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 The film industry continues to fret over competition from video games, home entertainment systems and the Internet, but the recovery provides evidence that going out to see movies on a giant, communal screen remains a central part of the American leisure experience.
But that's because Hollywood is trying harder.
The week's performance by "Superman Returns," a $210 million-budget revival of the old superhero franchise, has been typical of the summer so far: big movies yielding reasonably strong box-office returns, though far from the high-water marks of the recent past. During a similar period in 2004, for instance, "Spider-Man 2" took in nearly twice as much as "Superman," $152 million, for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
"The good news is the bleeding has stopped from last year," said Bruce Friend, managing director of OTX Entertainment, an online research firm. "But it hasn't rebounded to the levels of two years ago."
Hollywood's next shot at a runaway hit comes on Friday, when Walt Disney Pictures releases "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest." With the stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, the film has strong female appeal, and that points toward one of Hollywood's major survival strategies.
As the once reliable young male audience continues to drift, studios have been trying to widen their demographic appeal. A study last year by OTX found that young men saw 24 percent fewer movies in summer 2005 than they did in summer 2003, a finding reinforced in a new poll by Nielsen Entertainment.
The shift was apparent this summer in an adult-oriented blockbuster like "The Da Vinci Code"; or in a romantic comedy like "The Break-Up," which appeals to couples; or in a horror film like "The Omen," which draws adolescent girls; or in a chick-flick comedy like "The Devil Wears Prada." Those movies, though hardly atypical, represent a more eclectic mix than 2003, which brought "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "The Matrix Reloaded," "Bad Boys II" and "S.W.A.T.
The audience for "Superman" was weighted heavily toward moviegoers over 25, said Dan Fellman, Warner's president for theatrical distribution. "Superman is skewing older as a character," he said.
The full story appears in the New York Times
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