Box-Office Earnings Have Dropped Since Start of Month

The past May proved lucrative for Hollywood, but box-office revenues have dropped sharply since the beginning of June. On the whole earnings are up by more than 5 percent from last year, but last weekend's earnings were significantly lower than they were for the comparable weekend a year ago. (And the $37.1 million earned by Ocean's Thirteen was nothing compared to, say, the $140 million earned by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on its opening weekend.)Not to be repetitive-this is a point I've made several times before-but if Hollywood wants better box-office earnings why doesn't it try varying the formula a bit? Right now, Hollywood is feeding us (mostly) crap then wondering why we don't come back for more. Even the monumental earnings of Pirates only tells you that a lot of people went to see the movie-not that they enjoyed themselves. Perhaps I'm an optimist, but I doubt all audiences share Hollywood's contempt for originality. How about it, Hollywood? How about taking a chance on a fresh, untested, different idea now and then?