The early box office numbers for Summer 201o are in – and they aren’t pretty.
The recent Memorial Day Weekend marked the worst box office performance in 17 years, and it’s a good bet foul word of mouth will continue to haunt films like “Sex and the City 2.”
You could argue it’s the movies, stupid.
“Iron Man 2″ couldn’t measure up to the original, Russell Crowe yawned his way through “Robin Hood” and “MacGruber” reminded us Will Forte isn’t a movie star.
But are there other factors in play? Are audiences tiring of 3-D films – and their accompanying ticket prices? Are we burned out by mindless sequels? Is the economy grinding us down?
Are you less likely to see a movie this summer – and why?
Update: Critic Roger Moore offers up a few more reasons why people might be staying away from the cineplex this summer.
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At Libertas, Govindini Murty has an excellent piece on Robin Hood and Clash of the Titans, two of the summer’s tent pole movies. In both, the director’s egos and/or political agendas got in the way of producing really popular movies.
My wife and I would have seen both if those movies had the worldview of the originals. Likely that would have added another 100 to 200 mill to Hollywood’s summer takings.
I haven’t seen a summer movie yet. I’m sure there are others like me. Here are some reasons:
1. Home theater. No lines, cheap popcorn, great sound/picture
2. Netflix. There are so many titles to view, by the time the you’re ready to watch the theater movie, it’s on DVD. Hence the 1 month delay studios have given Netflix and Redbox in getting DVDs.
3. Outside of Bruckheimer, Hollywood has lost the audience. They are making films for each other, not Joe America.
4. Production value of TV shows has gotten better. I’ve never seen Lost, but now I could sit and watch the entire series in my house.
So people are still watching movies, just not the ones in the theaters.
I will NEVER pay $15 to see a movie in a theater. Add a popcorn, candy, and a Coke for you and your date and event the smile that comes with the Coke will be erased from your face. And in the end, the movie will be average at best. There are just too many reasonable alternatives. The sad thing is, that this hurts the local economy. I don’t know for sure how revenue is split between the studio/distributors/theaters, but based on the price of the amenities at theaters, I would assume they are priced high because the theater owner sees little from ticket sales.
I gave in and bought a soda at a movie theater recently … I think it was $5, but I was so shocked that I may have blacked out.
And look at “Alice in Wonderland,” a film that shot from theaters to DVD at record speed. Might that be having an impact?
I honestly can’t say I’m less motivated to see summer movies this year. I didn’t have much interest in them last year, either. My problem is that so many of the big action movies are so over the top visually that they often trigger migraines (Thank you, “Star Trek”). Don’t get me started on the way too high volume.
I agree with Mrk that there is little benefit of viewing a movie in a theater vs. at home via Netflix or Starz, etc. Only epic movies like the Dark Knight or the LOTR are improved by the large screen and sound system. And, frankly, I’ve found that I will abandon most recent movies midway through viewing when I catch ‘em on Starz – they’re either not that good/interesting, or there’s one too many sucker punches. The only movies I see in theaters are with my 7 yr old son, such as the latest Disney or Pixar flick, where he can’t wait for it to come out on DVD.
File me under “screening fewer films” – a category I have been under for years, actually (since the departure of my favorite film critic), but exacerbated by the combination of Needlessly Marked-up concession prices, less-than-compelling film plots, and the ever-expanding alternative viewing options for most of the film releases (including the also ever-growing straight-to-DVD releases).
Mrk notes accurately that TV production values – esp. on the premium networks (shout-out to “Deadwood”) – are approaching traditional cinema quality, and this may also be drawing away audiences.
Thank again, WWTW has observed this trend for several years running, so the greater questions may involve how the Industry is addressing this eroding audience base.
D
Ticket sales have been pretty hearty of late, so this year’s numbers are a shock to the system. Or maybe they’re a long time coming …
I am one of the apparently few that likes seeing movies in a theatre and don’t mind paying to do so. That said, there are so few movies I want to see these days.
