Hollywood savours bigger and better summer season

LOS ANGELES – The record-breaking summer of 2004 was at once predictable and confounding.

Most of the big franchises delivered up to their expectations – and in a couple of cases, well beyond. The widest releases got even wider, rewarding distributors with more money, faster.A few hits emerged out of left field – metaphorically in the case of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” and literally in the case of “Fahrenheit 9/11.”And though there were few resounding bombs, there were real disappointments when “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Catwoman” opened to empty multiplexes, and “King Arthur” and “The Chronicles of Riddick” failed to get moviegoers’ pulses pounding.It also was a summer when the most important sequels honoured their original inspirations, both critically and commercially.Unlike such knock-offs as “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” or “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” which came up short of expectations last summer, the best of this summer’s sequels soared.Arguably, the studios involved spent more time nurturing some of their most important franchises – or it might be that the titles themselves were so prominent that their success was foreordained.Either way, “Shrek 2,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” took top box office honours.Summer ticket sales (calculated from the first weekend in May through Labor Day) rose 2,1 per cent from last year’s record to US$3,96 billion, according to Exhibitor Relations.- Nampa-ReutersThe widest releases got even wider, rewarding distributors with more money, faster.A few hits emerged out of left field – metaphorically in the case of “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” and literally in the case of “Fahrenheit 9/11.”And though there were few resounding bombs, there were real disappointments when “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Catwoman” opened to empty multiplexes, and “King Arthur” and “The Chronicles of Riddick” failed to get moviegoers’ pulses pounding.It also was a summer when the most important sequels honoured their original inspirations, both critically and commercially.Unlike such knock-offs as “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” or “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” which came up short of expectations last summer, the best of this summer’s sequels soared.Arguably, the studios involved spent more time nurturing some of their most important franchises – or it might be that the titles themselves were so prominent that their success was foreordained.Either way, “Shrek 2,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” took top box office honours.Summer ticket sales (calculated from the first weekend in May through Labor Day) rose 2,1 per cent from last year’s record to US$3,96 billion, according to Exhibitor Relations.- Nampa-Reuters