Failing Film Industry
The Film industry is whining about it's largest slump since 1985 in box office sales, and I'm wondering if it's really just a sign of the times. I read about this first in an article on FoxNews where they lament the inability of Batman to improve summer box office sales despite the lack of nipples on his suit. Is this really the result of people's uninterest in this summer's movies? It's possible - with the pathetic opening line of up Herbie, the latest Dawn of the Dead movie, and Bewitched (which does look funy, but not so funny I have to go RIGHT NOW) opening this past weekend, it's more surprising to me that the film industry expects us to rush out and spend $9+ a seat for opening weekend. And if it's not these movies they're pushing, do they expect us to see Star Wars again?
They might. It's important to remember that these people, on average, seem to have less understanding of what audiences like than Dell does customer service, which is to say that not very much. The biggest up-and-coming film is this July 4th's War of the Worlds, which, unless it's much, much better than the previews, will be as horribly boring as it's special effects are realistic. I'm just not interested in watching Tom Cruise stand around in yet another movie where aliens rip the earth apart, only to be suddenly stopped by some unlikely set of events (Independence Day and Signs were enough.)
But I also wonder if maybe some of this recent box office decline is the result of technology. With so many movies heading to DVD quickly, more and more of the plotless action or romance movies look like good rentals. The DVD quality preserves the film while todays home theater systems often support screens large enough and in high definition enough to reproduce film quality with sound systems that might even be better. And you can pause it in the middle to go to the bathroom, fast foward through bad dialogue, or turn it off completely if it's really bad. And for only $5 you can see the movie as many times as you like in a week, as opposed to the 1 scheduled screening in a crowded theater with sticky floors and heads in the way at twice the expense.
And then there's internet piracy. Most major blockbusters are stolen and published on the internet days or even weeks before hitting the theaters, and if you're willing to take the minor risk of getting caught, they're free. While the quality is often lower, this takes a lot of the "MUST SEE IT NOW" urgency out of opening weekend that the film industry relies on to determine whether or not a film was a success.
Or maybe technology isn't a factor, and this year's summer movies just aren't that good. Spiderman 2 set Jul 4th records during it's opening weekend last year, and I haven't seen a film besides Batman this year that wouldn't have made a better rental. Either way, I hope the film industry sees this as a sign that we'd like some better movies, and increases the number of plot-driven films that are released rather than the marketing hype associated with the bad ones (they should've learned from The Hulk, but they probably haven't.)
posted by RJ @ 10:53 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
I think that the reason people don't like movies right now is the same reason that many gamers are getting mad at their favorite gaming companies -- its all graphics and no plot. Realistic special effects are cool. In Star Wars its was easier than ever to believe that this technology really exists somewhere, but it didn't make the movie very much more interesting. Cool action sequences and special effects can maybe sell one screening per person, with almost no follow up sales in DVDs. There are no quotable lines from the 3 recent Star Wars movies, as opposed to the cult following that grew out of the original (every American knows what you're talking about if you say "Luke, I am your father" or "may the force be with you"). There just isn't anything novel or enthralling about a movie or video game where you feel no connection to the hero, where you can't put yourself into the hero's place and pretend you're them for an hour or two. And that's why I'm hoping that the graphics people hit a wall pretty soon here so there will be no new effects to sell a movie or game and someone will have to come up with a captivating plot again.
"It's important to remember that these people, on average, seem to have less understanding of what audiences like than Dell does customer service, which is to say that not very much."
I totally agree, Hollywood seems to be under the same impression as most of the gaming industry, thinking people go see movies for visual effects or star power (counts double the actors impersonate other races, that means you Steve Martin and the Wayans)instead of things like good dialogue, realistic themes, or engaging plot.
Just look at any successful smaller budget movie and its "blockbuster" sequel(s) that disappoint, ex. Star Wars, the Matrix, and my personal favorite, Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick.
Damn it, sorry to jump on the bandwagon, but neither of those comments were up when I started writing mine. Damn you work for getting in the way of my blogging!
I don't watch movies to escape my puny non-heroic life, though. I could care less about the Spidermans and the Batmans (lexigraphically odd, but correct), and would gladly put money down on a risky lower budget film. Popcorn movies are designed to put butts in seats; I'm not going to expect anything from them that I wouldn't expect an average Joe to like.
Despite virtutis only knowing one movie pirate, the traffic for certain file-sharing mechanisms now exceeds a third of *all* internet traffic. (est) Even if we assume that half of this is legal (it isn't), I wonder how much damage this actually does. I personally don't think that many people other than college students partake in this vice, but that's a big demographic. No further comment.
Lastly-- remakes and sequels *can* be just a creative and engaging as their predecessors, and sometimes more so. You've already got the 'momentum' from the original, so all the producers need to do is not screw it up and they've at least guaranteed they won't *lose* money.
Yeah, sequels can be great - Back the Future comes immediately to mind. Number 3 was just amazing.
The video game thing is a good point. I heard that a good movie opens at $40 million while a good game opens at $400 million. The prof in college who quoted that statistic was sort of a quack, but it makes the point: there's much more money to be had in games, and much more interest these days. The best is when you get a good game/movie combination, like....well...I can't actually think of a single one. Maybe the first spiderman - that game was good. Hopefully the Halo movie won't suck.
This post is a good little piece of sociological analysis, my friend. Well done.
thanks!
was that opening day? That probably includes the money from all of the preorders that came in, which makes it more like their opening revenue after 6 months of sales. Either way it's still spectacular.
Dollar theaters still exist today in cultural backwaters like Fayetteville, NC. Only they cost TWO dollars, and you have to put up with the segment of the population who goes to a movie to talk to the screen.
Sure you do.
We still have a dollar theater here - two of 'em. One even has "50 cent Tuesday", which features no rap at all and really cheap movies.
I just read an article about this on the Baltimore Sun website. I would link it, but you have to register to get to it and I'm figuring no one is THAT interested in the subject. I'll summarize:
1. Ticket sales are down. Hollywood: "WAAAH!"
2. Average People: rising ticket costs, bad theater crowds, DVD availability coupled with better Home Theater systems, oh, and TICKET COSTS.
3. Hollywood says it's not ready to give up on theatrical releases though DVDs now make them more money than the box office, even though Steven Soderbergh innovates and signs a deal to do 6 movies with simultaneous releases on DVD, pay-per-view and in theaters.
4. Some experts think it's just a slump like in any other business environment. Suck it up and hope it ends with better offerings next year. Actually, they cited big budget sequels to blockbusters. Not exactly the right track, in my humble opinion.
The article ends with the authors AGAIN mentioning TICKET COSTS. Going to one movie in a theater could buy you a NetFlix membership for a month where you watch a LOT more than one movie and you can do it in your underwear. It's a win-win.
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