What recession? Box office sales booming in 2009

Ready to go where no ticket sales have gone before...

In truth: not so much. A third of 2009 is behind us, and while most industries are reeling from the recession, the box office experts have not broken a sweat. Actually, most of them are high-fiving right now. Year to date, domestic box office sales are up 15% from 2008, and 21.8% from 2005. In fact, 2009 has been consistently breaking sales records every month. Three of the top ten April opening weekends in box office history happened this past month, including the number one of all time (Fast and Furious).

 

The biggest shocker from the high 2009 numbers is that we haven’t even hit blockbuster season yet. Traditionally, May-August is when the big budget, high grossing pictures hit theaters, and also the time of year that most studios make the majority of their money. This year, it’s all gravy from here on out.

One reason for 2009’s success is actually because of the recession. With money tight for most Americans, they need a cheap form of entertainment. Going out to dinner or a bar will end up running you much more than a movie ticket will, and you still feel like your doing something at the theater because you’re getting out of the house. 

 

That being said, the people who run theaters are not stupid. They know that the masses flock to the movies during tough times, so they know that now is the time they can get away with jacking up ticket prices. In New York, it’s tough to find a movie ticket under $11 anymore (unless it’s a matinee or some other deal). My friends and I have resorted to buying children’s tickets from automated machines so we can have some money left over for popcorn. Average ticket prices across the country are up as well, up almost 5% from 2007, and up over 41% from 1999. It becomes a lot easier to break sales records when you don’t have to sell as many tickets to do so.

 

The trend of movies released has also been an important factor in this year’s box office success. Family friendly films, high profile sequels, and large budget, special effects driven films have been king thus far. This does not come as a big surprise, being that these are always the types of films that do well at the box office, but the high number of them released this year is definitely a significant factor for soaring sales numbers. The top three box office hits for 2009 so far have been Monsters Vs. Aliens, Fast and Furious, and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Two family movies, and one action packed, high profile sequel. 

 

My guess is that we can expect to see the number one film for this year to be J.J. Abram’s Star Trek: tons of action and special effects, a prequel (same effects of a sequel), and still fairly family friendly (kids love space and stuff, right?). Not to mention the built in fan base the series has created over the past forty years. Take this film to the bank, trust me.

 

In the end, the nature of the film industry should not leave any of us surprised by its success. It’s all about escaping reality, being told a story. The worse things get in someone’s life, the more reason they have to take their mind off of it. Films with happy endings help people remember that things will not always be so bad, and give them hope. Yea, maybe we’re overpaying for tickets, and yea, maybe it’s because we can’t afford any other way to entertain ourselves, but at least there is always that constant comfort blanket of being able to escape in a film.