Posted on 12/21/2004 10:21:35 AM PST by OESY
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19 - Are movies growing bigger as theater audiences are becoming smaller?
That's one conclusion to draw from the box-office results of 2004, as Hollywood pursued its penchant for big-budget event films - from Warner Brothers' "Troy" to 20th Century Fox's "I, Robot," to Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man 2" - but the number of moviegoers in the United States dropped for the second year in a row.
With nearly two weeks to go before the end of 2004, domestic box-office receipts appeared likely to top last year's total of $9.27 billion, nearing $9.4 billion, according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the figures.
But an increase can be attributed to a rise in ticket prices, up 3.85 percent to an average of $6.25, while attendance fell by 2.25 percent this year after dropping 3.8 percent in 2003.
That audience drop appeared especially troubling in a year in which Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ," distributed by Newmarket Films, brought many new moviegoers into the megaplexes and finished No. 3 at the domestic box office with $370.3 million in ticket sales, while Michael Moore's anti-Bush hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," from Lions Gate Films, became a magnet for political activists and sold $119.2 million in tickets.
"If you took the half-billion dollars of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and 'Passion' out of the marketplace, we'd be in a real dismal situation, and they barely got distribution," said Paul Dergarabedian, Exhibitor Relations president, referring to behind-the-scenes struggles that ultimately landed both films with independent distributors.
As the audience shrank, budgets continued to spiral upward, with blockbuster movies commonly costing upward of $140 million to produce, followed by tens of millions of dollars in marketing expenses.
Several expensive studio sequels were among the year's top performers, including the top-ranked "Shrek 2," which had $441 million in domestic ticket sales and $886 million worldwide for DreamWorks; "Spider-Man 2," which placed second in the United States with nearly $374 million at the domestic box office and nearly $784 million worldwide for Sony; and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," which ranks fourth with almost $250 million in domestic ticket sales and $790 million worldwide for Warner.
Blockbuster projects that did not find audiences included Warner's "Catwoman," starring Halle Berry; Walt Disney Company's "Hidalgo" and "The Alamo"; and Universal's "Chronicles of Riddick."
In the middle ground Warner's computer-animated "Polar Express" continues to play despite a disappointing debut, with about $124 million in domestic ticket sales, while Universal's vampire epic "Van Helsing" stopped short at $120 million and Disney's "King Arthur" took in just $52 million at the domestic box office.
Studio executives pointed out that expensive event films had strong international appeal and continued to find audiences in the thriving DVD marketplace.
"The U.S. theatrical market is a mature business, unlike the international marketplace, which is breaking records with box office and attendance," said Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Brothers. "That's where the expansion is taking place,"
But others acknowledged that many of the most profitable movies this year were medium-budget comedies and horror films that cost relatively little, and nonetheless grabbed the audience. They included Universal's "Along Came Polly," a Ben Stiller comedy that cost about $42 million and took in $171 million at the box office around the world; "The Grudge," a Japanese-inspired horror film, which had an astounding $124 million in worldwide ticket sales after Sony bought it for $10 million; and Fox's "DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story," another Ben Stiller comedy that cost $20 million and took in $166 million around the world.
This weekend "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," another big-budget film from DreamWorks and Paramount, opened strongly at $30.2 million.
Sony's comedy "Spanglish," directed by James L. Brooks, opened to unenthusiastic business, taking in $9 million on 2,400 screens, while Fox's "Flight of the Phoenix," starring Dennis Quaid, took in just $5.2 million on 2,600 screens. Miramax's sweeping drama "The Aviator," from the director Martin Scorsese, opened on 40 screens and took in $831,000.
"Meet the Fockers," a comedy from DreamWorks and Universal, is one major film left to open this year. It could break $100 million at the box office, according to market research by the National Research Group.
Some industry experts suggested that the trend toward high budgets for epic, effects-heavy films would come under new scrutiny as a result of this year's performance pattern.
"It's not that the grosses are getting smaller, it's that the budgets are getting bigger," said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of Miramax Films. "You cannot have that rise in production and marketing costs of 20 and 30 percent each year, even though attendance is down. Your gross is only going up 2 or 3 or 4 percent."
But executives at major studios, all heavily invested in making blockbusters, disputed this notion.
Jim Gianopulos, co-chairman of Fox, said that despite the success of smaller genre pictures, studios still needed to maintain the diversity on their slates, which includes so-called tentpole pictures, meaning movies that draw a broad audience. Fox has several coming up next year, including the animated "Robots," Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and the last installment of the "Star Wars" saga.
"You can't only make one kind of movie," Mr. Gianopulos said. "The key is not the type of movie you make, but the manner you go about deciding what to make. Is it fresh? Is it original? Does it have a vision? Who is it for? And how many of those people are there?"
Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Disney's Buena Vista unit, agreed. "If all you try to hit are doubles, I don't believe you can hit a home run," he said.
Sony will end 2004 with the largest domestic market share, with an estimated $1.3 billion in ticket sales. Warner Brothers is expected to be second with an estimated $1.1 billion, followed by Disney - supported by the Pixar-produced hit, "The Incredibles" - which expects to end the year slightly behind Warner Brothers.
