The Incredible Shrinking Box Office, part II
Here's a topic I've been meaning to return to for some time: Hollywood's penchant for bad summer movies. It seems that more and more people are getting a little sick of it and avoiding movie theaters; and since I last brought this up, the summer slump has continued. With the summer season officially over after Labor Day, things look bad: box office receipts are down about 8-9 percent from the same period last year, and the number of tickets sold down about 11-13 percent (figures according to either CNN or Media Guardian, take your pick). In fact, U.S. summer movie attendance was at the lowest level since 1997.Some films did alright. Top summer performer was George Lucas's final instalment: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which grossed $379.8m. Among the runners-up were Paramount Pictures' War of the Worlds and Warner Bros Pictures' Batman Begins. But at the same time, big planned summer blockbusters such as Michael Bay's The Island, Ron Howard's Cinnderella Man and Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven flopped.
So why the slump? Notes Media Guardian:
- The box office slump has been blamed on everything from the narrowing window between a film's cinematic and video/DVD release to improvements in home cinema systems to high ticket prices. Or, if you take the word of John Fithian, who heads the US association of cinema owners, it's just because the films simply aren't good enough.
I have my own ideas. Earlier in the summer I wrote about the time my partner and I went to the movies (specifically Pittsford Plaza) to see the aforementioned Kingdom of Heaven (she's a big Orlando Bloom fan), and I was once again struck by how noisy some of the theater patrons were. As is often the case, too many theater patrons just can't shut up during a movie! This is especially true of the very young. Sometimes I shush people - and repeatedly - but as often as not that just doesn't work. So during this particular movie we took early evasive action by moving to the back of the theater just before the film started, so as to get some peace to watch the movie. Fortunately the noisiest ones were all toward the front, and it was a fairly big theater. Calm was restored, though at a price.
But things are undoubtedly getting worse with noisy, rude, and ignorant movie audiences. And Pittsford Plaza is in fact one of the less distracting places in this regard. (FYI: If you value audience silence during a movie, and live in the Rochester, NY area, then do not go anywhere near Regal Cinemas Culver Ridge, in Irondequoit. You will go mad.) But it's not just the kids: the previous month I had had to shush a older couple during a screening of Downfall (about the last days of Hitler). Now they were German, but that's still no excuse. National guilt about your embarrassing past is all very well, but that doesn't give you leave to blabber about it during a movie. I can watch Gandhi and squirm at the Amritsar massacre scene, but I don't need to announce to the audience, "That's terrible; on behalf of the British state of which I am uncomfortably a subject, I'd just like to say I feel really bad about that." It's not required. I think it's better to keep that to myself. So should you all. No matter how much you feel you have to say something during a screening - unless it's "My husband's having a heart attack, help!" - you really, really don't!
Anyway, as my exasperation increased I noted that summer cinema audiences were consistently down from the previous year, and many in the industry were (and are) worried that the future of big cinematic releases (the whole summer blockbuster "tentpole"/3,000-cinema big release thing) could be in jeopardy. Now there are lots of reasons for why this is happening, and EW helpfully gave us the results of an online poll asking respondents "What keeps you away from seeing a movie in theaters?" Here were their results:
- 28% The quality of movies — most of them suck
22% The ticket price
11% People in theaters are rude and annoying
9% The DVD is out in a couple months anyway — I can wait
3% I hate sitting through all those pre-movie ads
26% All of the above
I think you can guess which of the above options I would respond to (though "All of the above" is also worth seriously considering.)
The fact is, that for people like me, the big suburban multiplexes have become almost uninhabitable - populated with hordes of noisy kids who can't differentiate between watching a DVD at home (when some discussion is allowed) and watching it in a theater (when it manifestly is not!) Yet these are the very people that the studios chase after with their blockbuster movies. Now I like to see the odd Big Dumb Movie myself - but increasingly, I have to avoid them by retreating to the boutique alternative theaters (the Little, the Dryden), or else reconsider the financial necessity of that 42" plasma screen HDTV for the DVDs!
What's an ageing prof to do!?
(PS If you want to read the inside scoop on how the movie studios are still able to make boatloads of money, in spite of the theater slump. read this piece by Edward Jay Epstein in Slate.com.
posted by hdougie at 9/18/2005 10:23:00 PM
24 Comments:
I agree with all the reasons provided for why summer box office sales are down. First off, the prices of tickets are just ridiculous. I went to a movie theater this summer in which it was ten dollars for a ticket. This makes me want to just wait a couple months for the movie to come out on dvd just so I can save some money. I mean for ten dollars I could almost buy this movie in a couple months or even rent it numerous times!There has also been a lack of good quality movies made this summer. The movie industry needs to somehow produce more movies with the success of Star Wars and less movies that have a high potential to "flop" such as Kingdom of Heaven. Finally, rude audiences in the movie theater has been a problem for a long time and has not gotten any better. I think that the owners of these movie theaters need to crack down on the amount of talking in movies,and even start warning people or even kicking them out of the theater if they are a disturbance.
