II. The American Film Industry in 2006

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II. The American Film Industry in 2006

• SMST215-06B American Media
• Week 31 (August 2)

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Major characteristics

• Contined US domination of global markets (eg 2002
  income for US majors from movie release home
  video TVUS37.3 billion)
• Further consolidation/conglomeration of global,
  US-based production and distribution companies -
  Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal,
  Disney.
• (Media congloms global grip grows Variety
  April 14-20, 2003)

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• large increase in marketing/publicity budgets
• tremendous increase in domestic (as against
  public) consumption of film, via VCR, pay TV,
  DVD, web downloads, mobile technology. By 2003,
  home entertainment market more profitable than
  b.o.)

4

• Independently-produced My Big Fat Greek Wedding
  (2002) most profitable movie of all time
  (costUS5 million b.o. US240 million)
• Shift from the film print, to digital forms.
• DVD rentals exceed VHS rentals. Box office
  decline
• Numerous b.o. successes (LOTR Harry Potter
  Spider Man) many more b.o. failures
• Domination of film releases by comic-book
  adaptations (Spider Man) serials (Star Wars)
  animated features (Finding Nemo, Shrek)
  childrens fantasy (Harry Potter) theme-park
  rides (Pirates of the Caribbean) re-makes
  (Superman, King Kong) computer games (Halo)

5

• Horror (eg Saw, Saw II, The Ring) continues to be
  the most profitable genre.
• Other shifts?
• Stars wars Hollywoods hold over who and what
  we watch is increasingly under attack from the
  rest of the world. Mark Broatch, Sunday Star
  Times, July 25 2004
• Hollywood turns off the money machine.
  Studios slash pig paydays as they discover
  movies can be blockbusters without stars John
  Hiscock, New Zealand Herald, July 17 2006
• Its time for Hollywood to embrace the
  internet. Peter Griffin, New Zealand Herald, July
  2005