Hollywood Accounting: If you've ever been around gamblers, and by gamblers I mean the people who really make their money doing it, you will hear the old bromide "never chase your losses." It means that once you have lost a certain amount get up and go to the beach because you can always play a new game tomorrow. I'm reminded of that whenever I see ads for a movie that is hopelessly done. Manchurian Candidate is a horrible loser, grossing less than $50 mil after three weeks, yet the ads continue full bore. Why? Well my bet is that some relative within the Paramount structure is being fed shareholder money. Somebody, or some company, advertising agency, or time buyer, will be allowed to make a killing off of a movie that is toast. This happens all the time in Hollywood and Wall Street, neither of which ever tires of roping in the unwary. An investment house of cards might be rescued by one last mooch. A collapsing movie might suddenly be "turned around" by some miracle.

The difference between gamblers and the Hollywood crowd is that gamblers are always playing with their own money while Hollywood and Wall Street are always getting rich playing with yours.