Jeff Beadnell
Several points of this entry caught my attention. First, the decrease in box office receipts. Well, have you noticed that nearly all the big summer hits were unoriginal ideas? I am sick of sequels, prequels, movies based on tv shows, movies based on comic books, movies based on old movies...the works. It seems to be less and less common for studios to release an original, clever idea. Second, the obnoxious movie goers. I went to a midnight showing of the 3rd Harry Potter movie (I know, I was setting myself up by going with all the fanatics) and a young boy behind me gave his mom a running commentary on which parts of the movie were the same as the book and which were different. I don't believe I have to state how annoyed I was.
Elizabeth Cronin
Although this summer's movies have not been spectacular, that was not a factor that kept me away. I think my grand total for movies seen at the theatres this summer was somewhere around 12 or 13, but that depends if I count seeing Star Wars Episode III twice. Basically what my friends and I do for fun consists of either going out to the movies or staying in at someone's house. So although ticket prices are getting higher, we do get a student discount, and more importantly there's nothing else to do. I also actually enjoy watching the previews in the theatres. My best friend and I love watching them and making on the spot decisions about what we'll be seeing next and making plans in advance to go out and see the next interesting film. As far as noisy patrons go, I can only recall running into annoying kids once over the summer. It does bother me when that happens, but for me I'd rather physically get out of the house and socialize with my friends and go out for coffee or food afterwards than sit at home and watch a movie.
Allison Lane
This entry was very interesting to me because I have been very frsuturated as of late with the movie industry as a whole. So many movies these days have scripts that subscribe to a common structure and lack originality and imagination. There have been so many so called "Box Office Hits" these days that are either remakes(The Longest Yard), adaptations of television shows (Dukes of Hazzard), or other attempts to make money on an idea from the past. As for the theatre atmosphere, it is almost impossible to see any movie without there being some person who finds it necessary to shout out random comments thoughout the film which he or she finds to be amusing or witty. This not only distracts other viewers, it is incredibly annoying. These people should save their comments for their friends after the film has ended. I have become so frusturated with movie prices as well. Being from Long Island, I welcome the Geneseo Square Cinema prices, as they are roughly half of those on Long Island. One last observation I'd like to point out is that it seems as though the more hyped the movie is these days, the worse it turns out to be, and the more disappointing it is.
Morgan Dunn
I agree with the survey stating that 9 % of people wait for the DVD to come out. This relieves several problems, such as the noisy theatre issue and the high ticket price. It also helps now that DVDs are coming out much sooner after the movie release, many after just a few months. Many people prefer watching a movie in their home, especially now that people have expensive home theatre systems that make the movie watching experience more enjoyable.
-Erin Reedy
I would have to agree with Elizabeth. The movies that have been coming lately have all been done before. The variations of struggling boxers and comic book movies have been exhausted. It seems like that if a movie is successful, then the following summer there are three more just like it. I think if production companies want to boost there sales, then they really have to start thinking about their product. I'm sure there are hundreds of writers out there who are just waiting to share their creative ideas with the world. However,I can't say that the high price of movie tickets doesn't bother me also. The last time I went to the movie theater, I spent $10 on the ticket and another $8 on soda and popcorn! If I wait a month I can buy the dvd for $18, and watch it an infinite amount of times, in the privacy of my own home. At home, I can rewind, fastforward, pause and talk outloud all I want. So why would I make the drive to the theater?
~Shannon Cox
I lived in Toronto for part of the summer where cinematic news is always front page of the arts and entertainment section, since alot of film-making takes place there. As reported, the movie industry was going frantic with the inability to have at least one summer blockbuster. They thought "Cinderella Man" would be an Oscar-worthy, summer blockbuster, but let's face it, who wants to go see a movie about the Depression when the Northeast was having one of the hottest and nicest summers of the decade? Then came Star Wars III, which attracted loyal Star Wars fans and thensome, but didn't really attract a new crowd of people. Finally, War of the Worlds came out, but so did the new, religiously-revived Tom Cruise, and seeing his interview with Matt Lauer on NBC Today was enough to turn me off from seeing it. After reading an article that summed up the summer movies, it showed that the top-graded movies for the summer were to do with weddings (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Wedding Crashers, and Monster-in-Law). And even those movies had trouble taking in a gross profit. If you think about it, most the movies released this summer were remakes of TV shows and older movies--targeting younger crowds, more so. I honestly think that the summer season for cinema was low simply due to an incredibly warm, beautiful summer and not enough attraction in any of the movie releases to combat outdoor alternatives and appeal to larger crowds.
