Harry Potter films have worked magic on book sales in the past, though the jump in sales has decreased substantially with each subsequent movie release.

The August 13 release of the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 novel Eat, Pray, Love is the latest example of a popular book title moving to the big screen. While these books see success before their silver screen debuts, the buzz leading up to a film version can drive impressive sales.

While DVD sales declined for a third straight year in 2009, consumer appetite for viewing movies at home remains very healthy as new physical and digital services for buying and renting movies gain in popularity.

Heading into the Academy Awards telecast on Sunday March 7, viewership is rising for several notable award shows. If this trend continues, this could mean good news for the Academy Awards, especially given overall movie ticket sales in 2009 and the Academy’s expansion of the best movie category from five to 10 films.

With the Academy Awards on March 7, fans online are increasingly discussing the nominees for best picture (a category that has expanded to include 10 films this year) and the best actor/actress awards.

In the early days of the Silver Screen, immigrant characters were not necessarily embraced.  Indeed, it wasn’t until Margarita Cansino changed her name to Rita Hayworth did she hit the big time.  Today, such a move would not be necessary, as attracting Hispanics is one path for a movie to become a blockbuster.  While Latinos make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 28 percent of today’s heavy moviegoers.  Almost half of Latinos age 12 to 34 watch 11 or more movies a year (compared to 7 …

With millions of copies sold, the Harry Potter book series does more than magically fly off the shelves, it has also been a force at the box office, on television, on the web, and even at the record stores. Similarly, a recent book series and film franchise, Twilight, has shown an ability to not only sell books, but also have an impact on the big screen and iPods as its brooding soundtrack has outsold the movie scores of the young wizard head to head. And while web buzz on Harry …

Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar winner for Best Picture in 2008 was not a summer blockbuster.  Nor were any of the other nominees in that category.  But they all had a couple of things in common: they were primarily advertised in the second half of the year with a concentration in the fourth quarter, and they were all released in the months of November and December.  So while the summer blockbusters get a great deal of attention, it is those films that are released – and tend to advertise – during …

Nielsen’s list of the most-watched Oscar broadcasts since 1974:

RANK
DATE
NETWORK
BEST FILM
# OF VIEWERS P2+(MILLIONS)

1
3/23/1998
ABC
Titanic
55.2

2
4/11/1983
ABC
Gandhi
53.2

3
4/14/1980
ABC
Kramer vs. Kramer
49.0

4
4/3/1978
ABC
Annie Hall
48.5

5
3/27/1995
ABC
Forrest Gump
48.3

6
4/8/1975
NBC
GodfatherPart II
48.1

7
3/29/1976
ABC
One… Cuckoo’s Nest
46.8

8
3/26/2000
ABC
American Beauty
46.3

9
4/9/1979
ABC
Deer Hunter
46.3

10
3/29/1982
ABC
Chariots of Fire
46.2

source: The Nielsen Company (2009)

Movie buzz is up following the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and the nominations for the Academy Awards, but in recent years viewership for many award shows (including the Oscars) has actually been declining. Is it the host? The length of the broadcast? Or does it have something to do with the movies themselves?
According to a recent study by Nielsen Preview, viewership of the Academy Awards is directly impacted by the box office draw of the best picture nominees and the popularity of the host.
During the 2004 Academy Awards (hosted by …