BOX OFFICE DOWN 20% SO FAR THIS YEAR

During one of my panels at Tekkoshocon this past weekend I pointed out that the Theatrical Box Office is down 20% so far this year. Now comes an article, via Big Hollywood, supporting that claim.

While [Hop's] gross was slightly below the $38.1 million recorded for Rango last month, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was far overshadowed by last year’s Clash of the Titans, which opened during the same weekend (Easter weekend) with $61.2 million.

Indeed, the total domestic box office this weekend came in at 29.6 percent below the same weekend a year ago. For the year, total box-office revenue is down 20.3 percent, while attendance is down 21.5 percent.

A 20% loss in revenue and we are already 3 months into the year. This 20% loss in revenue is despite numerous large marketing campaigns by several studios for movies that have fizzled. If this keeps up it will cause a severe crimp in revenue (theatrical runs are 15% of a films total business) for the studios.

Now would be a good time for the people who "know this business" to explain how a 20% loss in revenue and losing 18 million subscribers is somehow a good thing.