Posted on 05/11/2005 8:52:42 AM PDT by Mikmur
OS ANGELES, May 9 - Now Hollywood is starting to get worried.
The poor box-office performance last weekend of the first major film of the summer, "Kingdom of Heaven," released by 20th Century Fox, made for 11 weeks in a row of declining movie attendance and revenue compared with last year, adding up to the longest slump since 2000 and raising an uncomfortable question: Are people turning away from lackluster movies, or turning their backs on the whole business of going to theaters?
The weekend's top 12 films took in $77 million, the worst result for early May in at least five years, according to Exhibitor Relations, a company that tracks box-office results. Box-office revenue is down almost 6 percent compared with last year's, while attendance is down about 8 percent, Exhibitor Relations reported.
Since 2002, attendance is down about 10 percent for the comparable period, to about 433.7 admissions from about 485 million. The decline has provoked speculation that a rising DVD market and the advent of more elaborate home entertainment centers, along with the shrinking window of time between a theatrical release and the appearance of the DVD, is causing moviegoers to stay home and wait for discs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Absolutely true. For what it will cost to see it in the theatre you can buy it when it comes out on DVD.
But I might rent the DVD...
I don't think that it's politics so much as nothing spectacular to draw in the crowds. Big summer movies will draw moviegoers back.
Typical liberals; blame everything but themselves.
It's not anything but the quality of the movies...period.
People still flock to the theatres once a movie is deemed good.
Star Wars III has been out for screenings. It's a good movie, it will do well. Forget political leanings, ticket prices, or DVD rentals. If a movie is good, it will make a lot of money.
Hollywood seems to make 3 types of movies anymore, (all bad). First there's the random series of events movie, generally a comedy. No plot. No wit.
Second is the over the top action movie. Very thin plot with a series of implausible action sequences, lots of stuff blowing up. No clearly defined good or bad guys, and no adherence to their own rules. It's tough to suspend disbelief when there are no rules.
Finally, there is the chick flick. I'm a guy. I have no clue if these are any good or not.
I saw the warning signs of this five years ago when my company was working for some real estate developers who specialized in shopping centers. A number of our projects were changed during design because they wanted to replace the movie theaters in their original designs with some other type of retail use -- there was a fear back then that the movie industry wouldn't be able to sustain the number of new suburban theaters that were being proposed.
The movies themselves are pretty weak tea: sequels, ripoffs, remakes, high-concept (meaning you can suss the plot out in 5 min), animation, and strictly-ego-vehicle.
But that doesn't stop movie attendance. The marketing types have. Ticket prices are reasonable around here, concession prices are not. Now the cinemas want to agressively search for 'smuggled' water, pop or snacks? Sorry, but if I want a brain-dead, pasty-faced dullard in a bad uniform to rifle my stuff I'll go to the airport and find a TSA agent, thank you very much.
Marketing, operating from the assumption that a captive audience gives them license to show/do anything, have unleashed the 20 minute prelim. Trivia (for 1st graders, apparently), trailers-trailers-trailers and (wait for it) COMMERCIALS AT TOP VOLUME! I got out of my broken-down chair and walked out on the last night of 'entertainment' I had at a cinema. My home theater system looks as good or better than the dingy cinema screen, sounds better (I can adjust volume too) and will wait for a bathroom break or even a change of movie if the current selection is boring. Food's free, too.
Of course, none of the responsible parties will admit their failings. They will conduct market research and other smokescreen-generating activities rather than do the simplest thing required to begin fixing the problem: asking the customer what they want and what they don't want.
Upscale home entertainment systems with HDTV resolution and gigantic screens seem expensive ($2000 and up) but give image quality similar to the dirty local multiplex, and superior sound. And the popcorn is fresher and infinitely cheaper at home.
Movies are $30 and up for two, when you throw in refreshememts. 10 movies seen at home, and you just paid for the system.
Oops. My math is a off by a factor of 10.
Low and behold, the Hollywood elite might actually finally understand that people are tired of their self-indulging, self-loathing, "anything I say is made of gold" crap. They ought to stick to acting (though poor as it may be) because their political opinions and stances make them look much more ridiculous than the stuff they are putting on screen.
It's pretty amazing (and revealing) that Holloywood can't seem to figure out what a handful of people on a public forum have just pretty well dissected: Fewer and fewer people are willing to pay high prices for a product that is not only inferior in quality but often insults its audience, nor do they wish to do so in a cramped, uncomfortable setting while eating $6.00 popcorn and drinking $5.00 beverages. By waiting two or three months, you can far more cheaply rent the same product and enjoy it in the comfort of your own home with high-quality picture and sound (and make your own popcorn for pennies).
There is no reason any longer to support the lifestyles of the vile and vaporous.
There also is no reason to subject your health to the threat inherent in such a public gathering of peope with sicknesses from around the globe.
There is no worthwhile content in what is put out these days. It doesn't upbuild and it miseducates.
Why fund a negative contribution to your life?
To Hollywood:
I have a 61" screen with surround sound at home. I can see your product in my home without paying $4.00 for popcorn. I just have to wait and not see anything when it opens and pay less. Your overpriced crap will suffer the market change.
If your gonna do something do it right.
Good popcorn popped fresh at the right temp. with a good mix of extra virgin olive oil & peanut oil is fantastic.
I once asked the drooling knuckle dragger behind the counter if his popcorn was fresh.
"Just popped yesterday!"
Hollywood is making progressively worse movies. They now rely on special effects and off-the-shelf entertainment menu items, such as car chases or explosions, to hold what little attention they can elicit from the viewers.
Some of the content is just flat-assed stupid, like the scene in "Face Off" where some super-secret super secure military installation has an phone with an outside line sitting next to a bed of a kidnapped person, yet the remaining viewers just sit there sniffing $94 per pound popcorn and washing it down with soda that costs ten times the price of european gasoline. All this shows that Hollywood relies on the stupidity of the viewership to finance their lack of quality.
Moreover, Hollywood has run out of originality; the mass number of remakes confirm this. From the new Pink Panther series (heresy!), Psycho IV, Rocky XXXVI, to the Longest Yard; their primary goal seems to be "produce anything, even crap", because they have a section of the public that is so addicted that it will buy a product that continually decreases in quality.
For Chrisssakes, even the Catholics have a patron saint of television!!!
I have found the majority of movies I now see are an exercise in restraint. I just shake my head at the ridiculous plot that presents itself; then I look at the beautiful, wonderful woman next to me who loves the stuff. So, I blame Hollywood's decay on pretty women.
All the way back home I hear "why do you have to be so analytical? Why can't you just enjoy the movie?" Truth is, I enjoy what follows the movie. ;)
Actually, the question was: "Will that be cash or charge?"
TS
Better movies might help. Matinees prices can also help. In Manhattan, it's ten bucks all the time. In Brooklyn, you can get matinee prices anytime before six on some days at some theaters.
Boy, does that say a mouthful.
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