The Hollywood Economist
( Updated at the bottom.) If you are someone who wonders why movies are the way they are today, this book is essential reading. Edward Jay Epstein ( site and blog ), who has written about the economics of Hollywood for several years in various publications, explains in great detail where the money comes from and where it goes. It is common now for media to report the box office grosses after every weekend, and except for establishing the relative popularity of films currently in release, the information is completely lacking in context. For example, Gone in 60 Seconds cost $103.3 million to make and grossed $242 million. On the face of it, that looks like a success. However, the distributor (Buena Vista) only realized 40% of the world wide box office, amounting to $102.2 million. The rest of the money stayed with the movie theatres. From Buena Vista's gross, they deducted $67.4 million for advertising, $13 million for prints, and $10.2 million for insurance and other expen...