~Jillian René
I think that the box office is in a slump because of ticket sales, I truly feel that there are good movies out there but people are just not willing to shell out the dough because of many economic reasons. I also feel that critics are very harsh on their intrepretation of movies and I think that is another reason for the slump in business.
To try to help jump start this I think that movie theaters should have specials on certain days for movies and also let the movie goer form their own oppinion of a movie.
I also wonder how much a certain actor can keep someone from not buying a ticket. There are many actors acting as though they know a thing or two about politics. Many actors are moving forward into the limelight saying this or that, being for or against the war, the president or whatever else. Could that be a small percent of why people would not go and see a particular movie? Americans treat the people on the silver screen as though they are gold, but could we be moving into an era where we just want them to act and look pretty and that is it? Yes Mr. Penn you are getting an Oscar for Mystic River but we don't truly care about your opinion of WMDs. And no Mr. Schwarzenegger you can't be both the Terminator and governor of California. Maybe people want to go to the movies to escape, but then they see a certain actor and remember what they are trying to hide from for 2 to 3 hours. Separation of actors and politics could be better connection of audiences and ticket sales.
Josh Gravelle
I haven't put much thought into this topic before, but now that you bring it into the spotlight, it seems to be blatantly obvious. Personally, I think I only went to one movie this whole summer, while last year I went to at least three or four. The movies haven't really caught my eye recently. Also, back home on Long Island, it's now $9.75 at some movie theaters which seems ridiculous! Along with the price comes obnoxious people (probably twenty times worse than upstaters) that also won't stop talking. It just doesn't seem worth it to make the trip anymore, except on rare occasions where the movie seems to die for. Since many customers seem to keep having these unsatisfying experiences, I don't see this pattern reversing anytime in the near future.
-Jillian Levine
Back at home in Rochester, I do not normally go to the movies, mainly because of the price. In most theaters now, it is at least $8 for a new movie. Although, there is always the option of going to "Movies 10." This is a theater located in the Henrietta area, which plays movies that have been out for a few weeks and are not exactly brand new fresh off the press. I do enjoy going to the Geneseo theater for the Midnight showing on Fridays, playing new movies for only $3.50. It is such a reasonable price to pay. I do get annoyed by some people in theater, whne they talk a lot, make comments, or just act with no common courtesy for others. I have also experienced in the past, when other people that sit behind you, will rudely kick your seat. It is a type of situation, when you paid just like the other person,you deserve some respect and the opportunity of peace and quiet just like them to enjoy the movie.
~Matt Hoffman
This past summer was the first of which that I can say I never went to the movie theater. I think some of it has to do with my personal preference of going out to play an evening round of golf rather than spending ten dollars to sit in a theater. But it still comes back to the money thing. I live in Albany, and Crossgates 18(Regal) is now up to 9.75 a head for a movie. I would rather wait a few months and pay 5 bucks (which is still too much) to rent it. It has to do with money and also with how crappy the movies are, but I think another major factor is how advanced On-Demand and digital cable are getting. It's just easier to watch a movie in the comfort of your own home than it is to go to a theater. And it cheaper!! Anyways...just my thoughts.
-Sam Minassian
I'm actually proud to say that over the summer I saw only one movie in the theatre and luckily it was one that I enjoyed immensely (Batman Begins). I wanted to see other movies, but the price is rediculous and after hearing from friends about the particular movie, they said "Don't waste your money." I'm lucky in that the theatre I go to is not really that noisy, but the prices keep increasing every single month. Besides the price gouging, after the renting several of the movies I wanted to see, most of them were pretty bad. It seems that ever since Lord of the Rings came to theatres in 2001, Hollywood has been racing to film as many epics as possible. A lot of them (Kingdom of Heaven and Alexander for example) have been nothing short of awful. Lately I have found it much more enjoyable to go see smaller, independent films at theatres like The Little. Most of those hour and a half movies contain ten times the substance that the Hollywood epics contain. Not to mention the price is cheaper and the theatre is always quiet.
