When is a successful movie season not a successful movie season? When you only take in a little less than $2 billion rather than a little more than $2 billion. At least, that’s what some media analysts think. The 2007 summer movie season is not doing so badly, it’s just not doing the bestest ever, which is what some people looking at the lineup of can’t- miss sequels before the summer thought it would do. While Pirates, Shrek, and Spider-Man have done their part, they could have done even better and the second tier blockbusters did a little less than expected, meaning that it will be a tough row to hoe if this is going to be the biggest summer ever. Right now ticket sales are lagging 2002, which sold the most tickets, and grosses are lagging 2004, which was the biggest summer dollar wise.
But, as is noted in the article by The AP’s David Germain, the summer is hardly over and there are still some big dollar earners awaiting release. Transformers, Harry Potter, Bourne Ultimatium, and The Simpsons Movie all have the capability to help push the summer totals to the top of the heap before everyone heads back to school. In fact, the heavy hitter lineup still to come makes this summer a bit more backloaded than typical, so there is still a chance to have this summer chant out “We’re Number 1!!!!.”
The movie studios aren’t panicking, yet, but they are acknowledging things aren’t going quite as expected. “I was one of the people who figured on this being a record-breaking summer, no doubt about it. I'm a little surprised, but I do think that it's still going to be. Maybe not in the exact formula we thought. It's still going to be up. Just maybe not as up as most thought,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. I hate it when I’m not up as much as I can be. It’s a little early to sound the death knell for movies (again), not that it will stop anyone. Hundreds of millions of people are still spending billions on mediocre movies, so things can’t be that bad.
