Hollywood box office suffers least-attended summer movie season in 25 years
LOS ANGELES _ As Hollywood wraps up the all-important summer box office season this Labor Day weekend, a sobering reality has gripped the industry.
The number of tickets sold in the United States and Canada this summer is projected to fall to the lowest level in a quarter-century.
The results have put the squeeze on the nation's top theater chains, whose stocks have taken a drubbing. AMC Theatres Chief Executive Adam Aron earlier this month called his company's most recent quarter "simply a bust."
Such blunt language reflects some worrisome trends. Domestic box office revenue is expected to total $3.78 billion for the first weekend of May through Labor Day, down nearly 16 percent from the same period last year, according to comScore. That's an even worse
