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Besieged Movie Industry Suffers Record Takings

nagora writes "The BBC is reporting that the movie industry, in yet another illustration of just how much damage the Internet is doing to the long-suffering members of the MPAA, has just endured a record breaking $1Billion dollar takings for the single month of June. Clearly there is a desperate need to tighten up copyright laws in the face of this huge mountain of cash that is literally being metaphorically syphoned into the studios' pockets. How will they survive? "

29 of 837 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait, does this mean you thought Dodgeball was good?!?

  2. It makes me want to ask... by Torinaga-Sama · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...how do they sleep at night?

    The answer however is to easy to come up with.

    Very comfortably, on a big pile of money.

    --
    (/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
  3. Let me get this straight... by eberry · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you release movies that people WANT to see (Harry Potter, Spiderman, Shrek); than people will pay to see a movie? No F***ING WAY! What a concept.

    Someone should report this new marking strategy of producing a quality product to the RIAA; maybe they can learn something.

    --
    Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lois, this isn't my Batman glass. - Peter
  4. Sounds painful by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Boy, it must really hurt to have that much money coming out of their a$$holes!

    --

    "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
  5. Grammar Nazism... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "literally being metaphorically syphoned"

    What the heck does that even mean???

    1. Re:Grammar Nazism... by wfberg · · Score: 5, Funny

      The article writer was almost exactly paraphrasing verbatim.

      --
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  6. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't believe you admitted publicly to downloading Gigli! I would never tarnish the pristine surface of my hard drive platter with that piece of shite ;)

  7. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by DaHat · · Score: 3, Funny

    I did... is that so bad?

  8. The Onion provides a suitable article... by tcopeland · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...sadly the full text is for subscribers only (and I'm not one), so the opening words will have to be sufficient:
    Kid Rock Starves To Death
    LOS ANGELES-MP3 piracy of copyrighted music claimed another victim Monday, when the emaciated body of rock-rap superstar Kid Rock was found on the median of La Cienega Boulevard.
    More here.
  9. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by iceT · · Score: 5, Funny

    I downloaded Gigli

    Wait... someone took the time to rip Gigli AND POST it somewhere?

    What a waste of bandwidth (both personal and network).

    --
    -- You can't idiot-proof anything, because they're always coming out with better idiots.
  10. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by lickalotapus · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, but some top executive did sit in a room, read the script to Hidalgo, and think it was a tremendous idea worth financing for millions of dollars. That movie made me want to kill horses and I'm no horse killer.

  11. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Funny

    You have to remember that most of the /. crowd are the reason dodgeball has disappeared from schools these days. They were on the receiving end of those vicious headshots, and took their revenge on the world by creating spam, computer virii, and distributing copyrighted material for free over the net...

    --
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  12. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by garcia · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...it was certainly better than the critically acclaimed "Gigli" or the various other fantastic movies that go straight to DVD.

    Do you understand what sarcasm is? See, me saying "critically acclaimed", "Gigli", "and other fantastic movies that go straight to DVD" was supposed to clue you in to the HUMOR.

  13. Re:For those that didn't read the article by swillden · · Score: 5, Funny

    The box office tally for June 2004 is 37% higher than the same period in 2001.

    Valenti's Response: Well, that would be good if we hadn't had 15% annual inflation over the last three years! We've lost money!

    (An aide quickly whispers in his ear)

    Valenti: Oh, uh, sorry, I've just been informed that the price of cocaine isn't a good measure of the economy as a whole. We'll get back to you on why only 37% growth isn't nearly enough to feed all of the starving actors and directors. But it's not, and it's all because of those stinking pirates.

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  14. Obligatory Simpsons Quote by Mastadex · · Score: 4, Funny

    Reinier Wolfcastle: Its me standing infront of a brick wall of three hours. It cost eighty milion dollars.

    Jay Sherman: [To Reinier Wolfcastle] How do you sleep at night??

    Wolfcastle: On top of a pile of money, with many beautiful ladies.

    Jay: Yeash, Just asking.

    --
    A morning without coffee is like something without something else.
  15. Our boycott ... by fayd · · Score: 5, Funny

    is really working out for us, they're really on the ropes now.

  16. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by TommydCat · · Score: 3, Funny
    Sad truth to the industry is that a good 75% of movies made are because of the "buzz" that surrounds the script and writer rather than anyone actually having read it or met the person.

    And yes, I made that number up!

    --
    This comment does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the author.
  17. Well this OBVIOUSLY prooves their point... by TheTXLibra · · Score: 3, Funny

    For you see, the poor movie industries only broke $1 Billion instead of $5 Billion. Obviously their profits were cut by 80% thanks to the evil Dr. Kazaa. Can't you see how they are now suffering? How our poor stars are only able to be afforded salaries in the lower nine digits? How the producers are barely able to make the payments on their own personal third-world countries, I will never know. This is an abomination that cannot be tolerated any longer.

