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Star Wars Producer Says Box Office is Doomed

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Cutriss writes "Seen at CNN, this article interviews Rick McCallum, longtime producer at LucasFilms. McCallum says that DVDs will be responsible for the downfall of the movie industry *without* taking piracy into account, due to the fact that people think the home theatre experience is just as good, or better than the big screens, and they know that in five months, the DVD will be out on the market. Of course, his claim that "studios are barely breaking even" falls on deaf ears when I hear about 9-digit salaries for individual actors in a big-name film that's just some rehash of an old concept. He also mentions, of course, that DVD piracy and movie "sharing" groups will only speed up the cycle, and that they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years."

5 of 929 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Funny? He's serious (I think)! by Psmylie · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are theaters in my area that feature "crying rooms", where parents with crying babies can sit and still watch the movie.
    It's a nice feature. Too bad nobody uses it.

    --

    psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

  2. Re:Funny? He's serious (I think)! by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 4, Informative
    "I don't know about you, but the last few DVDs I bought have this 5 minute mandatory intro on them that plays before it gets to the main menu. The skip buttons are disabled during this thing, so you have to basically stop the DVD and then press play to get past the damn thing. I'm sure that this will be where trailers and teasers will be placed next."

    This is why you set up a linux box with ogle/videolan and use that as your DVD player. No FBI warning garbage, no macrovision, no regions, no disabled buttons, etc. Just the movie.

    I read one comment in another thread where the guy was so annoyed that whenever he bought a DVD, he ripped it, removed all the crap, and then reburned it.

  3. You think movies are expensive HERE? by Alkaiser · · Score: 5, Informative

    In Japan, the cost for me to go to see a movie is 1800 yen. About $16.50...to see a movie...at matinee hours.

    The theater experience is not, but it ain't that nice. Gimme DVD any day.

    --
    Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
  4. Re:They are also ridiculously expensive by kiwimate · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's worth mentioning this cinema is independant by the way, could that have anything to do with it?

    Yes.

    Check prices in London, and you'll find they're more in the £5 to £7 range.

    When I go to the independent cinema here in Pennsylvania, it's more like $5 US. And you actually get movies that are worth watching!

  5. CNN is owned by one of the largest movie corps by guttentag · · Score: 4, Informative
    CNN is owned by AOL, and it's under the knife. AOL has been talking to Disney about merging some of Disney-owned ABC News's operations with CNN's to cut costs.

    It's not hard to imagine a scenario where an AOL executive tells CNN to start running stories that support the media industry's demands for favorable treatment by Congress. CNN would claim that its "ethics" would never allow such a thing to occur, but cross-promotion is the whole reason AOL has formed its empire, and if it comes to a choice between the axe and "bending the ethics," I'm sure CNN will be quite flexible.