■"H'Wood's New World Order: Int'l B.O. Forces biz to rethink strategy," by Gabriel Snyder and Ian Mohr, Variety, 26 September-2 October 2005, p. 1.

Hollywood has seen its overseas box office outpace its domestic one in general (less so with comedy, more so with action) for a while, but now it's seeing that international market get more and more fragmented with time, forcing it to think more consistently about what works abroad versus what works at home. This leads to films that are-almost by design-sure to fail in the U.S. even as they do great overseas (like Crusades pic "Kingdom of Heaven" or Dreamworks' "The Island," which sucked here in terms of B.O. but racked up $22 million in South Korea alone-you do the Freudian analysis on that one; it's beneath me).

[All right, too good to pass up! "Island" is about a secret little society where rich people have clones of themselves grown for spare body parts when needed, a cute updating of an old Michael Crighton book/movie from the 1970s called "Coma." Can you think of why rich identical twin South Korea would find that twisted sci-fi tale so interesting?]

So watch Hollywood increasing make films designed more for international B.O. than domestic, in addition to making more of those films in overseas locations (like China) to keep costs down.

Good definition of joining the Core: your B.O. starts to matter, not just your DVD piracy. You've really made it when new Hollywood movies debut in your country on the same day they debut in America-either in theaters or DVD shops.

If you can't beat 'em, charge 'em.