Why do you think movie tickets sales are in such a big slump?

24

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 65
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    I must live in an abnormal area - new theaters all over the place with great seat comfort, $5 matenees and $8 evening shows, plus a few independent theaters that run indy movies.



    The price of the movies does not deter me, it is just the other people in the theater that I dislike. I even like the book-based movies - many of my favorite books are being turned into movies (LoTR, Narnia, Hitchikiers guide - maybe it will be the amber series next).
  • Reply 22 of 65
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    I haven't been to a movie theatre in years. In fact, I don't remember the last time I went... Hmmm, actually I do... it was for Return of the King and one of the Producers was talking afterwards.



    Most movies I watch are at home from Netflix. And my setup is a fancy 27" TV with the TVs built-in stereo speakers. W00t!



    Recently I don't watch many movies at home either, so Netflix is not a good deal in that I'm overpaying. However, since it'll keep me away from Blockbuster forever, I'll gladly keep paying.
  • Reply 23 of 65
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    I guess the short buzzword version is that technology is decentralizing cinema.
  • Reply 24 of 65
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    5. The other people at the movies. Nasty, crinkling celophane, cell phone jabbering, thuggish people.



    Bingo.



    And disgusting loud nose-breathers.



    The guy next to be was breathing like Darth Vader the whole movie. Anti-climactical.
  • Reply 25 of 65
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Three reasons:



    1. Story



    2. Story



    3. Story
  • Reply 26 of 65
    johnsocaljohnsocal Posts: 193member
    Just as the Opera and plays use to be the entertainment of choice but now has been reduced to a niche in the entertainment industry, maybe the mega cinema might go down the same path.



    I do think if George Lucas can produce a true high quality 3D version of EP4 in 2007 it might start a new wave of truly groundbreaking 3D films.
  • Reply 27 of 65
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    I'm with a lot of people here.



    The current belief that "technology allows us to do ANYTHING OMG!!!!!1" has, for one thing, taken films out of a human scale. Everything is spectacle, and so after a while nothing is spectacle.



    The fact that ticket prices are out of control makes this worse. I'll see spectacular fluff for a few bucks. I won't for $8 in addition to food prices, having to sit through ads in a cramped theatre, and being treated like a thief.



    Then, on top of all that, the theater owners hardly make anything. Food prices are exorbitant, and all those ads are there, because even with the ticket prices most theaters break even at best on the movies themselves. If this is because movies cost $150 million instead of $15 million, well, start making movies that cost $15 million again. They'll probably be better anyway.



    This is a big one: The MPAA have been acting like jerks, suing innocent people and trampling copyright law. I feel no particular interest in supporting them. This extends to DVDs. Even if you buy one, using it is a nonstop stream of "warning" and "illegal" and "unauthorized." The thieves are telling me not to steal. Ha. The most obstacles you put in front of me and watching a movie that I paid to watch, the less interest I have in watching a movie. Currently, my interest is hovering near zero.



    Oh, and one more thing: Films are currently made under the tyranny of marketers. Everything has to fit into a cookie-cutter mold, and good stories are routinely ripped up and corrupted for any number of incredibly stupid reasons, most of which (in my small experience with the industry) boil down to someone in marketing. Steve just recently said something about companies led by marketers that should be tattooed on the foreheads of movie executives everywhere.

  • Reply 28 of 65
    The average American adult sees between 5 and 11 movies in theater each year.



    Have seen (in '05):

    Constantine

    The Phantom of the Opera

    Be Cool

    Hitch

    National Treasure

    Steamboy

    Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

    Kingdom of Heaven

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy



    Will see:

    XXX: State of the Union

    Madagascar

    Sahara

    Howl's Moving Castle

    Batman Begins

    War of the Worlds

    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

    Fantastic Four

    The Island

    Stealth



    Even if I only make half of my 'will see' I'm well over average. (Considering the movies I've seen early in the year and the ones I'll see this fall and winter) Are they in *that* much of a slump? I'm going now more then ever.
  • Reply 29 of 65
    johnsocaljohnsocal Posts: 193member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    Steve just recently said something about companies led by marketers that should be tattooed on the foreheads of movie executives everywhere.