-Rich Pulvino
One thing that I think plays a HUGE role in the slumping of ticket sales and overall is a big hurt on the entertainment industry is the pirating of movies on the internet. If you know how to use simple Bit Torrent search engines you can download just about any movie before it even come out in theatres in the US. If you really have patience you can probably even find the same movie in DVD quality as a DVD screener. Millions of people around the world download their movies rather than pay to go watch them. Why? Well probably because it is free, and you don't even need to leave your home. Also, once it is downloaded, you can burn it to DVD, and add it to your collection. Personally this what I have been doing for about 2 years. I do not feel that the $8 to $10 dollar ticket price (this is not including how much you spend on snacks and a drink) is worth ONE movie. I rather download it, and burn it. Its free, and mine forever. I will admit, I still on occasion, actually pay to go see a movie (gasp)! Why you ask, if I am such a fan of it being free? Well there are a few reasons. For starters, some movies just NEED to be seen on the big screen. Unless you have a 52 inch plasma and digital surround sound then nothing comes close to comparing to seeing a film in the theatre. This is something that I feel will keep the movie industry alive forever. Also as a social event, I will sometimes go to see a movie with some friends (possibly lady friends?). So yeah, just wanted to get that out there...pirating probably plays a nice size role in the slumping sales. I'm sure it is also hurting the gaming and music industries, but maybe thats an issue for another blog...
-Bradley Shepps
I can easily see why box office sales are down at their lowest since 1997. The summer movie choices were not that plentiful. Sure there's a few: Star Wars III, and Fantastic 4 was even pretty good, but Bad News Bears, Dukes of Hazzard... not so great. It sucks to pay almost ten bucks to go to Regal and see a crap movie. Nobody wants to do that. I'd rather do one of two things: either wait until it comes out on video (which will only be a few months), or wait until it's at the dollar theatre. But the problem with the dollar theatre (like many other theatres) is the noise. Some people just cant shut up in the movie. I remember watching a movie one time and a lady was talking on her cell phone for about 5 minutes... come on. Is your call that important that you have to take it now? And if so, LEAVE THE THEATRE!
-Heather Acomb
As someone who has always loved going to the movies, I have essentially come to accept the fact that noisy people and high ticket prices are unfortunately part of the experience. However, while living in Tampa, Florida this summer, I went to a few theatres and was amazed at the difference from my movie-going experiences in New York. Ticket prices were still high but.... gasp.... the experience was actually worth the price. The theatres were each extremely clean and modern, with excessive numbers of smiling staff members looking almost too eager to guide you to the appropriate door. Each theatre had stadium seating that offered no possibility of a blocked view. The seats themselves were large, heavily padded, and could recline! The quality of the movie screens were excellent, as was the sound. And, wonder of all wonders, everyone in the theatre was relaxed and QUIET. I don't know exactly why these theatres were so different, maybe their posh, modern environment encourages respect, or maybe people are just more laid back in Florida. Whatever the case, it's nice to know that a positive theatre experience can still be had. And I only had to travel a few thousand miles to get it.
During the summer, I must admit that I've seen pretty much all of the movies I can think of (with the exception of "Star Trek ep.III" ...I'm just not a fan). There is not much else to do in Westchester, NY unless we decide to venture off to NYC. The MOST annoying movie experience of my life occurred this summer during "Wedding Crashers". A group of approx. 16 year old boys were sitting in front of my group of friends. One of them seemed as though he was mentally insane...yelling during the movie, talking on his cell phone, and embarrassing his friends. I have never seen ANYONE act like that during a movie. I've experienced screaming babies who were more pleasant than this kid. I tried to "shush" him numerous times and people from the back of the theatre actually yelled at him to be quiet. Eventually after I was fed up...I said, in quote "Someone forgot to take their meds today" apparently this embarrassed him enough because he was quiet for the remainder of the movie. Experiences like this and ticket prices now over $10 in the downstate area are certainly enough incentive to find an alternate entertainment method.
-Karyn Monahan
I am a big movie watcher and I usually do love to go to the movies. However, I have recently found myself to not go to the theater much at all. I enjoy all types of movies and I can say that this summer, the only movies I actually went to see in the theater were "Wedding Crashers" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin". These movies are enjoyable to watch. They are histaricle, which means lots of audience involvment during the show. I don't mind when the audience is loud during and comedey because chances are that I will be loud too. Although, with most other movies, I find them to just not be that attracting lately. It seems that every horror movie that comes out is the same exact movie with a different character. Most thriller movies seem very similar lately also. I think the movies put out there recently are just not that appealing to me, at least to go pay ten dollars to see. Chances are that I will just wait until it comes out on DVD, or even with today's technology, I'm sure someone will have it already downloaded on their computer.
