The Big Picture
 

Anyone who has an interest in the economics of the movie business might be interested in Edward Jay Epsteins recent book "The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood" published this year.

Among the interesting facts: the major studios are not making all that much more from worldwide theatrical releases than they did in 1948. In '48 they made 6.9 billion (in 2003 dollars) and in 2003 7.48 billion (to compare, the majors made 18.9 bilion on video/DVD releases in 2003, 0 in '48 of course).

Other interesting circumstances reported in the book are the lengths to which the movie industry will go to hide from the public the actual financial performance of films in theatrical release.