The Box Office Mojo issues thread. Brad Brevet is the new editor, the Simanton reign is over.

[4815162342]

Surprised none of the Nolanites posted this during the crisis:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNnZo8b9SKs

[Phil in the Blank]

The whole situation just seems very weird. If you are going to shut-down a website and absorb it into its sister website, the professional thing to do is to announce it ahead of time, and make everyone aware of what is happening.

 

If you have technical issues the professional thing to do is to make a public announcement about the problems and explain you are working hard to get it back up and running.

 

No matter the underlying cause for BOM's temporary disappearance it is clear that Amazon simply doesn't give a fuck about the website anymore or they would treat it, and its viewers with a little bit more professional respect. BOM may be up again for now, and it may stay up for a long long time, but as of now I have zero reason to expect that it will continue existing for any reasonable length of time given how little they seem to care about it.

[TServo2049]

Which is why I am still urging that the project to back up all the data continue, and why I think that any interested BO aficionados should work to put together a contigency plan to establish some sort of wiki-like free and enthusiast-run historical BO database that can take its place if they do decide to bury BOM in the future...

Edited October 13, 2014 by TServo2049

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

The whole situation just seems very weird. If you are going to shut-down a website and absorb it into its sister website, the professional thing to do is to announce it ahead of time, and make everyone aware of what is happening.

 

If you have technical issues the professional thing to do is to make a public announcement about the problems and explain you are working hard to get it back up and running.

 

No matter the underlying cause for BOM's temporary disappearance it is clear that Amazon simply doesn't give a fuck about the website anymore or they would treat it, and its viewers with a little bit more professional respect. BOM may be up again for now, and it may stay up for a long long time, but as of now I have zero reason to expect that it will continue existing for any reasonable length of time given how little they seem to care about it.

 

If they announce a BOM shutdown ahead of time, everyone can rip the numbers (since I don't think the data belongs to them the way music numbers seem to with Soundscan) and set up their own box office sites, or the sites already in existence can step their games up and redesign to make them more user-friendly. Then Amazon doesn't make money off all those IMDb Pro subscriptions they were going to sell to studios/journalists/box office junkies willing to pay up to have those priceless numbers all neatly organized. The backlash probably ruined that plan for now, but expect them to try it again in stages by putting certain features behind a paywall. There's no reason to think BOM can be relied on...contingencies should be in place in case it does go for good next time.

Edited October 13, 2014 by BoxOfficeChica

[Frozen]

Do you think it's possible BOM did something to piss off IMDB or Amazon and they shut them down as a warning of what could happen?

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Do you think it's possible BOM did something to piss off IMDB or Amazon and they shut them down as a warning of what could happen?

No

I think Amazon wants to combine IMDB and Mojo to one site. 

[The Panda]

No

I think Amazon wants to combine IMDB and Mojo to one site.

That makes the most sense, this whole thing is way to sketchy with them refusing to acknowledge it even happened.

[lilmac]

We really have no idea.  Gotta hope for the best (Mojo remains intact and protected by "good ideas" from corporate leadership).

[chasmmi]

The annoying thing about all this conspiracy theory stuff is that (at least in my opinion) it makes perfect sense to combine what IMDB and BOM does into one single website (so long as it doesn't compromise the depth of info, accessability, or the fact it is all free to view of either site).

[The Panda]

The annoying thing about all this conspiracy theory stuff is that (at least in my opinion) it makes perfect sense to combine what IMDB and BOM does into one single website (so long as it doesn't compromise the depth of info, accessability, or the fact it is all free to view of either site).

 

Eh, it's a lot easier if it's on Mojo, too much stuff on a single website can be a mess, IMDb is crammed enough as it is.  Plus, BOM wouldn't be free data if they moved it to IMDb.

[bapi]

BOM / IMDb / Amazon acting like this:

 

[GiantCALBears]

If Ray isn't commenting I don't think it's a stretch to say the site WAS about to be folded into IMDB pro or something similar, the outrage helped getting it back up. Why else wouldn't Ray be saying it was simple maintenance? No one wants to comment probably means there is some truth they are thinking about what to do with mojo (probably the best way to squeeze money out of the data).

Edited October 13, 2014 by GiantCALBears

[The Futurist]

Well, all Articles are still a no show, they just updated the numbers yesterday without any article from Subers.

Some shit is going down behind the scenes...

[The Panda]

If Ray isn't commenting I don't think it's a stretch to say the site WAS about to be folded into IMDB pro or something similar, the outrage helped getting it back up. Why else wouldn't Ray be saying it was simple maintenance? No one wants to comment probably means there is some truth they are thinking about what to do with mojo (probably the best way to squeeze money out of the data).

 

It makes a lot of sense, however no matter the reason they were entirely unprofessional about it.  If your site is down due to maintenance then simply say, "The website is down due to x maintenance."  And if you are going to merge websites give a proper warning beforehand to let the readers know there will be changes coming within a few days.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Whether the "gag order" is from IMDb or not, Ray is just making matters worse keeping mum about what happened. Why not just lie and say it was something simple? By saying nothing, they are opening themselves up to all sorts of speculation. The advice Jack Ryan gives the President in Clear and Present Danger seems very appropriate:

 

 

If they say you were close friends, say no, you were lifelong friends. Don’t give them anywhere to go.

 

Golden Rules of Crisis Communications

1. I’m sorry
2. I’m responsible
3. I’ll fix it

[filmlover]

Yeah, the complete and total silence over what happened makes me to believe that this was a salary/contract issue. The only thing that makes sense, outside of Amazon/IMDB trying to pull more crap.

[Lordmandeep]

Box office Mojo glory days was likely in 2004-2006.

 

They got a lot of traffic from high profile movie runs like Passion of the Christ and etc. 

[Mattrek]

Going off my read of the situation (AKA crazy conspiracy theory), BOM was meant to be absorbed in IMDB, but then the huge backlash from both the industry and the movie journalists caused them to change their mind. Subers obviously wouldn't be allowed to talk about it

I was just about to post this. It's the most obvious answer. When the NYT article came up Amazon execs must have been shitting bricks.

That's why there was a redirect, that's why Ray mentioned the bad day in a tweet, that's why an IMDB exec hung up when asked about BOM, that's why there was no communication via Twitter or a statement, that's why Ray is not allowed to talk about the past 3 days. It all adds up, bloody assholes tried to fuck is over again. Thank bloody God the media got wind and started spreading the word. NYT you are my hero and that's probably the article that allowed Mojo to come back.

That being said we HAVE to get every page from BOM documented and stored somewhere. We know they'll try this again and we need to be ready. Someone should start a thread getting volunteers together to help. I'd gladly be willing to lend a hand in anyway possible.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Mattrek Loves Del Toro

[grey ghost]

I don't have a reliable storage device or I'd volunteer.

[Alpha]

That being said we HAVE to get every page from BOM documented and stored somewhere. We know they'll try this again and we need to be ready. Someone should start a thread getting volunteers together to help. I'd gladly be willing to lend a hand in anyway possible.

http://forums.boxoffice.com/index.php?/topic/16526-bom-weekend-box-office-archives/