Glut of films tear-jerker for beleaguered studios
By Behind The Scenes TV on Jun 16, 2008 in Film Business, Hollywood
Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos may run a movie studio, but these days they feel like traffic cops, making sure 20th Century Fox’s releases don’t crash into rival films at the multiplex.
To help them through the congestion, the movie chiefs pore over whiteboards in their offices cluttered with color-coded magnetic strips showing the films set for release through 2010. Like chess players, they shift films around to outmaneuver rivals.
With titles flooding the marketplace, studio bosses fear that the surplus is impeding an already rugged road to profitability. In 2007, studios and independent distributors released a record 517 films—an average of 10 a weekend, up 49 percent from a decade earlier—and this year movies are coming at the same pace.
(Chicago Tribune)
