In almost every country it is being shown, James Cameron’s latest movie, Avatar is breaking box office records. It has already made over $ 1 billion, and is well on its way to being the best selling movie of all time.
It is already listed in IMDB’s top 50 greatest movies of all time.
But, in its first week, it was also the most pirated movie of all time with 980,000 illegal downloads of the movie. Hollywood (and the music industry) claim that illegal downloads will destroy their industry and steal money from producers.
So, Hollywood, explain Avatar!
The problem is not with illegal downloads. The problem for you is that quality is now judged more democratically – and more brutally. Good films, and good music, will still sell well. James Cameron is proof of that! Stop whining and fix your industry.
May I add, that while not in anyway condoning piracy, I got a first hand sense of a reason it’s so attractive this past weekend.
To celebrate my 10 year old daughter’s birthday we went to the movies. The traditional movie theatre. Our family of 4 and two of her friends. The cost of that outing, which consisted of 6 tickets, 5 popcorns (medium in size), 4 Slush’s, 2 bottles of water, and 4 boxes of Astro’s, came to almost R700. As one is inclined to say at such ridiculous pricing – WTF!!!
For those interested in the split, what might you guess? 70% movie tickets / 30% food and drinks? No no no. It was pretty much a 50/50 split.
As I walked back to the car, from an average kid’s movie, having had average movie food, having sat on very average movie chairs, my mind considered what I could’ve done with R700 to entertain these 4 little girls…..
* I could have purchased 4 DVD’s (or rented around 30)
* Watched them at home on a large projected screen inside or outside of my house. Using a sound system as good as what the movie theatre has on offer, on chairs we like, or a bed, or the floor, in any row, without anyone next to me, or everyone – my choice.
* Served up 10 boxes of popcorn, still hot, and freshly produced. Drinks as large and as yummy, and a box of sweets correctly sized for 10 year olds.
It’s a crooked business ‘Hollywood’ and her vast army of money grabbers she has surrounded herself with. Crooked simply because we all know they’re pulling the ring out of it. And in my experience, when any business starts pulling the ring out of it, they’re showing signs of desperation.
It wont be long now before we, the comatose public, wake up (historically we’re not very fast at this) and refuse to be entertained within the parameters of such a ridiculous business model.
So I agree with you Graeme. It’s not the pirates outside who have hurt the entertainment industry. It’s the pirates they have running the show that have and continue to do the damage.