Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

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  • Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

    http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/holl...r/#more-183334

    It seems movies are opening softer every week and the high ticket prices are masking shrinking attendance. Others talk about weariness from remakes and maybe that's a factor, but the reason I don't go to the movies as much anymore is that with ticket prices at 10 dollars for a matinee and 13 for a night showing, the thought process of deciding on going to a movie is more complicated. High prices makes me take a lot into consideration on whether a trip to the theater is worth it or not: all the other things I can and need to spend that money on, the inconveniences of going, the annoyances of being in a theater, the other things I could be doing, the been there done that factor with remakes...bottomline: when it was under 10 dollars, I didn't really care about throwing the cash away. Call it psychological barrier or whatever, 10 now matters.

  • #2
    Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

    Well you said it. Higher prices definitely means people will be more selective. So will they shell out that kind of cash on an 80s remake aimed at teens? Or a remake of a horror movie that few people even saw the first time? Or an adaptation of a graphic novel that only a small pocket of geekdom fan boys have ever heard of? Nope, nope, and nope.

    This is simply a case of Hollywood execs needing to eat some humble pie and admit that THEY WERE WRONG. The endless comic book adaptations, recent release remakes, and constant reboots are not what the average joe wants to see. Their pathetically paranoid, wussy reliance on "familiar material" because they think it makes someone more likely to see a movie was a fool's bet, and has now come back to bite them in the ass.

    Will they admit their errors in judgement? Not likely. Just look at that clueless exec that was quoted on Deadline. He's whinning about "Why are people not seeing these movies!?" Seriously? If this guy doesn't know why, then it's no wonder everything is sucking. What a clueless freaking idiot. If the rest of the top execs are as dumb as he is, then we're all f***ed.

    I can only hope and pray that execs are taking notice right now though and saying "Cancel every reboot, remake, and adaptation currently in development, and get me some new material." Not only will that be good for those of us peddling high concept flicks, but it'll be good for the audience, and ultimately for the studios. To be honest though, it scares me that they might react the wrong way....and instead decide to simply tighten the purse strings and rely on sequels to successful properties more than ever, thus having an adversely negative effect on the spec market. :/

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    • #3
      Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

      Agreed. Movies are too expensive to suck. I've been really disappointed in the popcorn movies the last two years.

      You look at Inception, Dark Knight, Hangover(s), any of the Pixar movies (except Cars), if you do good movies HELLA people will go see them. But no one likes to admit that quality ebbs and flows. We're in a quality ebb.

      The scary thing is that perhaps development's dysfunctional is weighing down the flows. Most of my friends will argue that things are no more dysfunctional now than they were 10 years ago. I would disagree. But my friends are more successful than me, so...

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      • #4
        Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

        The industry will adjust if it wants to survive.

        The comments were an interesting read, and I agree with a lot of them, not much playing that I want to see, just DVD time wasters.

        If the rest of the top execs are as dumb as he is, then we're all f***ed.
        I'm pretty sure Nostradamus predicted this and it doesn't end well.
        Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

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        • #5
          Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

          Heh.

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          • #6
            Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

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            Last edited by AJ_FIN; 06-08-2020, 11:32 AM.

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            • #7
              Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

              No. From Box Office Mojo:
              September 2011 was the highest-grossing September to date with roughly $602.9 million. It improved 10.6 percent on September 2010 ($545.3 million) and was up 8.7 percent from September 2007, which held the previous record with $554.7 million. With around 75 million tickets sold, it was also the most-attended September since 2007.

              Yeah - high ticket prices are propping up the BO, as well as 3D premiums. But Sept was the 4th record month this year... so they are making *money* if not selling tickets. If they are making money, it isn't doomed.

              Remakes mean more to us than to some 15 year old kid who wasn't even born when the original FOOTLOOSE came out. I think remakes and sequels are a bad long term idea - if you make too many there'e no original films to remake 20 years from now. But I think the long term vs. short term thing is a much bigger issue than just Hollywood movies, and society has to do some sort of reset to get that fixed. Don't know how that will happen.

              Until then - I'm hoping the next trend is mashups: THE FOOTLOOSE THING... New kid in Antarctic high school discovers others are conformists and Borg-like...

              - Bill
              Free Script Tips:
              http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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              • #8
                Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                Unfortunately, bad business (even though September was a solid month) will only reinforce the risk-averse thinking of studio execs -- meaning they will now feel that they definitely need an established "brand" in order to minimize their risk. I seriously doubt a drop-off in business will translate into a new era of originality and spec sales.

