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Hollywood Accounting — How Harry Potter Loses Money
An anonymous reader writes "Techdirt has the details on how it was possible for the last Harry Potter movie to lose $167 million while taking in nearly $1 billion in revenue. If you ever wanted to see 'Hollywood Accounting' in action, take a look. The article also notes two recent court decisions that may raise questions about Hollywood's ability to continue with these kinds of tricks. For example, the producers of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' now have to pay $270 million for its attempt to get around paying a partner through similar tricks."
Seems like if they loose money distributing these films the normal way, then piracy saves them money on distribution costs, and might actually make the films profitable!
The probably forgotten, but at the time well known comedian art buchwald had to sue hollywood for his royalties,wich were not % of gross, but % of net, and as i remember it, it was the same story - accounting that turned huge profits into losss