Part of my issue to is with the ’stars’. I’ve never seen such a spoiled rotten bunch of brats. Running around saying how screwed up everything is, how great Guevara or Castro is, and how because I think this or that they have all my thoughts and motivations figured out cause they know oh so much more than the average rube in flyover country. Sorry, but I’m tired of enriching these ingrates. I’m the first to acknowledge that the world has many problems and always has, and I don’t mind them getting involved in causes during their average 2 years off between $25 million paydays, but c’mon man! Many fewer since the days when you never knew when the next horde was going to come along and destroy your whole village.
Over the last few years, I have seen less and less movies. “Must see” movies are a dying breed with me anymore. I am down to about three movies a year. I have the same issues all of the other people here have- high concession prices, ticket prices that are getting ridiculous, and a wonderful home theater system that has a better picture and equal sound to what I get at the theater. I am an average joe with a family, me and the missus, plus the two kids is about a $60.00 night if we go to the movies. Who can afford that? I think the movie theaters need to revamp their business model, time to think outside the box. Go back to double features for one price or something.
I also seem to be in the minority in enjoying the movie going experience. Watching a film at home is okay and I own plenty of dvd’s but nothing beats seeing a film in a theater. I like the popcorn, I like it all.
Except for the price of the concessions and luckily in my neck of the woods we haven’t hit the $13 a ticket point yet.
Despite all that I see fewer and fewer movies in the theater every year. The reason is politics, both on and off the screen. Hollywood has very openly taken off the gloves in letting us know they hate us. It kind of makes it hard to maintain a suspention of disbelief when the actor you’re watching regularly compares you and people you support to nazi’s.
I’ve been hitting the theater less and less in the last few years, mostly because the stuff Hollywood’s been putting out just hasn’t been worth it. (And also, like Opus said, if an actor or filmmaker insults me enough times, I’m likely to stop buying tickets to their movies).
Likewise, the stuff coming out this summer just hasn’t been very interesting thus far (except for Iron Man 2, which was so good that I went to see it a second time). But I am looking forward to quite a few of the movies coming out later in the summer (I’m definitely going to see The A-Team, Toy Story 3, Inception, and The Expendables, and there’s about a half-dozen others that I might see as well).
I found for some time that I’m going to the theater less and less. This Summer my visits are likely to number zero. There are two reasons for this, and a loss of love for the movies is not one of them.
One, fewer and fewer of the films released today interest me. Simply put movies these days have a focused target audience and it isn’t me.
I’m not into superheros (and never was). I no longer feel adolescent angst (if I ever did). Sentimental love stories only interest me if the characters themselves do and I find seeing things blow up boring. Sadly that covers ninety percent or more of what is showing in theaters today.
To me a good movie is like a good book or a good play. It has to hold my interest. It has to make me think. It has to have a story about people who I care about and want to spend time with. Today’s films often strike me as shallow and make me wonder about the depth of the writers.
Yes there are exceptions. (Clint Eastwood’s films, for instance, almost always are.) But that brings me to reason two: Home Theater.
A good, high def, projection system is almost as good as a theater in most ways, and far better is others.
With my personal collection of fine films constantly growing there is almost always an on-hand answer to the question “What do I want to watch tonight?”
When I was in film school many years ago I had the privilege of having film historian William Everson as a teacher. Bill back then had something no one else (at least on the East Coast) had: His own film collection. Today any film lover can have a more complete collection than Bill had. Better ‘prints,’ too, to say nothing of a better projector and better sound.
Put those two things together: Good (better!) movies and a good home theater and why would any film lover be tempted to the cineplex except on rare occasion? Simply put: I am not.
I’m usually a big summer-movie-goer. But nothing much this summer is tempting me. Inception and A-Team is about it. Thankfully, the fall/winter will be better for me with new ones from Terrence Malick, Sofia Coppola, Gaspar Noe, and Julie Taymor.
Ridiculous ticket prices, ridiculous concessions (how bad is it when they won’t even put up the prices of the combos?), and ridiculous ADVERTISING. I have a hard time justifying paying money to go watch advertising!