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                • #9
                  Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                  Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
                  No. From Box Office Mojo:
                  September 2011 was the highest-grossing September to date with roughly $602.9 million. It improved 10.6 percent on September 2010 ($545.3 million) and was up 8.7 percent from September 2007, which held the previous record with $554.7 million. With around 75 million tickets sold, it was also the most-attended September since 2007.

                  Yeah - high ticket prices are propping up the BO, as well as 3D premiums. But Sept was the 4th record month this year... so they are making *money* if not selling tickets. If they are making money, it isn't doomed.

                  Remakes mean more to us than to some 15 year old kid who wasn't even born when the original FOOTLOOSE came out. I think remakes and sequels are a bad long term idea - if you make too many there'e no original films to remake 20 years from now. But I think the long term vs. short term thing is a much bigger issue than just Hollywood movies, and society has to do some sort of reset to get that fixed. Don't know how that will happen.

                  Until then - I'm hoping the next trend is mashups: THE FOOTLOOSE THING... New kid in Antarctic high school discovers others are conformists and Borg-like...

                  - Bill
                  I think the two factors you mentioned: 3d premiums and higher non-3d ticket prices are the very reasons the gross is higher. But going by purely ticket sales on a yearly basis, according to BoxofficeMojo, since the high of 1,575 in 2002, ticket sales have been flat or on the decline. From 2005 to 2010, yearly ticket sales have been averaging around 1,370.

                  The exception is 2009 when Avatar was released and there was a 5.3% bump from the previous year (1,412 from 1,341). But the following year ticket sales dropped back down to 1,339. This is despite the fact that the American population has grown 9.7% in that time adding 30 million new members. With only 1,013 tickets sold so far, this year looks more dismal than the last with two more months to go to catch up to 1,339 from 2010.

                  *Ticket sales are in millions so say 2002, there was about 1.6 billion tickets sold as opposed to 2010 there were 1.34 billion tickets sold.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                    Dear Executives:
                    In my family we specifically avoid 3D whenever possible. It's cheaper and less disappointing.
                    Now that the theaters are talking about charging extra for the glasses, too? Forget it.
                    -Grumpy Grumpykins.
                    Also: Dear Theater Owners:
                    At the Alamo Drafthouse we arrive 45 minutes early for the movie. We sit in the theater and wait. And we like it.
                    Wanna know why?
                    They serve beer and sangría and rootbeer floats. And real food-- not just nachos and slushies. Also: they show clips-- if it's a Harry Potter movie they show a clip from the Simpsons with Harry Potter-like characters, Daniel Radcliff interviews, JK Rowlings interviews. If it's Pirates of the Caribbean they show clips from old pirate movies... and so on.
                    The only commercials are the previews.
                    Also, no one ever (EVER) talks, tweets or texts. Otherwise they get kicked out.
                    Might be something to consider.
                    Your friend,
                    GG.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                      something's gotta give. i'm sure they all thought tv was going to doom movies. i'm sure they thought movies were going to doom plays on broadway (and such). the release of tapes and dvds are factors, they say the internet is also a factor... well, it doomed XXX movies in the theaters and now porn is bigger than ever. lol!

                      i think our poor economy is the biggest thing that keeps people from the theaters. pro-sporting events cost so much more and they still sell tickets.

                      btw - didn't read the linked article

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                      • #12
                        Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                        ..
                        Last edited by michaelb; 10-16-2011, 09:57 PM.
                        twitter.com/mbotti

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                        • #13
                          Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                          Hopefully Hollywood leans towards quality over quantity in the future...

                          (is that a bad thing for aspiring scribes?)

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                          • #14
                            Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                            Actually I think you're all missing the primary reason the film industry (or entertainment industry as a the whole) has been in a steep fiscal decline which it can't seem to get out of:

                            Income Inequality.

                            The main problem is that, unlike a Ferrari, a movie ticket relies on quantitative and not qualitative based sales, therefore the shrinking customer base caused by income inequality means a slow death of the movie business.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Are Movies Doomed Theatrically?

                              Australian cinemas slug us anywhere from $15/$18 for a normal adult ticket
                              But your minimum wage is $15.51 ( $16 US ) an hour. That's double the US federal minimum wage at $7.25 ( $7 AUD )

                              It's actually cheaper to see a film in Australia, especially for target demographics like the young and broke.
                              Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

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