Prediction and Box Office Success “Forget zombies. The data crunchers are invading Hollywood.” So begins a New York Times article about Vinny Bruzzese, a former statistics professor turned script advisor. Bruzzese uses data about the elements of past films to predict future success at the box office. The makers of Oz the Great and Powerful took Bruzzese’s advice, and the film made hundreds of millions of dollars. On the other hand, the makers of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ignored Bruzzese’s advice, and they didn’t even earn a quarter of what Oz pulled in. Two data points, however, are never enough to declare a pattern.
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