    Considering the WOZ was the original genius and Steve was the great promoter/marketeer who has a uber sense of new trends, that statement is a little ironic.



    I just think the business model for profitable movies and profitable theater-chains has changed. Even though entertainers like to pretend they are social revolutionaries they seem unable to make real changes within their own industry.



    In the late 1990's everybody talked about the positive-side of the internet/technology revolution and now that its here, it's causing a revolution that has forever altered the business-formula for many industries. Even though this revolution is occuring right in front of our noses the movie indsutry still hasn't caught on yet and instead they try suing the internet by attacking P2p networks. While I personally don't use any p2p networks because I think its stealing, I dont think thats the reason why the music and movie indsustry are in such a slump.



    DVD sales are they only thing thats saving the movie industry right for the most part and in the future if people bypass DVD's and decide to tivo or dvr HDTV movies for free instead the movie industry is really screwed. In the 1980-1990's must people just rented VHS but on the otherhand they went to the theater more, but now in the 2000's people are more likely to buy DVD's instead of renting them but it appears they go to the theater less.
  • Reply 30 of 65
    i vote for high ticket prices... i saw episode 3 and that the was the first movie i saw in a couple years or so.. thats my reason; tickets are 9$
  • Reply 31 of 65
    zarathustrazarathustra Posts: 264member
    Content. Pure & Simple.





    btw... I'm a little shocked that so many AI'ers who are happy with the content are so cheap! (This is a forum for Mac users right?)



    Sounds like most of you are getting into a movie for - $10 (£5)....if for that you were seeing films like The Godfather, Apocolypse Now, Raging Bull etc..



    loud, bright and on big screens I'd call that value.



    (2 hours standing in a bar would cost a hell of a lot more than that....come to think of it that's an espresso & a cinnamon swirl at Starbucks!)
  • Reply 32 of 65
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    The last movie I saw in a theater was Timeline. I read the book first and wanted to see the movie. I was a little disappointed, but it was also fun just to go out.
  • Reply 33 of 65
    johnsocaljohnsocal Posts: 193member
    Another problem that faces both the music and movie industry is the enormous amount of content available to the consumer. Back in the day stores only kept new releases a few classics on the shelves. With the onset of superstores and the internet new CDs and DVD's not only have to compete with other new music and movies but now they have to compete with 50+ years of great music and movies as well.



    Sometimes Im wonder if we are all jaded because we are exposed to way too much passive entertainment over our lifetimes .
  • Reply 34 of 65
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    DVDs certainly have contributed significantly to the decline of movie theater success.



    When VHS was the man on the block, the tapes were not up to snuff with the picture and sound quality in theaters. Now DVDs are. People are happy enough with the quality of a film on DVD that the "movie theater experience" isn't as necessary now.



    When VHS was king, it took a LONG time for movies to come out on tape for purchase. Remember when tapes were available for rental only? Now, a film could be out on DVD before it's left the dollar theater. I can't count how many times I've stood in the DVD section of Best Buy and said to myself, "Wasn't that movie JUST in theaters?"



    When movies were only on VHS, the cost of the tapes were the same or higher than most DVDs now. Look at the average price of DVDs today: For $19.99, you can get a movie that was in first-run theaters only 3 months ago. Along with the film itself, you get artwork, commentaries, deleted scenes, etc. etc. Back in the day of VHS, you got the film...and that was it.



    If the studios knew better they'd slowly jack up the price of DVDs and wait longer to release movies after they've left theaters. I also think the film industry needs to make long-overdue improvements to theaters to take the movie-going experience to the "next level." You've got to give people what they can't get at home.



    The Incredibles in OMNIMAX anyone? SW: EP III in 3-D virtual reality?
  • Reply 35 of 65
    pyr3pyr3 Posts: 946member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    DVDs certainly have contributed significantly to the decline of movie theater success.



