I know this doesn't actually mean anything for the long-term, but it amused me.

Nicole Sperling on Box Office Misses:

On paper, they were destined to be mega-hits. "The Tourist," "How Do You Know" and "Gulliver's Travels" should have heated up the box office during the cold and snowy final weeks of the year, drawing audiences to the multiplex with the promise of A-list stars, romance and, in one case, family-friendly comedy.

Instead, all three films — each of which cost $100 million or more to produce — underperformed or downright flopped with critics and U.S. moviegoers, squelching holiday cheer at two of the major Hollywood studios as smaller-budget projects such as "True Grit" and "Black Swan" enjoyed sold-out Christmas-week runs.

The lesson for moviemakers?

People don't want to see bad movies they've already seen a million times?  People actually respond to positive recommendations, and maybe the movie review biz should actually try and push interesting movies?  The movie industry should try to make interesting movies?

These days, there's no such thing as a sure thing.

Oh.

"In all three cases, the films skew to the classic model for a financially successful movie: well-known names, large budgets, prime release dates. What really happened in each case is the movie missed the mark," said Bruce Nash, president of Nash Information Services, a movie financial tracking and research company. "In all three cases, it was a quality problem."

"Just because you've got a lot of people available doesn't mean you can put anything in front of them and they'll go," said veteran marketing executive Terry Press. "People have acted like Christmas is the promised land, and it can be, but the movies still have to deliver because audiences can always stay home and play with their new gadgets."

Hahaha.