When adjusted for inflation just how good was box office business in 2007? It was a four billion dollar take but that's due to increases in ticket cost -- attendance was down.
NYT reporter Brooks Barnes gives us an excellent rundown on this summer's business and the implications for the writers unions negotiations -- click the audio interview on the same page.
It looks to me like, more clearly than ever, there are two issues: 1) movie theater attendance continues to decline, and 2) DVD rentals/sales (as well as other ancillary income) is becoming not only more important but of primary importance. Theatrical releases have become advertisements for the DVD.
