2009 Box office

[Aaron Gerow]

I have some comments on this on my blog, but the pessimist in me does  
not look at this well.

http://www.aarongerow.com/news/

And the possible bankruptcy of Cine Quanon is one sign of this.
>
> I'm struck that feature production in Japan has gone from 282 to 448  
> in less than a decade. Could this be underpinned by technological  
> change? A shift to capture on HD?
>
> So I was wondering if anyone knows if this figure includes straight  
> to video and pink films...

It does not include straight to video--only theatrically released  
films (which includes pink films). Most people agree there is over- 
production of films, but the reasons for that are not really clear to  
me yet. Technology might be one reason, but given that the average  
budget was low to begin with, technology has not necessarily made  
things cheaper. Is it just the frenzy over the "contents" industry and  
the fact Japanese films are beating Western films at the BO? Perhaps,  
but the video/DVD industry is declining, the entire cinema market is  
not expanding, and literally hundreds of Japanese films are being made  
and not getting released. Most of my colleagues in Japan are very  
worried.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com