] "In the old days, there used to be a term, 'buying your
] gross,' " said Rick Sands, chief operating officer at
] Miramax, referring to the millions of dollars studios
] throw at a movie to ensure a big opening weekend.
]
] "You could buy your gross for the weekend and overcome
] bad word of mouth, because it took time to filter out
] into the general audience," he said. "Those days are
] over. Today, there is no fooling the public."

] Added Tom Sherak, a partner at Revolution Studios, which
] produced the doomed picture: "Remember that theory that
] any publicity is good publicity? It's not true anymore.
] Bad publicity and extended bad publicity kills the movie
] that much faster."

High-Tech Word of Mouth Maims Movies in a Flash