The word on the street is that the 2002 summer box office business may cause the annual U.S. box office take to reach a record $9 billion. Talk isn’t necessarily cheap in this case.
Movies such as Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones have so far bolstered the box office figures 7 percent more than last year’s take-in.
And the summer isn’t even over yet.
Signaling the second half of the summer movie season, Men in Black II opens July 3, with other biggies following, including the new Vin Diesel actioner XXX, Mike Myers‘ Austin Powers in Goldmember, M. Night Shyamalan‘s Signs and the kiddie sequels Stuart Little 2 and Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams.
Reuters reports some insiders are betting the total take-in for the year will reach beyond $10 billion with the releases of the newest Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings installments later in the year. This would clearly beat the 2001 record of $8.35 billion in total box office earnings.
“Well, I’m not ready to go that far yet,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Inc., told Reuters. “But I know we’re looking at $9 billion, easy.”
The reasons for the hike in movie attendance, which is up 23 percent from this time last year, could be attributed to movies being a fairly cheap source of entertainment in this country’s recession as well as offering air-conditioned surroundings as a way to beat the summer heat.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly indicated that industry insiders were predicting the summer box office would reach $9 billion. The $9 billion figure actually refers to predictions for the annual box office grosses, not the summer grosses. Summer grosses are expected to reach approximately $4 billion.
