Thursday

You may have heard recently that this summer has been the best summer for movies in 40 years. Sadly, this was not because the films were particularly good, but because the weather has been miserable here (although, as you'd expect, I enjoy seeing films in sunny weather too). We were apparently up by 27% on last year, which is fairly incredible. Some of this also has to do with the amount of franchises we've seen - Bourne, Bond, Shrek, Spider-Man, Pirates. As Alex pointed out, these are 'pre-sold'. You get people in the door for your first week easily, and even if people subsequently hear bad reviews, they'll probably still go to see the movie because they liked the previous ones and they want to know how it all ends. Conversely, however, this summer can only have been bad for the burgeoning business of showing films outside, in parks, on large screens. This sort of viewing was becoming increasingly popular, but now may have taken a battering. What's coming next year? Indiana Jones, Narnia, and The Happening (M. Night Shyamalan's latest) so far...