You may not have read about the slump in movie ticket sales this summer, but, according to the latest statistics, it’s the worst season since 1993.
By John A. Schwarz
You may not have read about the slump in movie ticket sales this summer, but, according to the latest statistics, it’s the worst season since 1993. It may be due to the fact that it’s really hard to find a movie playing in theaters that anyone over 13 years of age would be interested in seeing.
The downturn is exacerbated by two factors. First of all, the screenwriters have apparently either forgotten how to do it, or collectively are suffering from writer’s block. Secondly, there seems to be a dearth of good young actors/actresses. Just for fun, I searched on Google for the names of the top actors under 30. Zip, nada, zilch. I didn’t recognize one name. Next, I did the same for actresses. Scarlett Johansson was the only recognizable name.
It used to be that there were many actors/actresses made movies, great movies in their 20s. Here are some examples: Paul Newman, Sean Connery, William Holden, Charlton Heston, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Doris Day, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn, Leslie Caron, Ava Gardner, Faye Dunaway, and Julie Christie. See what I mean!
The film industry has a two-pronged problem, which they’d better address or else it won’t be just a one-time summer slump.
