I've noticed this
recent trend:
"Batman Begins" took in $26.8 million to remain the top movie for the second straight weekend,
but it could not keep Hollywood from sinking to its longest modern box-office slump.
. . . Revenues for the top 12 movies came in at $116.5 million,
down 16 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened as the top movie with $23.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
It was the 18th weekend in a row the box office declined, passing a 1985 slump of 17 weekends that had been the longest since analysts began keeping detailed figures on movie grosses.
What's happened? Does the product suck? Money problems? "Values voters" backlash?
Any theories?