“Neither Smurf Nor Wizard Could Save Summer Movie Attendance”
You may have read about this summer setting a B.O. record. Don’t be fooled: There is something rotten in the state of Hollywood. Per the NYT:
It was the summer that North American movie attendance continued to slide, Hollywood’s reliance on overseas ticket sales intensified, the Smurfs flexed their minimuscles and a cadre of A-list stars flopped — again.
From the first weekend in May to Labor Day, a period that typically accounts for 40 percent of the film industry’s annual ticket sales, domestic box-office revenue is projected to total $4.38 billion, an increase from last year of less than 1 percent, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data.
The bad news: higher ticket prices, especially for the 18 films released in 3-D (up from seven last summer), drove the increase. Attendance for the period is projected to total about 543 million, the lowest tally since the summer of 1997, when 540 million people turned up.
Hollywood has now experienced four consecutive summers of eroding attendance, a cause for alarm for both studios and the publicly traded theater chains. One or two soft years can be dismissed as an aberration; four signal real trouble.
I know it’s not sexy. Perhaps even somewhat boring. But we know you know this, Hollywood: Old farts love movies. And there are a lot of old farts out there.
[Note: By “old fart” I mean anyone over 35 years of age. And if that seems ridiculous, I agree. But that’s how Hollywood assesses the world of consumers: Kids, Tweens, Teens, Young Adults, and Old Farts].
The thing that constantly perplexes me is if, indeed, Hollywood studios are risk averse, that being a major reason why they are obsessed with sequels, prequels, remakes and pre-awareness titles, why not go after the surest thing out there: An entire generation of Americans who actually love movies? The real Old Farts: Baby Boomers. 87 million strong. More discretionary income than any other age demographic. More discretionary time. We grew up on movies. It’s in our blood, our DNA.
I swear if just one movie studio had the vision to target Baby Boomers and committed themselves to making low-to-mid budget adult dramas, comedies, and thrillers…
Nah. Can’t happen, right?
For more of the New York Times article, go here.
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