Abstract :
This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of empirical studies of motion picture
performance published from 1977 to 2006 inclusive in the following five disciplines of the
social sciences: strategy, organization theory, marketing, cultural economics and sociology.
It introduces a novel framework which organizes the various dimensions and explanatory
factors of movie performance into five distinct categories and underscores their relationships.
The paper, which uses this model as a roadmap for discussions of film success, serves
two complementary purposes. First, it clarifies the current state of the literature, stresses core
contributions and exposes limitations in existing research by emphasizing hitherto neglected
independent explanatory factors, dependent dimensions and correlations between them.
Second, it introduces five conceptual, methodological and empirical suggestions for further
cinema performance research aimed at addressing these limitations and, accordingly, at
providing better accounts of motion picture performance in view of the fast-changing
conditions of cinema production, marketing and consumption.
