

https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118018633.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

3-D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood’s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the moviegoing experience. For some, it is an annoying distraction. For others, it creates nausea and headaches…

https://www.newsweek.com/id/237110

Vidstore banks on bigger kiosks

Blockbuster is tired of seeing red: The company is gearing up to battle Redbox for a major piece of the video rental kiosk business by installing thousands of its own boxes nationwide this summer…

https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118018342.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Congress has moved a step closer to banning trading of movie box office futures.

The ban has been incorporated into the final version of Wall Street reform legislation now on the Senate floor…

https://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/movie-futures-trading-ban-inches-closer-senate-16686

Featuring a 2D version of the theatrical blockbuster for now, DVDs and Blu-ray discs of James Cameron’s “Avatar” were flying off store shelves Thursday, the movie’s first day in stores…

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3icc341acc4f9c061e5afe8a406e552751

Some filmmakers fear the technology will eventually dictate which films are greenlighted.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-3ddirector-20100425,0,2986021.story

Netflix roundly beat Wall Street’s expectations with its latest quarterly earnings.

The video subscription service reported Wednesday that its net income rose 44 percent to $32.3 million, or 59 cents a share. Revenue climbed 25 percent to $493.7 million.

That was even better than expected…

https://www.thewrap.com/article/netflix-trumps-analyst-expectations-strong-quarter-16565

Hulu, the popular online site for watching television shows, plans to begin testing a subscription service as soon as May 24, according to people with knowledge of the plans.

Under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows like Fox’s “Glee,” “ABC’s “Lost” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” But viewers who want to see additional episodes would pay $9.95 a month to access a more comprehensive selection, called Hulu Plus, these people said…

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/04/hulu-pushes-forward-with-995-subscription-service.html