Buoyed by "Shrek 2" and "Shark Tale," DreamWorks took in $924 million despite its limited slate of pictures. Meanwhile Fox and Universal fell at the middle of the market-share pack, with Fox having a strong early part of the year and summer, but lacking films to hold the box office through the end of the year. Universal, meanwhile, stumbled through the summer, but made up ground with movies like "The Bourne Supremacy" and the anticipated hit "Meet the Fockers."
Paramount was dogged by a series of box-office flops and lagged far behind the other studios. It is expected to end the year at a domestic total over $550 million.
Three more than me. I didn't see a single one. Just re-upped for NetFlix after a year off , so some of these will make their way to my "small screen".
BUMP
Liberals love parity. The U.S. is just as bad as the Soviet Union. Israel is just as bad as the Muslim terrorists. "The Passion" and "Farenheit 911" are equivalent.
In the first place, "The Passion" was #3, and "Farenheit 911" was #15. What was the reason for headlining these two movies in particular and "taking them out"? "The Passion" made three times as much money as "Farenheit 911," in spite of the fact that the MSM virulently attacked it and gave Moore's film unprecedented publicity.
Finally, "The Passion" was a brilliant movie, artistically, while F911 was a piece of turgid cr*p.
I saw Sea Biscuit on an airplane flight. It was much better than I thought it would be.
Agreed. They have ignored the heart of real people. Their big bucks, and tech., does not take the place of what Hollywood used to be. Hype and Fright are over.
I got it on advice from friends, very good flick, I also liked the Lord of the Rings flicks and currently on TV (SciFi) is Earthsea, another very good story.
We saw one movie this year in a theatre, the Passion.
As Follywood continues to drive republicans away from their new movies, their movies become more expensive.
Pretty soon their financial houses of cards will cave in on them.
Below is the trend that will be gutting Hollywood over the next few years:
"With nearly two weeks to go before the end of 2004, domestic box-office receipts appeared likely to top last year's total of $9.27 billion, nearing $9.4 billion, according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the figures.
"But an increase can be attributed to a rise in ticket prices, up 3.85 percent to an average of $6.25, while attendance fell by 2.25 percent this year after dropping 3.8 percent in 2003.
"That audience drop appeared especially troubling in a year in which Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ," distributed by Newmarket Films, brought many new moviegoers into the megaplexes and finished No. 3 at the domestic box office with $370.3 million in ticket sales, while Michael Moore's anti-Bush hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," from Lions Gate Films, became a magnet for political activists and sold $119.2 million in tickets.
"If you took the half-billion dollars of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and 'Passion' out of the marketplace, we'd be in a real dismal situation, and they barely got distribution," said Paul Dergarabedian, Exhibitor Relations president, referring to behind-the-scenes struggles that ultimately landed both films with independent distributors.
"As the audience shrank, budgets continued to spiral upward, with blockbuster movies commonly costing upward of $140 million to produce, followed by tens of millions of dollars in marketing expenses."
Merry Christmas to Follywood and may 2005 be even more of a financial disaster to Follywood.
These are just domestic numbers. World wide many of these films did well enough overseas, to make a good profit.
F/9-11 is a joke in more ways than one. They consider it a documentary, so it is worthy of acclaim because it surpassed other "documentaries" in box office. The rest of us know it is fictional propaganda. 119 may seem like a lot based on budget, but it barely deserves notice when compared to the film that is it's natural competitor, "The Day after Tomorrow".
The real note of attention is that of films supposed to rake in a lot of money, only two surpassed TPOTC and one only barely. Considering TPOTC was spoken in a foreign (dead) language and concentrates on material that is neither entertaining nor humorous, was made on low budget against numerous obstacles that stood in the way of distribution and advertising, TPOTC is THE story of the year. F/9-11 is the Leftists poor substitute of a religion that will be lucky to be remembered as a footnote a hundred years from now.
The only film I went to the theaters to watch this year was TPOTC, and I went more than once. I've seen Spiderman II on DVD. That's it. It's partially due to politics in some instances, partially that the films they make aren't worth a dime of my paycheck. I'd rather check out an old classic.
Thanks for posting this list. What is interesting is my wife and I saw 8 of these films then and have watched many since then on tv.
We didn't see #4 & #7.
1. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
2. Ghost Busters (1984)
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
4. Gremlins (1984)
5. The Karate Kid (1984)
6. Police Academy (1984)
7. Footloose (1984)
8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
9. Romancing the Stone (1984)
10.Purple Rain (1984)
I saw every one of those in the theater, except #10.
'Course I was 14 at the time. I would guess most 14 year olds have seen just about all of the top ten on this list.
Just like readers and viewers of the "old" media. They don't get it. I paid for (went to) one movie in 2004, Passion.
Hey now, nothing wrong with Beverly Hills Cop.
FYI: top 25 Highest grossing films of all time and The Passion is on the list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films
I was skeptical about the reporting, as always, and now I find it to be a lie.
And we have a WINNER!!!!!!!
Could your local fishwrap be lying and shilling to get more AD $'s from the owners of the new multiplexes?
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