Over the past few years we’ve been hearing that the movie industry is struggling, with box office numbers falling due to things like piracy, digital downloads and shorter DVD release windows supposedly drawing people away from the multiplexes. However, a recent report from Wedbush Morgan Securities about the state of the exhibition industry indicates that things are looking up. In fact, 2007 may be on pace for a record breaking year in terms of ticket sales, with Wedbush predicting a 5.2% increase to $9.98 billion, which would break the $9.54 billion record set in 2004. Wait a minute, 2004 was a record breaking year at the box office? No wonder everyone thought 2005 was a massive slump.

Either way, it’s hard to argue with their projections when you consider that there are perhaps more blockbusters in store this year than ever before: Spider-Man 3, Shrek The Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Live Free or Die Hard and Rush Hour 3 are all opening this summer! Not to mention some of the surprise box office hits that have already happened, like 300, Wild Hogs and Ghost Rider all bringing in more than $100 million each. I find it interesting that with many analysts predicting the death of the blockbuster and the rise of The Long Tail, apparently there are still plenty of big movies out there we can all agree on. The only thing I don’t agree with is their explanation of why attendance dropped off in 2005. They say it was poor quality in the movies themselves, but has the quality really increased since then?

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