More on the Death of the Blockbuster

Chris Anderson, who’s nearing completion on his book, has some nifty graphs concerning the decline and fall of the Hollywood blockbuster:

Bottom line: even in Hollywood, the home of the blockbuster, hits are losing their power. It’s not nearly as dire as in music, but it’s trending in the same direction. Does this mean the end of movies? Not at all–there have never been more films made, just as there has never been more music available than today, despite the fact that the bestsellers sell less.

As studios get more desperate for viewers, they’re applying dodgier marketing tactics. The Movie Blog links to some ‘pirated leaked footage’ of Basic Instinct 2 (that page is safe for work, but the subsequent footage isn’t). Clearly the footage isn’t pirated, but planted by the studios. I’m not sure what they’re worried about–sex always sells.