Harry Potter, Shrek, POTC, anything from Pixar, the Matrix

And if you look back, many of the hits from the 80s were based on existing franchises like Batman, Superman, etc.

Sequels and movies based on existing franchises are nothing new. And the excitement and people lining up for openings has pretty much always been for sequels. Were people lining up in advance for the opening of Terminator, Back to the Future, or Raiders? I doubt it.

In 2006, however, that same weekend saw the openings of The Departed, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (a terrible movie, but one with strong appeal among older teens), and Employee of the Month.

Now, are there young, aloof individuals out there going through marathon game sessions on their 360s and PS3s, playing until their eyes bleed? No doubt. But here’s a bulletin for you: there are a lot of young and aloof people who go to the movies as well. Now I play games, sure, I own a 360 and a PS3, and yes, I bought GTA IV. But I will also manage to get some quality game time in between the real-life and quite legitimate “missions” of paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning the house, eating, sleeping and all those other mundane tasks that would shock you as being on the litany of a gamer.

Now I agree with you in that if you go on X-Box Live or PlayStation Network, you’ll find a lot of snotty kids and adults who are far more immature than their age. But you’ll also find a silent but bustling minority of grad students, parents and working class folk, of all ages, races and religions. All of whom I would bet do not fit your narrow classification of a “gamer”. They may not have a gamerscore of 20 gazillion or plan to play GTA for 40 hours straight until their half-drunk and bleary-eyed, carving every nook and cranny of the game. But that’s alright. And if there are people who want to do that, that’s fine too. Who knows? Maybe they might be smart enough to exploit their talent and hone other abilities and hopefully make a productive career for themselves.

If you haven’t already seen it, might I recommend that you watch the superb documentary “The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters”? It’ll give you a great idea of that fine line between beating the game and playing the game. The best gamers know where the power button is.

Enough of this.

and @ athought - That’s quite an assumption to make that all gamers are not working professionals. While not a big gamer myself, many of my friends are and they manage to remain a gamer while still maintaining a strong career. The biggest mistake Hollywood can make is to underestimate the audience for gaming.

Obviously “facts” will be hard to come by, and we’re dealing in speculation here. Of course, what kind of site are you at? However, the release of Halo 3 (which was not quite a release of the same magnitude as this, but close) was followed by a weekend box office down 27% from previous years. You have to remember not to get caught up thinking it’s a money issue - i.e. that kids will use their cash to get the game and therefore not be able to see a movie. Instead, the point is: plenty of kids will not bother going to the movies over the weekend when they’d rather be playing the new game they just got that they’ve been anticipating since before Iron Man was even in development.

Will Iron Man suffer? I doubt it. But I’d say it IS a FACT that at least a portion of the potential audience will put it off to another weekend, at the very least…

But Iron Man will open big - it’s got the buzz, and even serious gamers will take a couple hours off to go see it.

Even if every person with a console bought the game and played it all weekend, that still leaves 95+% of the population to go see movies.

Lost Remote (www.lostremote.com) has a good take on this:

“Why would you want to sit passively and watch a movie (or a TV show) when you can live a movie? Video games already generate more money than the movie industry, but games like GTA IV illustrate that the gaming business is just getting warmed up. Soon games will transition from interactive movies to virtual reality experiences. And the sky’s the limit…Current gaming technology offers the most powerful communications and storytelling platform ever seen. And the market is speaking, very loudly.”

Ella’s right, if the suits in the studios do not take more chances in risks in a good story…Then, they will remain as relevant as radio.

Notice a trend? All continuations of previously existing, popular franchises. (Same goes for GTA IV).

It’s not hard to see the 80s as an idyllic time for movie love. That’s when the flippin’ franchises began: Back To The Future, The Terminator, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Raiders of the Lost Ark…

If the execs were more interested in starting new franchises instead of remakes, medium ports, or movies based off of toys, then maybe large groups of non-fanboys could get psyched about watching something new.