Richard Corliss assesses this year's downward box office trend. He makes the point that attendance is a clearer indication of the state of the movie industry's health than box office grosses. He also makes the important observation that ticket prices are soaring, which accounts for the perceived boom in box office take in recent years. I totally agree:
1. The Boom Wasn't All That Boomy
The five years from 2005 to 2009 showed remarkably consistent ticket sales, all in the range of 1.39 billion to 1.42 billion, according to movie-stats blog the Numbers. Indeed, in 2009 moviegoers bought no more tickets (1.42 billion) than they did in 1997; the 62% increase in box office revenue, from $6.51 billion to $10.65 billion, was entirely due to the gradual hike in prices. But the bust could be real: if current trends hold, the number of admissions this year will be 1.27 billion, the lowest since 1996. Historical note: None of the recent years comes anywhere near the 4 billion tickets sold in 1946, back before TV gave Americans a free, at-home option for watching entertainment. That's three times the tickets, when the U.S. population was half what it is today.
The five years from 2005 to 2009 showed remarkably consistent ticket sales, all in the range of 1.39 billion to 1.42 billion, according to movie-stats blog the Numbers. Indeed, in 2009 moviegoers bought no more tickets (1.42 billion) than they did in 1997; the 62% increase in box office revenue, from $6.51 billion to $10.65 billion, was entirely due to the gradual hike in prices. But the bust could be real: if current trends hold, the number of admissions this year will be 1.27 billion, the lowest since 1996. Historical note: None of the recent years comes anywhere near the 4 billion tickets sold in 1946, back before TV gave Americans a free, at-home option for watching entertainment. That's three times the tickets, when the U.S. population was half what it is today.
Three times the number of tickets sold -- when the population was half today's! That's a telling stat. Now we have not only TV, but gobs of cable/satellite channels, the internet, pay per view, even videos on our phones. Not good for theater attendance.
3. Where Are the Sequels of the Future?
Once upon a time, even the biggest hits were one-offs. Nobody made a Ben-Hur II or The Sound of More Music or Gone With the Wind: Tomorrow Is Today.
Once upon a time, even the biggest hits were one-offs. Nobody made a Ben-Hur II or The Sound of More Music or Gone With the Wind: Tomorrow Is Today.
No comment, just love the line. 'The Sound of More Music'...
Today the problem is not that there are too many, but that there aren't enough new hits that warrant sequels. The joke is that Hollywood has become so sequel-dependent, it has forgotten how to make new hits.
Prince of Persia comes to mind. I'm not sure there are any more failed franchise boot-ups this year than in recent years, though."At one AMC theater in New York," the Associated Press reported in late March, "the price for a family of four to see a 3-D screening of DreamWorks Animation's How to Train your Dragon this Friday will be $63 before popcorn, soda or candy."
$63! Okay, I know a guy. He gets a certain internet movie-streaming service. He pays $9 a month which buys him unlimited viewings. (That's $9 a month, not per movie). He watches about 3 movies a day (he's retired). That's pushing 100 movies a month for nine dollars. I don't see how much longer movie theaters can expect to stay in business.
Corliss' write-up is a lot of fun. I feel guilty for having clipped so much of it. Head over and give it a read. He makes several other entertaining points.
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