    Why, even when they offer us the ridiculously low subsidy rate of a mere $25 per DVD, do those villanous pirates continue to destroy this sacred and nearly-profitless art? Why, when the movies are so kind as to offer us amazingly low discount prices on drinks, snacks, and tickets, do they feel the need to steal the very food from the mouths of babies dependent on those ticket-sales. Babies who will never see their own space-shuttle for their 5th birthday, but will have to wait until they are 6!!! SIX, I say!!!!

    The inhumanity of man towards man has indeed reached it's highest point, and I ask that we all bow our heads and weep for the loss of the Movie Industry, for it is they who suffer the most for our shortcomings as mere human beings.

    Amen.

    --
    -The Libra
    "Please be patient--The future will begin momentarily."
  18. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by GreyPoopon · · Score: 5, Funny
    I would never tarnish the pristine surface of my hard drive platter with that piece of shite ;)


    Maybe he downloaded it onto an old hard drive that was failing and then promptly threw it into the trash? :-)

    --

    GreyPoopon
    --
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  19. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by genkael · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, come now. You must admit that Hidalgo was the best Swedish actor playing a western cowboy racing through the Arabian Desert movie you've ever seen.

    --
    GeneralKael -- Slacker Extraordinaire
  20. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by red+floyd · · Score: 3, Funny

    Thank you, Chico Escuela.

    --
    The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
  21. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by glitch! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe he downloaded it onto an old hard drive that was failing and then promptly threw it into the trash? :-)

    That's an excellent point! It must be part of his disk wiping procedure. I guess it now goes something like, "zeros, alternating, ones, alternating, Gigli..."

    --
    A dingo ate my sig...
  22. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by Dr+Caleb · · Score: 4, Funny
    . . . the best Swedish actor playing a western cowboy racing through the Arabian Desert movie you've ever seen. . .

    . . .since 'Ishtar'. . .

    --
    "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
  23. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by tntguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pussies. The whole point of hitting them in the legs was to watch the jocks land flat on their face as their legs fell out from under them!

    /Former Catapult-Arm Nerd

  24. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by duffhuff · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's time to make a real stinker. One for the record books.

    While only a TV movie, 10.5, the show about a large earthquake hitting the US, was reportedly made because it was so bad that people would *want* to watch more reality TV after seeing it.

  25. "I, Robot". by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet they have discussions like this...

    Exec 1: Here we have a script in which malevolent robots run amok, and stylish humans with big guns save the world by shooting them.
    Exec 2: Hmm. How can we make it more marketable? What's a good name in robots?
    Exec 1: Well, Isaac Asimov looked at the current robot-story market of his day, and found it flooded with tales in which malevolent robots run amok, and stylish humans with big guns save the world by shooting them. He created the Three Laws to prevent himself from repeating this cliche, and created some of the most beloved SF stories of the era, collected in the omnibus "I, Robot".
    Exec 2: Catchy! We should use the name, draw in his fans.
    Exec 1: Should we change the plot to reflect his creative influence in any way whatsoever?
    Exec 2: Nah, too much work. just rename the eye-candy babe to "Susan Calvin".
    Exec 1: I can taste the box-office receipts already.

    Can you think of a better reason why they did it?!

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:"I, Robot". by kannibal_klown · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think it was more along the lines of:

      Exec 1: Let's do something classic and cerebral: a Sci-Fi Drama! Me and 'my boys' have been brain storming, and we think we should revive something of Isaac Asimov. He wrote TONS of high stuff, and a lot of people know his name.

      Exec 2: Hmm. Sounds neat. What classic stuff do we have to work with.

      Exec 1: Well, he wrote many thought-provoking stories. For example, moral stories of robots and AI, and how they relate with humans and develop wills of their own. Most notably is a collection of stories in "I, Robot." We were thinking of something following his theme.

      Exec 2: Sounds like "A.I." to me, and that movie stank! Ohh Ooh, how about this: Robots develop wills of their own, and run amok, killing humans everywhere. GREAT! It's SciFi AND Drama. And we'll call it "I, Robot."

      Exec 1: Well, uhh...

      Exec 2: We'll get some SciFi action actor to star, someone who's "hip." How about Will Smith, we'll even have him wear some cool sunglasses. The kids will eat it up.

      Exec 1: Actually, that sounds kinda lame. It sound like a cheezy actio....

      Exec 2: I can see it now. An army of robots with red eyes, climbing buildings like Spider-Man! It will make us a fortune. And anyone onboard will be FIRED.

      Exec 2: ...

      Exec 1: Well?

      Exec 1: Well, that sounds... great. I'll have my team re-write the script to your liking.

  26. literally metaphorically? by fa098h23fra · · Score: 3, Funny

    How is something both literal and methaphorical? Is that like spiderman being both a literal spider and a metaphor for, uhh, the decline of western civilization?

  27. Re:If they don't stop making shit movies they won' by Opie812 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They seem to be confusing the ever popular dodge-ball with the somewhat less popular rule-ball....

    --
    I'm not a nerd. Nerds are smart.