`Doing the math: What Hollywood slump?'

This piece from today's NY Times observes that total revenues for movie studios aren't doing so badly - when you factor in things like home video and merchandise sales. But despite the sunny headline, the piece does point out that there are fewer mid-level hits (movies that earn between $100 and $200 million), and that the domestic home video business isn't growing like it once did.

On this year's box office (down 6 percent), here's a quote:

"The audience has become much more discriminating about what they go to," said Michael Lynton, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment, adding that "it's the middle that has gotten hurt."