MPAA stops disclosing average costs of making and marketing movies

Reversing a long-standing practice, the trade and lobbying arm of the Hollywood studios won't disclose the average costs of making and marketing movies. For years, the Motion Picture Association of America has annually released a statistical analysis showing average movie costs of its six members, made up of the major studios and their specialty film labels. But the data, closely watched in Hollywood and on Wall Street as a valuable tool to measure the cost trends of the industry, was conspicuously absent from the group's Theatrical Market Statistics report for 2008, which was released Tuesday. Grilled about the matter during a news conference at the annual ShoWest trade show in Las Vegas, MPAA chief Dan Glickman said the increasingly complex nature of film financing and distribution made it difficult to obtain reliable data. Nonetheless, Glickman's comments fueled speculation that the reversal came about as a result of pressure from his studio bosses, who have never been eager to cast a spotlight on how much they spend, particularly during a time of recession and layoffs. Actors also have been working without a contract from the studios since June, and detailing the cost of movies -- especially if they are shown to be increasing -- could undermine studio arguments that they are holding the lid on costs and that actors must follow suit.