The Hollywood conspiracy? Why are profits reported as though its news?

I was going to place this in general chit chat, but it seems like there is a conspiratorial aspect. And I dont think that I'm ranting (despite the tone), just inquiring.

X movie grossed this much or had $$$ worth of an opening weekend or generated $$$ world wide... why would the average American care? Its not as though you or I benefit from their profits.

These are private, for-profit companies. Typically, profits from businesses are reported by business news outlets, not every nightly news channel nationwide...

So why the push to embed this information into the consciousness (or subconsciousness) of every American?

My guess is that its a conscious effort to make the average American feel as though we're somehow connected to the movie industry and that its in our interest for these corporations to make $$$. You and I are a part of Hollywood! Not.

And then theres the FBI aspect of safeguarding Hollywood's profits.


While local police are called to investigate thefts, this is not physical property. This is intellectual property. And while using copyrighted or trademarked material is illegal, should we the tax payers be paying to protect Hollywood's profits???

Dont the FBI and DHS have better things to do than worry about someone downloading a movie? Apparently not.

It should be Hollywood's responsibility to guard their profits, not ours. The average American would have to hire a lawyer and have them issue a cease and desist letter.

Know what would happen if you or I called the FBI or DHS because someone was using a logo or an idea of ours, we'd probably get hung up on if not arrested and institutionalized.

reply to post by gladtobehere


most of the larger studios are publicly traded companies but, regardless, there are a variety of reasons why movie grosses are reported.

First, by announcing the gross box office receipts, you are telling people how popular a movie is which, in turn, might spur more people to the theater. Second, it's a means of showing the other studios how well your movie did. Third, it's a vanity aspect for the producers, directors, actors etc. When Crakeur Films is looking to fill a director spot for a new movie, the CEO and Exectuvie Producer, Crakeur Von Crakeur, will look at his choices, watch the films made by the choices and then see how their last few movies have performed. The same with the lead actors/actresses. Many times, an actor or actress is cast, not because they're an incredible actor. Many times the producers will pick a lesser actore because they can "open a film." This means they will have a big opening weekend. Tom Cruise is someone who, for years, was a guaranty that the opening weekend would be huge. Not so much anymore so many of the roles that, in years past, would have been offered to him first, now go to other actors.

The movie business is a strange one and trying to fully understand it is no small task. You ever wonder why there are sequels to movies that flopped in the states or why there are sequels to movies you never even heard of? The reason is that the global grosses were huge. Think Fast and Furious 29, Dependables 3 (recently announced) etc.

It was recently reported that Jack Reacher, a film that was in US theaters for about an hour, has grossed about 220 million globally. Does anyone care? Not really but, when Tom Cruise sits down to discuss another role, it will be noted by his agents when they try and procure a massive salary for a start that is no longer a guaranty to rule the US box office.

Congratulations, You are on to the right track OP. They use the figures to make us think that others like the movie, they use the money made by these films to make us feel that if we go to the show that we are like others and not different. People have been conditioned over a long time to feel that we must think as others do or we are not normal. This is the biggest conspiracy of them all. Red cars are in style this year, stainless steel refrigerators are not in style any more. It is part of consumerism, it is a part of death dating. Death dating is not appropriate anymore either, now it is called planned obsolescence.

Rush to the theater and pay a lot of money so you can know about this movie before someone else does. This makes you look better than someone else....but only in the minds of those who believe this to be true. Certain movies do look better on the big screen, like ET, but nowadays the screens are not nearly as big in the theaters. I remember the drive ins, on a perfect night they would look bigger than life. Now they tell us that digital signal is so much clearer, and most people believe it but in essence, some people can see outside of that spectrum, like me, and it doesn't look right. It doesn't look right, analog technology was better.

They use this tactic of wanting to belong to sell lots of things in society. Question the reality of things you seem to think are real. Some popular donations only supply salaries to people and do little to solve the problem. But the people who contribute feel better, they stimulate chemistry that helps them to heal. It works but it is better to study the honesty and integrity of the organization before donating. Are they helping people or just treating the symptoms.

Originally posted by gladtobehere
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My guess is that its a conscious effort to make the average American feel as though we're somehow connected to the movie industry and that its in our interest for these corporations to make $$$. You and I are a part of Hollywood! Not.

People that pay to go to the movies...are a part of the movie industry...they pay the ticket price...therefore they pay into the industry...if no one ever paid for a movie...the industry would suffer.

I don't go to movies any more...the ticket price and food prices are just too costly.

Instead I wait a while...(sometimes a year or so) and wait until the DVD is at my local library...then I check it out for free...and watch it for free. I don't need to have cable, or buy Netflix etc. At the library movies are free!

I'm just saying.

Box Office receipts are a marketing tool. Late eighties or early nineties was the initiation. It was seen as a way to get people to go see the movies that were hot. So if The Matrix made 50 million this week, people will see that number and think, "oh it must be good" on the flip side if they liked a movie which has low numbers, they may tell a friend to go see it as the weekly wrap reminds them about it - they may see it again.

Don't blame the studios for finding another way to market their product, any blame for the curious notion of "news" comes at the hands of the local news stations that simply do what they are told no matter how odd it may seem. Now, 25 years on, it's just a staple of the entertainment programming they spew.

reply to post by rickymouse

Congratulations, You are on to the right track OP. They use the figures to make us think that others like the movie, they use the money made by these films to make us feel that if we go to the show that we are like others and not different. People have been conditioned over a long time to feel that we must think as others do or we are not normal. This is the biggest conspiracy of them all.

Did you ever think everything the entire world does is not so much about you, maybe it's not focused just on you.

Read Crackeur's post, he gets it.

One of my first threads was a huge flop based on the premise that "they" use movies as a way to make a ton of money very quickly.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

"$657,988,973 (657 million or just over half a billion) in north america alone in march."

Because we are part of the movie industry, we're consumers of it. Just like all industries. We vote with our dollars so the dollar value of a movie tells them what movies we like and what movies we don't like. This in turn determines what movies are made in the future.

For example, many people were hoping Pacific Rim would make a lot of money because it was an original IP and not a reboot or a sequel. So it was news to a lot of people whether or not it made money, because we want to see more original properties and not sequels.

Sadly people voted with their dollars for a sequel to a #ty Adam Sandler movie, so we're probably going to see more horrible comedies before original ambitious action movies.

I'm going with no conspiracy on this one. It's just a way of assessing the success of their products. Sales in all industries are news items if you pay attention.