News Flash: Old Farts Love Movies!
There are certain things in life you can absolutely bank on. Whether it’s a singer at a sporting event botching the National Anthem or a billionaire saying really stupid things, it’s comforting to know we can look forward to recurring bits of business to bring meaning to our otherwise chaotic lives. Such as the seemingly shocked response by journalist types like the NYT when they ‘discover’ that old farts love movies:
LOS ANGELES — Anytime a film costs $10 million to make and ticket sales approach $100 million, Hollywood pays attention. But jaws really drop when a movie starring actors in their 70s and aimed at people over 50 pulls off that trick.
Wait. Stop. Older people will go to the movies if we give them something to watch besides superheroes and special effects?
Surprise: “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a gentle comedic drama about disparate British retirees who decamp to India, has so far taken in $88.8 million at the global box office. With about $9.3 million in ticket sales in North America since opening in limited release on May 4, “Marigold Hotel” is now the year’s top-selling specialty movie, passing another solid performer, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.”
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“We felt that this was a great story, but we were also very conscious of the fact that there is a large and underserved older audience out there,” said Stephen Gilula, a Searchlight president. “The response, which is far beyond our expectations, once again shows that there is a very diverse moviegoing audience.”
Gee, if only someone had been posting articles like Old Hippies to Save Movie Industry? Or pointing out how stupid it is to blame Baby Boomers for a B.O. downturn when the real culprit is producing shitty movies.
Yet every time a good adult drama gets released and racks up numbers like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Hollywood acts like they just discovered their butthole. Well, maybe that’s changing:
Hollywood is also starting to realize that the first of 78 million baby boomers are hitting retirement age with some entertainment time to fill and a love affair with movies [emphasis added]. So while movie marketers stand on their heads trying to spark positive chatter for films on social networks and blogs, they are also increasingly thinking about word of mouth among retirees, at least for certain films.
If you were a studio chief, wouldn’t you want to provide movies to your marketing department that could target a huge demo group that has had a lifelong love affair with movies?
But look at me, using logic when it comes to the movie business!
For more of the NYT article, go here.
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