Summer Movie Ticket Sales Down 100 Million in Past Decade [POLL]

Seems You're Not the Only One Who's Tired of Hollywood Releasing the Same Old Tired Movies

The early numbers are out for the summer movie box office, and they paint an ugly, worrisome picture for the motion picture industry.

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Summer 2012 movies grossed $4.27 billion, which is down 2.84 percent from last year's $4.4 billion, reports TheWrap.com.

But the bigger number: this year's U.S. sales number continues the alarming trend of dropping movie ticket sales that has led to overall movie ticket sales dropping 100 million (!) since 2002.

The summer 2012 movie season did include a handful of genuine blockbusters, including The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Ted and Magic Mike (which has made more than $113 million on a budget of $7 million).

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But there were also several domestic movie flops, including Dark Shadows, Battleship, Total Recall, The Dictator and Brave, which has earned $469 million worldwide, but just $232 million in the U.S., on a budget of $185 million.

Total admissions for summer 2012 were 526 million, versus 545 million for 2011, marking a 3.56 percent decrease, as per Exhibitor Relations Co. stats. In 2002, total admissions were 629 million.

As TheWrap.com points out, studio earnings numbers don't necessarily reflect how poor ticket sales are faring, as higher ticket prices, especially for IMAX and 3D flicks, pad their grosses.

The website also points out that the studios now rely more heavily on foreign box office numbers to juice the worldwide box office results, which also underscores how poorly the U.S. box office is performing.

We'd hasten to add that Hollywood execs should also consider these factors: that audiences are tired of seeing the same old movies, with the same tired stars playing the same tired characters, summer after summer.

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And the fact that we have to pay higher ticket costs and higher concession costs to see those movies, and see them in movie theaters that are often dirty and smelly and full of people who are bringing in their own foul-smelling food and talking loudly during the movie?

Definitely among the reason we've been waiting for movies to hit DVD, digital and cable, to watch them in the comfort of our own non-sticky-floored home.

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