Last week, an article in “The Hollywood Reporter” stated movie attendance in 2011 was at it’s lowest since 1995. Even with big box office hits as Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($381 Million Domestic Box Office), and Transformers- Dark Of the Moon, ($352 Million Domestic Box Office) movie theatre attendance was down 4.4 percent from 2010. My friend and I decided to go amongst the random general public, the people buying the movie theatre tickets, and ask why people are beginning to stay away from theatres. We only spoke to a total of 120 people, but the results were fascinating.
We figured problems with fellow movie theatre patrons were a major factor. Only 10 people voiced ire about texting and phone-chatting in theatres.
“This goes back a few years, but during Passion Of The Christ, many people in the theater raised camera phones to snap pictures of Christ being tortured on the screen.” Stated Margaret Galowin. “If this was supposed to be an emotional moving film, I’ll never know. The tech-heads in the theatre ruined it for me.” Another interviewee claimed he will return to Multiplexes if the theater managers put a cellphone-block signal in theatres.
As far as technology, 14 people stated alternate, cheaper venues of watching movies are to blame. “With torrents, inexpensive Red-Box, Netflix and people buying great entertainment centers, people would rather wait the few months for a theatrical release to become available for home viewing.” remarked Frank, who talked about his own elaborate home-viewing system. Another 5 people claimed the drop-off in attendance is all due to piracy. One un-named person we surveyed bragged how he uses a laptop to download movies currently in theatres and movies yet to be released. It was a little disarming when I asked him if he is afraid of getting caught. He stared at me, giving a scary-face look for a few seconds, than reminded me- “Know This! The only people who are caught are the people who want to get caught.”
39 people (almost a third of the people we asked) chimed right in about the movie theatre prices. Many did the math for us- a man taking his wife and two kids to the movies will pay up to $ 40 in movie theatre tickets. Than they added to that, the average cost of going to the theater's concession stand (another $20 to $25 for popcorn, soda and candy). Some people added on possible external expenses like gas, a baby-sitter, parking, and dinner.
“At 12 dollars a ticket, my girl-friend and I have to sneak food in. Her purse has snacks we bought at the local drug store, sometimes her purse has hamburgers. I carry cups of coffee hidden in my coat pockets.” claimed one man who didn’t want to be identified. Another 8 people blamed a slow economy. “If you’re out of work, or really trying to balance that checkbook, a multiplex is no longer an option.” stated Rob Dykater.
Here’s what most people- 44 out of 120 people claimed the reason why ticket sales have dropped- it's the quality of films!
“Hey Hollywood! Give us some real movies for a change! Enough with the remakes, sequels, pre-quels and big screen versions of board games!” remarked Cal Duenette. Well, 13 of the top 20 box office earners in 2011 are in fact sequels, or TV show adaptations. “I imagine Hollywood has to pay big money to original screenwriters, who will demand all kinds of expensive clauses in a contract.” Stated Paul Kanter, CPA. “It must be easier for a film studio to take a hit movie or TV show from the 1980’s or before, and quickly rewrite it with facebook references, CGI, and passing-gas jokes.”
It makes one think of a line uttered to William Holden, who plays a screenwriter in Sunset Boulevard, a film made over sixty years ago: “So you take Plot Number 27-A, make it glossy, make it slick…” So what happens when many people have many films with Plot Number 27-A sitting in their hard-drive?
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