-Casey Balog
It is understandable how movie theatres are less popular these days because videos and DVDs really do come out in just a few months after a movie is first shown. I am from Japan and I went back there during the summer, and the only movie I went to watch is Star Wars Episode III. That was probably my second or third time going to the movie theatres in Japan my whole life!! I hate going to movie theatres in Japan because of the unbelievable price. It costs $15 to watch one movie. I'd say waiting for the DVD to come out and purchasing it is a lot cheaper. The only reason I went to watch Episode III was that I had seen the previous five episodes and I couldn't wait to watch the newest one. I agree that some audiences can't shut their mouths while the film is playing. I don't talk during the movie, but I do scream when something scary comes up... I hope that's acceptable!!
-Hiroko Yuki
There is an awful cycle going on in movies these days, when dealing with so called "hit movies." It's gotten to the point where I truly feel the audience doesn't expect to see a good movie when they go to the theater. Those who make the movies then in turn realize their product doesn't have to be very good. Instead of creativity, we the viewer get a suffacating game of plot connect the dots, which of course must be filled in by our own running commentary to make the movie interesting. In fact, many of these blockbusters are so dumbed down, the audience has gotten used to the fact that they don't have to pay attention half the time in order to understand the movie. Instead, much of the audience seems to just tune in at the certain plot advancement points because there isn't much worth watching in between. There is the occasional blockbuster that turns out to be worth seeing, but they certainly aren't the norm. There are still good movies being made, they just don't seem to make it to the large cineplexes anymore. With the atmosphere at most of these places, maybe it's just as well.
~ Dave James
I must say that I am one of the ones that waits for movies to come out on DVD. DVDs offer so much, not just the movie. I can't see all the extras, for example the bloopers or deleted scenes. Also I like that I have control to pause the movie or rewind it if I missed something or want to see it again. I also like being in the comfort of my own home, some theaters are so old and uncomfortable. I used to go to Culver Ridge to see movies, and because it is fairly new, all the seats were comfortable. But because I didn't want to fear for my life when I saw a movie, I stopped going there and had to go to other theaters. It seems that there are a lot of old theaters around and it is extremely difficult to sit through a movie in uncomfortable seats. I think the whole theater business has forgotton who really matters, its viewers.
Meghan Scheib
Last week, I really wanted to go see "Wedding Crashers", I was in the mood for something funny, and was yearning for the aroma of movie theatre popcorn loaded with butter. After realizing and no one was going to waste 9 bucks (or whatever the going rate is) to take me out, a neighbor hooked me up with his laptop,a bootleg version of the movie, and a bag of microwavable popcorn with "pourover movie theatre butter" (yes, it does infact exist). So although i didn't get the full effect, and the picture was a little small, I saw the entire movie, laughed at all the jokes, relaxed, ate my popcorn, and got everything i was looking for with exception to the really tired eyes afterwards. I guess waht i'm trying to say is that with todays technology and the web,i think that SO many people would rather just download a movie then pay their weekly earnings to go sit in a theatre. If it's a HAVE TO see movie, sure people still go to the theatres, but its just not as popular anymore, not only due to technology, but because there are so many more things to do now, and its just not at the top of the list. Movies are great, but maybe its good that we're drifitng away from wasting our money on movie theatres, we really could be doing something way more pro-active; like microwaving popcorn with "movie theatre pour over butter."
-Erica Dingeman
I agree that the movie sales at the Box office have decrease. I do not believe that is only because of the DVD or the noicy people,but because people have better things to do than going to the movies.I also agree with John Fithian, movies were just not good enough this summer.in my case i did not go alot to the movies this summer because i had to work and save money for school.Lately everything has become more expensive.Maybe the high price of gas made parents decide that they were not going to drive to a movie theatre to watch a movie that is not worth it.In my opinion those are reasons for the Box office sales to go down.
- Paola Rivera
I would completely agree with your dissatisfaction and the rudeness you have when you go to a theatre. This past weekend I saw the Legend of Zorro, and my friend who was with me was so loud. I felt bad for everyone else! I am probably a bit annoying because I laugh pretty loud and tend to be the only one laughing in the theatre, but when I see a movie, I expect to enjoy it and laughter is contageous. On the other hand, I do hate it when people are loud and pick up their cell phones or just commenting on something OBVIOUSLY EVERYONE HAS SEEN. On the other hand, the prices are extremely high and at home I spend more money on popcorn and drinks than on the ticket sometimes. It's outrageous and I believe that if people expect more people to go the movies then prices should go down, and some other modifications should be made...but that's not my call and I will still go to the movies regardless of the price because I do enjoy movie theaters and would like to support entertainers.
-Stephanie Rufa-
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