Happy Fourth of July!

Anybody else watching the Discovery launch? Who among the signers of the Declaration of Independence 230 years ago today would ever have imagined anything like this?

Have a happy and safe 4th!

Where are the "box office slump" reports?

Remember how last year the media couldn't stop yakking about the box office slump, conveniently ignoring ROTS's success? Even though POTC2 hasn't opened yet (the last summer film with a shot at breaking $250 million or so, which in all likelihood it will), so far Tinseltown hasn't cranked out a blockbuster with legs or that hasn't performed lower than expected. Superman Returns did a pretty decent $84 million in five days but War of the Worlds raked in $100 million in the same time period last year (and WotW's budget didn't equal the GNP of a small European nation either). X-Men 3 opened big and is the only summer blockbuster to break $200 million thus far, but the big opening was mostly from fans rushing out at once to see it. The b.o. dropped off considerably the next week. Cars is cranking along, but it's not a megahit like Finding Nemo or The Incredibles. Mission Impossible III did all right but not as much as had been expected. The Da Vinci Code had a big international opening, but that dropped off considerably in the weeks afterwards. We don't know at this point if there will be surprise hits like The Wedding Crashers or 40 Year Old Virgin. Snakes On A Plane, perhaps ;)?

In any case, summer '05 had ROTS and solid hits like War of the Worlds, Madagascar, The Wedding Crashers, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Batman Begins. Betcha Hollywood is nostalgic for a slump like last year's or at least praying POTC2's pirate booty will make up for the "disappointments."