It really didn't feel like that long ago that I was reading doom-and-gloom headlines about how movies were dying (often attributed to piracy) but it doesn't seem to be the case now. On a personal level, I never used to be that interested in seeing movies but in recent years I find it to be a particularly unique kind of escapism - focusing on a single screen with no other distractions is a pretty unique experience in my life right now. I like to think I'm contributing a tiny bit to these big numbers.

But I wonder if these big numbers mean that studios are getting better and better at honing in on a formula that works, meaning that movie sceenplays that don't fit in this formula have a more difficult time getting made. I didn't like Jurassic World that much and I'm definitely not going to see Minions. (Of course, the hypocrite that I am - as I type this, I have two different groups of friends planning to go see Magic Mike XXL, and I'm going to see it with both.)