Hollywood’s eye-popping summer earnings
p2pnet news view | Movies:- According to Hollywood’s MPAA, the movie industry is being torn apart by file sharers and counterfeiters, which it throws together in the same basket.
File sharers do exactly that. They share files. No money changes hands, no one loses something they used to own and it’s never been demonstrated that shared files equals sales lost, although the entertainment cartels disingenuously claim the opposite.
Moreover, it’s widely suggested that file sharing is in fact an invaluable form of viral marketing.
Counterfeiting and illegally reselling movies obtained by any means are, however, another matter.
They’re crimes and perpetrators deserve everything they get if they’re caught.
But on hysterical claims by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss Dan Glickman and his army of reality adjustment specialists that file sharing is an evil which MUST be stamped out at all costs because of the deleterious effect it’s having on the movie industry’s bottom line, Hollywood has never had it so good.
Ever.
In March Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney reported record revenues and now, “Summer box office takings in North America have broken the $4bn (£1.98bn) barrier for the first time,” says the BBC, going on:
Box office analysts Media By Numbers say the $4bn figure outclasses summer ticket sales of $3.95bn (£1.95bn) set in 2004.
Their estimates suggest that this summer’s box office returns will stand at $4.15bn (£2.05bn) by the time the season officially ends on 3 September.
But they added actual summer ticket sales are expected to be about $606 million, “only the sixth-best in modern times”.
What a shame.
According to the BBC, the top five North American movies were:
1 Superbad – $18m
2 The Bourne Ultimatum – $12.4m (pictured)
3 Rush Hour 3- $12.3m
4 Mr Bean’s Holiday – $10.1m
5 War – $10m
And all of them have been freely and easily available on the P2P networks since day one, if not before.
But that’s no excuse, Slickman & Co would no doubt argue.
Hollywood’s already obscene profits would have been even more eye-popping had not the movies shown up online, they’d claim.
Meanwhile, I wonder how much of this money will be channelled to all those thousands of support workers and their families who, according to Glickman, are suffering desperate hardships because of file sharing?
Don’t bother to answer.
Meanwhile, the disparity between reality and Hollywood claims of devastation is never mentioned in the lamescream media.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
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September 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am
How ironic, considering they’ve treated their consumers worse than ever this year. If only people could see the truth.
September 1st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Well with them making record profits AND calling “piracy” as their reason for the “losses” they have suffered…they cannot have their cake and eat it too!
Something has to give! Either they admit that piracy has not affected them as they have said or that they have not made as much as they claim…they can’t have BOTH!
September 1st, 2007 at 7:39 pm
This just proves once again that the sheeple will buy into whatever crap they are fed. It doesn’t matter how much they are crapped on by Big Media, they will continue to lap up the shit with gusto.
September 1st, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Wow! I’m shocked I thought that the movie industry loses billions every year beacause of “illiegal” filesharing, they made more money this year than they made two years ago despite the MPAA ferocius attacks on their customers who share files SIC
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Bloody Pirates!
Yarh! They’ve ruined yet another greedy season!