Box office turkeys: Lessons in stockpicking from Hollywood

How are films and investing connected?

Mark Pacitti, director of research company Woozle Research, takes a closer look at whether investors can predict whether a film will be a financial hit or a flop.

Despite the success of the film industry and outsized profits available to astute investors able to identify films that will resonate with viewers, industry estimates show that of any ten major films produced, on average six to seven may be broadly characterised as unprofitable and one might break even. However, for the 20% of films that make a profit the upside potential is huge. But what makes a best-selling film and is it possible to predict big screen success? Given the many casual correlations between film and financial investing, using a similar framework to that which is used b...