Hollywood’s trade publication Variety has already dismissed the upcoming holiday movie season as “playing it safe” with “almost the same number of major releases, the usual number of Christmas Day launches, the same mix of prestige items and popcorn fare” as last year.
To a bean-counter maybe.
If box office receipts are all that matter, then this year’s movie crop probably doesn’t look that promising, outside of James Cameron’s loudly tub-thumped $225 million, 3-D science-fiction thriller “Avatar,” going filmo-a-filmo against “2012” for the special effects audience.
But I think the season offers a very exciting mix of movies, and it has nothing to do with marketing. (Read more…)