Hollywood suffered its worst summer for years at the box office, as filmgoers apparently grew tired of blockbuster sequels and epic computer-generated fight scenes, experts said Tuesday.
Between the first weekend of May and the last of August -- Labor Day weekend, which traditionally marks the end of the summer filmgoing season -- US films made some $4.05 billion, about 15 percent down on last year's box office.
That is the smallest box office total since 2006 when films made just $3.75 billion in North America, said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at movie and TV data provider Rentrak.
Corrected for inflation, it is the worst summer box office showing since 1997, according to Rentrak.
But it could have been worse -- had the rogue superheroes not saved the day.
Offbeat sci-fi flick "Guardians of the Galaxy" topped the box office on its fifth week in theaters, and became the biggest grossing film of the year.
Family favorite "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" also performed well.
"'Guardians' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' thankfully came at the perfect time, and enabled Hollywood to knock the summer deficit down to just under 15 percent, from 20 percent just a month ago," Dergarabedian said.
Professor Tom Nunan of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Film School added: "It's obvious that there is an appetite for the movies, even the bad ones because (they have) decent opening nights.
"But then they fall off drastically because word of mouth conveys they are lousy," he told AFP.
Granted, this summer's box office suffered in comparison with last year's, boosted by blockbusters including "Iron Man 3" ($409 million in the US, $1.2 billion globally) and "Despicable Me 2" ($368 million, and $970 worldwide).
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