The Movie Biz: It's the Christians, stupid.
Ah yes, the movie business has proven to itself (link from Google, may require registration) that everybody loves the movies and that Blue and Red states just adore the fabulous blood drenched and always sex immersed movie fare.....

Except
for Those
Fucking
Christians

Attendence being down is a function of Right Wing Christian "chatter" launched by them Christians against the wonderful world of Hollywood. In a study funded by Variety (a sycophantic show biz daily) the conclusion was reached that everything is OK.

"This isn't just civic boosterism, we've put money and time into this research because we were tired of listening to the chatter that was drowning out the real message and clouding the issue," he said.

"Clearly, this level of noise is being generated by a vocal and organized minority that is disproportionately impacting the debate," he added, "to the point where the thread gets picked up as fact and fed back and amplified by politicians, reporters, commentators, even some industry executives."

Like I said yesterday, those at the top will have to be starved out because none of them are leaving, none of them will demand less money, and they will turn out the SOS for another few years. Does anybody think that War of the Worlds, a story that is more than 100 years old, filled with the usual computerized "oh my God there's aliens out there" bullshit will fill the coffers? How much money did Cruise and Spielberg (sic) stick in their pockets before one foot of film was shot, even though both claim they worked for nothing in exchange for a piece, which I'll believe right after the Natalee Holloway died in the bathtub as a result of vibrator mal-function story.

As an add, several of my very perceptive and almost always correct, friends in The Show Biz tell me that War of the Worlds may actually sink Paramount, or at least cost everybody at the top their jobs. Nobody really knows the actual costs of any movie but the number being tossed around is $225 mil including marketing......
Paramount is claiming only $90mil cost
New York Times says $200mil
Forbes says $130mil
FOX pegs it at $180mil
All the above is without marketing costs.

Insane. Now if it is true that Cruise and Speilberg worked for a piece, you can bet that their piece is off the top, meaning they collect from the first dollar the movie takes in (usually until their normal fees are in the til). Ouch. Their fees are usually in the $20 mil class, and if true you can add another $40 mil to the costs. Late Add: according to this at FOX, Cruise and Speilberg took $40 mil in wages