Blame the movies!!!

Can you say "Box office poison?" So can everyone else! The numbers are in (adjusted for inflation) and this was the worst Memorial Day at the U.S. box office since 1993 -- the summer of Cliffhanger, Super Mario Brothers, Free Willy and ultimately, Jurassic Park.

Putz (I mean Prince) of Persia and Sex in the City 2 (great title!) were the slim pickings Hollywood offered up this year and neither one could even take first place, losing out to the 4th (and poorest reviewed) chapter in the Shrek franchise. Maybe if you have silk scarves hanging up as window treatments, you might consider these two tentpole features. But in a season traditionally dominated by solid action and clever spectacle, these two turnips fell hard -- great news for the American public as evidently we're a bit more discriminating than we're given credit for! We were offered boring choices and we stayed away. Evidently in the post-Avatar world we're now going to insist on something fresh and interesting and exploding with action. We'll wait for the quality goods -- great news for Splice this weekend and also for next week's The A-Team, as there's very little else on deck as far as big scale action. Should make for a colossal Toy Story 3 opening later this month, as it's such a beloved brand. That box office (and 3-D prices) should help turn the lackluster tide.

What's the take-away lesson? Bad word of mouth kills. Good word of mouth rules.