GEORGIA RULE An American Original |
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I'm not a malcontent, complaining about the motion picture business in general, or the state of the box office in particular. That doesn't mean that I believe the industry and the box office are perfect. It's just that movies have provided me with entertainment and excitement for my whole life. I'm disinclined to bite the hand (or the industry) that delights me.
Although I don't piss and moan, I do believe that the motion picture industry and exhibitors (the box office) could better fulfill customer's needs and wants.
Here's my Match-Flick Grown-up Box Office Wish List.
1. I want more originality and creativity. Like you, I was in line on opening weekend to see this summer's big three-peats. To varying degrees, I enjoyed all three of these third-time's-the-charm sequels. But I'd preferred to have seen a triumvirate of original motion pictures. Maybe you would, too.
GEORGIA RULE and WAITRESS may not be big box office attractions, or win major awards, but they are American originals, and not déjà vu retreads. Agreed, it can be comforting to see familiar characters, James Bond, Jack Sparrow, Rocky, Spiderman, etc., in new on screen adventures. Unfortunately most sequels are not really new adventures. Most commonly, they are little more than the old stories played sideways - devoid of the innovative 
Brad doesn't need $20 million to feed Jolie's brood |
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and fresh.
2. I want flicks to cost far less to produce. It's insanity that some of today's blockbusters must gross in excess of $500 million just to break even. Budgets in excess of $100 million are ridiculous, wasteful. The motion picture business is an inefficient one. Like politicians and publishers, filmmakers squander untold fortunes. I want to see Hollywood curtail the waste and control the spending.
3. Stars should see smaller paydays. No one needs to be paid $20 million or more to star in a picture. The industry is well-advised to stop treating actors as if they were gods. Treat the stars as what they truly are: some of the luckiest, most privileged, over-indulged human beings walking the Earth.
4. I want Exhibitors do the Right Thing for Match-Flickers. Yes, the audience is listening. But it is also watching and paying your bills, Mr. & Mrs. Exhibitor. Without the audience, Exhibitors, there would be no you. Movie-goers should not face ever-increasing ticket prices, criminally high-priced concessions, and seemingly endless on-screen advertising. If your favorite summer blockbuster cost $100 million, not $250 million, to produce, they wouldn't have to. Cut production costs in half or less, and exhibitors would only need to increase ticket prices once every five years or so. They 
Movie House to Home Theatre: |
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wouldn't have to mark up concessions 1200%, and there would be no need for 20 minutes of advertising before the show.
5. I want box office attractions that rely heavily on talent, brilliant dialogue, and compelling stories. CGI can dazzle. But I'd much rather see the best on-screen talent, speaking beautifully-written dialogue, as a totally engrossing story unfolds. Technical marvels are – well – marvelous. But they're not the equal of a brilliantly-written "turn of phrase," a story that grabs you by the gut or by the heart, refusing to let them go, or a performance that makes you forget that the on-screen talent is acting.
6. I want progress and tradition to peacefully co-exist. I love progress. Still and all, I cringe at the prediction that progress will soon make movie theaters and multiplexes obsolete. The pundits claim we will soon be downloading motion pictures directly to our television sets and home theaters the same day that they are released, rendering unnecessary the theater or multiplex near you. It can be great to take your shoes off and curl up with a flick at home. But it can't equal the thrilling, shared experience of going out to the movies. I'm wishing and hoping that downloadable new motion pictures and my local movie house and multiplex can peacefully coexist, living happily ever after.
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| The Business of Show |
Every other Friday
Does advertising, public taste, or overindulged stars determine a movie's box office fate? Christoper Stone explores what's going on behind the box office.
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| Christopher Stone |
Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
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