Hollywood's Cinematic Slump: It's A Vicious Cycle

The Internet Movie Database reports that Hollywood’s box office slump may be feeding upon itself:

The box office slump is about to affect the video rental and sales market the way falling tectonic plates generate a tsunami. An early warning of the potential disaster was issued by Blockbuster on Tuesday when CEO John Antioco said in a statement that earnings in the second quarter were disappointing and predicted that results for the remainder of the year were not likely to improve. As Antioco put it: “Overall industry decline and continued poor theatrical performance had a negative impact on the second quarter and has created uncertainty about the balance of the year.” He promised that the company would take “aggressive actions” to counteract the decline. Ironically, theater owners and movie studios had been blaming the growth of home theater systems and increased DVD use for the slumping box office.

Govindini Murty and John Leo have some suggestions for a way out of the slump, but it’s doubtful they’ll be listened to.