box office

Summer may be when studios put out their biggest movies, but after a horrendous 2011 at the box office, Hollywood is going all out starting in the spring: This rapid-fire slate of potential blockbusters should turn heads this season.

John Carter is just the latest disappointment: Is Disney snuffing the creativity out of its Pixar and Marvel purchases?

Let's go over some items that will help shape the week ahead for Wall Street: The Hunger Games will give theaters a much needed boost; FuelBand may do the same for Nike; video game sellers hunger for hits; and Tiffany and Oracle will give us clues about the recovery.

For weeks, movie industry watchers have been commenting about the inadequacy of Disney's marketing campaign for John Carter, and ticket sales lived down to expectations. But the movie's not the Ishtar-level awfulness it's being made out to be.

It's not as if DreamWorks Animation had an awful year at the box office. Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots combined for a healthy $1.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales. But that's down from 2011's $1.6 billion take when Shrek Forever After was in theaters.

DVDs -- and even their more modern Blu-ray siblings -- are gradually fading to black, as VHS and LaserDisc did before them. Movie studios have seen this coming for some time. Problem is, it's part of a bigger trend they may not be able to overcome.

Hollywood has a problem. For the first time in more than two decades, the film industry is posting back-to-back years of falling box office receipts. Before the drama becomes a horror show, here are a few things that could beef up ticket sales.

Noticed that your local movie theater is a little quieter than usual lately? Don't go thinking that moviegoers have just gotten more considerate. The reason phones aren't ringing, babies aren't wailing, and know-it-alls aren't giving away plot twists before they happen is simple: People just aren't there.

When it comes to providing bewitchment for the buck, Harry Potter has notched some mesmerizing numbers. Fans who bought all the hardcover books, the DVDs, and attended the movies in first run, paid an average total of $401.08 -- not counting the $20 to $30 they'll pay for the DVD or Blu-Ray of "Deathly Hallows: Part 2."

Usually, the Oscars highlight the chasm between Hollywood's elite and average Americans. But, says one movie critic: "This is one of the rare years when critics and paying audiences backed the nominees." Also notable in 2011 is a youth movement in the nominees -- and the show's hosts.