US film industry set for four years of strong growth, predicts report

by Ben Child

Stand by for the sound of clinking champagne glasses chiming around the Hollywood hills. A leading accountancy firm has predicted that the US film industry is set for four years of healthy growth, defying predictions of a downturn due to internet piracy and waning DVD sales.

Revenue is set to grow from box office returns, internet streaming services, cinema advertising, Blu-ray sales and home video kiosks, not only in the US but across the globe, according to the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The upturn is predicted to last until at least 2015.

In north America, the film industry is anticipated to generate $50.3bn in four years’ time compared to $40.8bn this year, growth of almost 20%. Worldwide profits are expected to leap from $88.8bn to $113.1bn, indicating an even more rapid rate of development.

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The report will provide comfort for an industry which has been faced with a number of unforeseen challenges over the past decade. Sales of DVDs have dropped dramatically, while web piracy has skyrocketed. Fortunately, it now seems that the slack is being taken up by online streaming and download services, even though the latter are in their infancy.

Some experts had predicted the film business might face the same difficulties the music industry has experienced once broadband capacity reached a level allowing swift illegal downloads of entire movies. If PricewaterhouseCoopers is correct, that forecast is some way from fruition.

There may just be trouble of another kind looming, however. While box office revenue is up, it has been driven by increased income from higher-priced 3D screenings rather than ticket sales, which have stayed at the same level. It was recently reported that US audiences were choosing to see cheaper 2D versions of new blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Kung Fu Panda 2 for the first time, indicating that the stereoscope boom may be over.

Economists have also begun to view 3D growth with a concerned eye, and shares in tech company RealD dropped after the box office results for Kung Fu Panda 2 were released. Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks Animation, the studio that made the film, said earlier this month that Hollywood only had itself to blame for the downturn because some studios had failed to provide high-quality 3D entertainment worth the price of a premium ticket.