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Coming to a darkened room near you
Some things old, a handful new, some borrowed plots and a bit of boo: Summer films again marry the proven and the preposterous to lure fans to the movie theater.
By STEVE PERSALL
Published May 19, 2005
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[Photo: Warner Bros.]
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Batman Begins
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Summertime, and the living is easy, unless you're cleaning up all those popcorn boxes left behind by moviegoers.
Or, unless you're an accountant for a movie studio, since Hollywood enters the summer movie season mired in its worst box office slump in years. Don't worry; nobody's going broke in the movie business, but the money isn't rolling in as quickly as it used to.
For 12 consecutive weeks, total U.S. ticket sales have been lower than for the same period in 2004. One reason is the absence so far of a blockbuster like The Passion of the Christ, which greatly inflated last year's spring revenues.
Today's debut of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is expected to remedy that situation. Also putting box offices back on track are the debuts next week of the animated comedy Madagascar and Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard.
By design, Hollywood's summer lineup has plenty of what moviegoers love. We'll see another Batman, another alien adventure directed by Steven Spielberg (starring Tom Cruise, no less) and titles familiar from television (Bewitched, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Honeymooners), comic books (Fantastic Four), and old movies (The Bad News Bears, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Pink Panther, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
Here's a rundown of the movies that should keep theaters busy until Labor Day. As always, the whims of movie marketers make these opening dates subject to change.
[Last modified May 18, 2005, 10:01:06]
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