“Movie industry hits ticket sales decline on the nose: It’s put out some stinkers”
Wonder why the spec script market is up considerably compared to last year? Perhaps it has something to do with this:
Reporting from Las Vegas and Los Angeles — With movie theater attendance in the U.S. and Canada down a whopping 20% so far this year compared with 2010, cinema operators and some studio chiefs surprisingly agree on at least one cause: The movies haven’t been very good.
“I think it all boils down to the quality of the movies,” said Gerry Lopez, chief executive of AMC Entertainment Inc., the nation’s second-largest theater chain. “This year we just haven’t had those kind of movies that cut across all quadrants of age, race and income.”
Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment, agreed: “So far there is just nothing terribly compelling about what we’re delivering as an industry.”
Both exhibitors and studio execs can agree on at least one thing: The movies in 2011 have not been very good. Maybe that whole Hollywood movie studio fiscal-austerity-don’t-buy-anything-new-work-through-what-we’ve-got-in-development policy wasn’t such a grand idea after all. And maybe that’s why we’re seeing a more active acquisition market in 2011, particularly with re to spec scripts.
But then the article goes and posits something that just pisses me off:
The decline in admissions is troubling Hollywood. The number of tickets sold per person annually in the U.S. and Canada has steadily fallen for most of the last decade to 4.1 last year, the lowest since 1993. In a recent presentation, Bob Pisano, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, attributed the trend in part to declining attendance among baby boomers [emphasis added].
Here is the president of the MPAA ragging on old farts as the problem when you’ve got the recent startling box office success of multiple adult dramas including The King’s Speech ($373M), The Social Network ($224M), The Fighter ($178M), True Grit ($244M) and Black Swan ($288M) — all figures from BoxOfficeMojo.com. Worldwide those five films alone have grossed over $1B, driven in large part by baby boomers.
Cumulatively we are the largest demographic group in the U.S., we have the most discretionary income, the most discretionary time, and there’s this little item: We actually love movies!
I know, I know. In the eyes of movie studios, a film is increasingly viewed as an ancillary revenue delivery device to promote toys, video games, and other overpriced goo-gahs. But if your budget is $15M and the movie grosses $400M (which is what The King’s Speech will do), I don’t care what school of economics you subscribe to, that is a fantastic ROI.
Hello, Hollywood. Are you listening?!?!
For more of the article, go here.
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