Hollywood box office slump
In recent weeks, the so-called Hollywood box office slump has been widely reported in the media. The topic has been discussed in stories appearing in The Globe and Mail, at CNN.com, in trade magazines like The Hollywood Reporter and in several entertainment blogs. What's all the fuss all about, you may ask?
Well, theater revenues are down about 7 percent compared to last year and if the higher ticket prices are factored in to these figures, the decrease is closer to 10 percent. For nineteen weeks in a row, box office receipts were down substantially from previous years and overall, the past three years have seen a decrease in theatre attendance. This year's summer blockbusters are just not performing up to expectations built on past summer hits like Titanic and Spiderman II. As last Saturday's Globe and Mail reported, "a surprisingly successful release of The Fantastic Four from 20th Century Fox helped propel box office returns for the July 8-10 weekend to $148.9-million (U.S.). That was just a few hundred thousand dollars over the same period in 2004, but enough to cause a collective [corporate] wiping of brows."
Several reasons may explain this trend: poor quality movies (witness the number of tired re-makes and prequels); bad stars (pugnacious Russell Crowe and wacko Tom Cruise); high prices of films and concessions; excessive preshow commercials; annoying movie-theatre "etiquette problems" that detract from the cinematic experience and the popularity of DVDs, videos and (illegal) downloads. Strong attendance at non-Hollywood films like the French documentary March of the Penguins supports the idea that theatre-goers are choosing quality over Hollywood hype and suggests that they may be willing to put up with these negative aspects of going to the movies if the film is good enough.
This week, Advertising Age reveals just how confident advertisers are about their colonization of the movie theatre's "captive audience" and their high hopes to increase this type of commerce in the near future. These days, studios are rushing to get movies to theatres, often inking placement deals and merchandising partnerships before scripts are written. With fewer people going to the theatres, after collectively wiping their brows, studios may be forced to reconsider these practices and to start making films people want to see.
Posted by Lesley at July 25, 2005 12:17 PM
