Does this study account for the fact that 2011 was the worst year for movies (in terms of quality) ever? Look at the academy award winners and the top box office performers of that year and compare it to 2012.
Side note: I would like to see a study on the quality of movies in 2011 vs 2008 based on economies 3 years previous. So when movies were getting funding in 2005 for release in 2008, we got some real gems. In 2008, when the economy took a down-turn, we see some bad ones in 2011.
Exactly this. The 'study' hasn't controlled for anything. There precisely no discussion of the weather (the summer months are suspiciously absent from the data set, nor the weather patterns commented on - Sydney, Australia had one of the wettest summers on record over 2011/2012), the economies of the countries involved, let alone a year over year data comparison.
The only thing "gone in 60 seconds", is the credibility of the authors of this study.
Side note: I would like to see a study on the quality of movies in 2011 vs 2008 based on economies 3 years previous. So when movies were getting funding in 2005 for release in 2008, we got some real gems. In 2008, when the economy took a down-turn, we see some bad ones in 2011.
http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/84th_Academy_Awards
http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2012&p=.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/85th_Academy_Awards