Film quality blamed for drop in ticket sales

A run of horror movies like The Ring 2 has not helped cinema attendances, says Village Sky City.

Blame all those horror movies.

Village Sky City chief executive Joe Moodabe says year-to-date cinema attendance in New Zealand is down about 10 per cent, tracking a drop worldwide.

"We have to be honest and say the quality of the films, in many instances, was not up to last year's," said Moodabe, noting a preponderance of horror films such as The Grudge, Ring 2 and The Amityville Horror.

In the United States, weekend ticket sales have lagged last year's figures for a record 18 weeks.

However, Moodabe said a recovery was under way in New Zealand.

"There's no doubt we're starting to bounce back strongly, in the last four to five weeks since the advent of Star Wars."

Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Sith broke the record for the largest opening day ticket sales outside a holiday period when it opened in late May.

Moodabe said the prolonged slump had prompted talk about DVDs and piracy issues, but the release of fewer titles had also been an influence.

"Last year we had Lord of the Rings, which drew huge volumes, particularly in the US, The Passion of the Christ, which was unexpected," he said.

"You can't take out two major box office hits like that and not have some impact." Fahrenheit 911 had also drawn unprecedented audiences for a documentary.

The long, fine summer also kept the crowds away from the darkness of the cinema, which also lost out to cafes.

Individually not many movies had significantly undercut Moodabe's expectations during the slow spell.

Closer did because international audiences saw it before the Oscars but moviegoers here knew it had failed to win any golden statuettes by the time it was released locally.

Kingdom of Heaven put in a "solid" performance but dashed hopes it could emulate the success of Gladiator.

Moodabe is confident the latest Star Wars instalment is the first of a number of "megahits" which will turn fortunes around.

Revenge of the Sith, which is still running, had already taken $6 million, Batman Begins had started well, as had animated film Madagascar, despite the fact the school holidays had not started.

Mr & Mrs Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, was also "displaying legs - and I'm not talking Angelina Jolie's", said Moodabe. War of the Worlds also debuted on Friday, and is expected to generate interest.

While all were performing well, the coming attractions gave Moodabe cause for optimism.

"I can tell you right now the industry in New Zealand is going to have the biggest box office ever, in history, over Christmas."

The next Harry Potter movie, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and King Kong are all due for release.

Moodabe said that although 2004 had been a weak year, The Lord of the Rings had kept the box office strong the year before.

In the US, in contrast, attendance had been down two years in a row and appeared to be heading to a third if it did not overcome its bad start this year.

"Business has been tough but it is bouncing back very strongly.