At this point making a huge movie costs more , but you can make ~ 3 movies , in time for 1 game ... also the movie industry is far more than just the cinema experience : DVDs , DVD players , HDTVs are sold just to get a batter movie viewing experience . So no , at this point I would say that the movie industry is bigger ... but for how long ? I really dont know ...

SlorgNet, thanks for your insightful posts. I suppose that my original question was a little vague. It makes sense to sparse the movie industry along the lines of box office sales, DVD sales and the like and then compare those numbers to video game industry sales. When I said Movie Industry, I didn't really have in mind aspects like television, pay per view, DVD rentals and sales along with all the myriad other aspects of it. I suppose what makes the Movie industry so big is its diversity.

Another Question:

Does anyone know how large the current number of gamers is? Its easy to count console base, but how many people are actually playing games in America and world wide right now?

Any guesses?

Also, you have to remember that movies generally age better than games. The classic James Bond films, Indiana Jones and Star Wars still bring in a lot of cash whenener they release a new version of it.

Games, not so, not many games that were released 10 years ago are not still played today (Wii VC may help with the aging problem).

Me personally, I hate to think about it, but I'll probably have spent around $3000 on hardware and games by the end of this year. I will not have spent a tenth of that on movies and dvd's.................unless you count porn.