Box office and ballot boxes
Here in the United States, it’s election time. Federal, state and local elections all around the country. I hope you exercise your right as American citizen and participate in the democratic process by voting this year.
It’s also useful to remember that as far as Hollywood is concerned, every weekend is an election. We moviegoers vote with our wallets. If a movie succeeds or fails at the box office, Hollywood notices. The dollars you spend — or don’t spend — directly impact those numbers. And those number directly impact Hollywood’s decision-making process in terms of movie acquisition, development and production.
For example at this very moment, the United States is ‘electing’ Argo. This is a movie that per current Hollywood conventions should never have gotten made:
* It has a reported production budget of $45M, precisely the type of mid-budget project major studios actively run away from nowadays, their focus on big budget franchise movies or low-budget films with minimum risk and maximum profit potential.
* It is a dreaded adult drama, the kind of studio movie that has been declared DOA on numerous occasions in the past several years.
* Its target demo is people above the age of 50, a population group Hollywood has basically chosen to ignore in their obsession with teenagers and young adults.
* It is a period piece [1979] which per Hollywood conventional wisdom is death in terms of general audiences.
* It is directed by Ben Affleck who despite two previous directing efforts — Gone Baby Gone [2007] and The Town [2010], the former a modest box office success, the latter a big hit — is still something of a gamble, likely still viewed more as an actor than filmmaker.
And yet here is Argo chugging along at the box office, #1 this weekend in its 3rd week of release with a cumulative box office total of $61M. Given its Cinemascore rating of an A+, a rarity and inevitable award nominations, it’s entirely possible Argo will double, if not more, its current B.O. revenues.
Perhaps the primary driver of this movie’s success is its strong buzz. I have not heard or read one bad thing about it, instead every person with whom I talk, article I read or Tweet I see is positive. That kind of by-word-of-mouth advertising is simply impossible to buy. Yes, the 50+ crowd is turning out in droves for Argo [reportedly over 70% of the opening weekend crowd was that age group], but it is also connecting with younger demographic groups.
In other words, Argo is winning this election. Moviegoers like you are voting for it heavily with your dollars.
We can complain — and should — about the tepid state of filmmaking in Hollywood. But we need to remember when good movies get released, it is an election. We need to vote by supporting them. That is pretty much the only way Hollywood will ‘elect’ to make those type of movies now and in the future.
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