    When VHS was the man on the block, the tapes were not up to snuff with the picture and sound quality in theaters. Now DVDs are. People are happy enough with the quality of a film on DVD that the "movie theater experience" isn't as necessary now.





    You're right. And the movie companies make a killing on selling the DVDs vs. ticket sales. But I'm sure we will see the MPAA complaining about it and blaming it all on piracy. This is really just a shift in where people are willing to spend their money. They would rather spend the money to rent the DVD, or spend $1 or $2 more than the movie ticket price to buy the DVD itself once Blockbuster sells off the excess 'previewed' DVDs (these can go for around $9.99 last I checked). There are even people that avoid watching TV shows in their first run on TV so that they can buy the season when it comes out on DVD and watch it at their own pace.



    Quote:

    SW: EP III in 3-D virtual reality?



    I saw the Matrix: Reloaded in IMAX. And I know the IMAX theater has other popular films. And G.Lucas says he's going to redo the SW movies in some sort of digital 3D format of some sort. Change takes time in the movie industry because they have turned it into a business, and business men are generally afraid of change. Good businessmen can recognize when a change is good and hop on it. But there are 'bad' businessmen that would rather sit and stagnate because they have gotten used to a 'formula' for producing successful movies and they want to stick by that formula while reducing costs (not paying for new-fangled equipment, etc).
  • Reply 36 of 65
    doctorgonzodoctorgonzo Posts: 529member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    5. The other people at the movies. Nasty, crinkling celophane, cell phone jabbering, thuggish people.



    Ding, ding, ding.



    We have a winner.



    You would think that theaters would attempt to provide an atmosphere conducive to actually watching movies, but no..they let everything slide and have really dropped the ball on it completely. I don't want to pay $10 and have to get up to complain about every rude person.



    My average movie experience goes like this:



    - I arrive early.



    - People start filing in 5 minutes before the movie starts and this continues through the first 5 minutes of the actual movie.



    - Middle-aged group starts a running whispering commentary along their row.



    - Teenagers and Frat Boys start their cell phone call-a-thon and blabber endlessly to one another.



    - Like clockwork 10 minutes after the movie begins, you have the Ghetto Thugs arrive. They begin yelling at one another about where to sit. Then they talk to the screen, one another and start burning cell phone minutes like crazy.



    - You inevitably have Mr. Self-Important Cool Businessman get a call during the most dramatic scene - which he takes.
  • Reply 37 of 65
    hardeeharharhardeeharhar Posts: 4,841member
    Actually, I think it is because of the rapid turn around to dvd. It takes a studio much less time to mass produce dvds and get them out to the public than it used to. this benefits them because the wow factor of the movie is still present when they are released but at the same time, it kills ticket sales because the viewer can always catch it on dvd.



    other than that.



    american pop culture is in the dregs.
  • Reply 38 of 65
    Big budgets, fake effects, insipid stories and manufactured stars are not what make movies worth watching. Most of the big movies on now at the theatre miss that point and look so bloody boring I wouldn't consider seeing them at any time. At times, a movie may not be worth the price of tickets, but they might be worth the price of a rental. If a DVD will be available shortly afterward, then of course a theatrical release might not do as well as a result, but of course, that's something to do with quality. If something is really worth seeing, you'd think it'd be hard to hold off. It is for me, and I still enjoy going to the theatre with friends in those cases.



    Long time no see (I think, at least), DoctorGonzo.
  • Reply 39 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac The Fork

    Long time no see (I think, at least), DoctorGonzo.



    It's been about 3 years since I posted regularly here.



    A whopping 6 years since I registered. (July 1999)
  • Reply 40 of 65
    omegaomega Posts: 427member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DoctorGonzo

    It's been about 3 years since I posted regularly here.





    That would be how long it has been since I went to the movies.....kawinky-dink?



Sign In or Register to comment.