The ‘Monsters’ $58M Rip-off
March, 30, 2009 5:32 pm | On #DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Monsters vs. AliensThe New York Times' Monday report on the weekend box-office grosses suggests that the populist outrage directed against the AIG bonuses might find a new target in CEO of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The story of how "Monsters vs. Aliens" took in $58.2 million on its opening weekend sounds less like a success when you take note of the inconvenient facts. Even though only 2,100 of the 7,000 screens the movie opened on were equipped with 3D technology, reports Brooks Barnes, the 3D screenings "carried premium prices of up to $4 above the standard admission. So about 30 percent of the screens delivered 56 percent of the gross."
Those numbers aren't false, but they are inflated.
Pumped up by premium ticket prices, the grosses for "Monsters vs. Aliens" are, like the money made by now-tottering banks and investment firms...
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Charles Taylor writes about books, movies and politics for a variety of publications including the New York Times, Dissent and the Nation. He lives in Brooklyn.
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