Box Office Figures Falling.

Box office figures are falling. Why do you think this is and do you think this trend will continue?

In 2014 the US box office revenue hits its lowest point since 1993. Roughy 1.26 billion consumers purchased cinema tickets in 2014. This is the lowest since 1995. These figures represent a 6% drop in ticket sales from 2013 (1.34 billion tickets sold). The general consensus of why 2014 was such a poor year for cinemas was that "a number of summer tentpoles under performed compared to previous instalments. 

Despite the year containing many box office hits, the year also saw a wide range of box office failures or films deemed to have fallen short of their high expectations. This could be due to the fact that Hollywood had to contend with a number of high profile failures. Other reasons for the decline in box office figures could be due to the cinematic experience of the audience. Most of the movies from 2014 based themselves off star power, using high profile stars such as Johnny Depp in unfamiliar surroundings basing him as a serious character in a sci fi film, this completely goes against his type cast and goes against the audiences expectations which determines the results in the box office. Hollywood has lost the power of star power in recent years, so now casting a major film star will not determine box office success the same what it would have ten years ago. 

Box office figures have also dropped because of global recession, going the cinema is seen as a luxury today more than it was 10 years ago because ticket costs have gotten higher. In 1999 the average ticket price was £3 in 2015 the average ticket price is £11. It is because of this that audiences dont want to pay that much for a film they may not like, instead they will turn to online ways of watching movies such as Netflix and piracy. The cinematic experience can now be replicated elsewhere due to new technologies. A lot of people have flat screen TVs and surround sound, which is a reason for box office decline as the cinema is very limited and can be inconvenient for audiences as movies are shown at a set time and place. So audiences will turn to the likes of Netflix and piracy where they can watch whatever movies they want, when ever they want for free or for a small cost. Audiences are also deciding to turn to other forms of media such as TV series and video games, this is because people can watch 100 hours of a TV series where and when they want it becomes a complicated and expanded universe. It is the same for video games, people no longer want to sit in a cinema and be dictated to what they see when they can go home and play a video game where they have control over the story and what they see rather than the director showing them.

Another reason for Box office decline is because cinema is now the home of big blockbuster movies. Hollywood studios seem to have focused on meeting expectations and relying on familiar scenarios and stories in attempt to draw consumers back into the cinema. In 1998 the highest grossing movies were stand alone independent movies such as Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan compared to 2014 where the top grossing movies where franchises such as Transformers and the Hobbit. The decline in box office is shows through the ticket sales in 1998 the ticket sales were 1,462,967,591 compared to 2014 where ticket sales where 1,267,354,957 this show the massive drop which is due to the lack of creativity in Hollywood.

Although 2015 was a complete anomaly and the Global box office hit all-tie high of $38bn. 2015 was different to the past years because for the first time movies were being shown globally in cinemas, money being rained in my countries such as China. Chinas $6.78bn total was staggering 48.7% up on 2014's figures. This is because there is now a greater appeal to international audiences with films such as Jurassic World and Transformers, where producers are now casting and shooting with actors of different ethnicity and race which appeals to a larger audience. China is predicted to be the largest cinema market by 2017. 2015 movies took a new spin on hollywood having grater equality  in gender and race, this is show through Hunger Games where the massive franchise is based off a strong female lead 'Katniss' this had never been done before and again brought in more audience.

Another huge reason for why 2015 was different was that all the biggest franchises were released at the same time all of which made alot of money. More than 5 of the films made $1 billion dollars which is a staggering amount compared to previous box office figures.

• why was 2015 different 

• 5 major franchise films released in the same year 
• Mind map

Predictions

• think it will fall again because of the impact of new technologies
• piracy
• kickstarter