A series of mega-budget flops, notably Disney's The Lone Ranger, has hit almost all the major studios, carving hundred-million dollar holes in balance sheets.
Box office turkeys are nothing new but the bad run comes amid evidence that American audiences are cooling towards 3D – once billed as the saviour of the blockbuster – and warnings from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that an industry "implosion" owing to big box office crashes will see even established directors frozen out.
But the principal milch cow is now overseas, especially burgeoning markets in Asia, Russia and Brazil, which have undimmed enthusiasm for 3D and Imax.
China's box office revenues jumped 30% last year to $2.7bn. With 10 new cinema screens opening daily it is expected to overtake the US within a decade.
"Overseas has saved so many movies this summer. The numbers in China this summer were incredible. There were new [overseas] records set everywhere," said Finke. "A lot of these big-budget movies are about what the overseas market wants. It becomes irrelevant what the domestic market wants."
