[The Barrow-Wight]

<BR><br><br> Have you ever noticed that movies always come out in pairs (and sometimes in triplet or more). <br> <br> Armageddon vs. Deep Impact<br> Tombstone vs. Wyatt Earp<br> Ants vs. Bugs Life<br> Babe vs. some other talking pig movies<br> Mission to Mars vs. (the upcoming) Red Planet<br> <br> Its a repeating Hollywood phenomenon that has been happening more and more as the world's hunger for films grows.<br> <br> So will a stinker fantasy film in November ruin it for LotR? Probably not. The hype-machine at New Line will have driven most of the public into such a frenzy that a bad film will most likely go unnoticed and be quickly forgotten in the surge (and subsequent following wave)of Tolkien Fever.<br> <br> So will a great fantasy film in November hurt the Fellowship? Again, probably not. It'll just make'em hungry for more. But in this case, the earlier film will not be forgotten but will be used as a point of comparison... especially by those viewers getting their first taste of Tolkien. <br> <br> Actually, the Fellowship will effectively behead any film that dares to open within a month of it. The smart producer of another film will give at least 2-3 months leeway to ensure their film gets the most box office dollars it can. Unfortunately, September is a bad time to open a 'blockbuster' movie. November and the Thanksgiving (USA) weekend are when most big films come out before Christmas.<br> <br> I think that any movie that attempt to 'compete' against the Lord of the Rings in the Fall/Winter of 2001 is going get crushed for all the reasons above and many not stated.<br> <br> Ai! Ai! <p>The Barrow-Wight (RKittle)<br> I usually haunt <a href="http://www.barrowdowns.com">The Barrow-Downs</a> and The Barrow-Downs <a href="http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi">Middle-Earth Discussion Board</a>.</p>