Box Office

Box Office figures are falling, why do you think this is and do you think this trend will continue?

Cinema’s Box Office figures are and have been steadily falling since 2002 until present, with 2014’s US figures hitting it’s lowest since 1995 showing a 6% drop from the year before.

Many factors contribute to this, with one of the major reasons being the updated technologies that are able to replicate the cinematic experience in the comfort of our own homes. Development of DVD into BluRay was a large contributor in the downfall of the cinema as people could buy very high quality versions of films and be able to play them through BluRay players already built in to their home entertainment systems such as through the PlayStation three. However, with the more recent digital boom and the ability for filmmakers and producers to digitally distribute their films (sometimes for free with services such as YouTube or Netflix) online physical copies themselves are becoming out-dated. As well this there is the more explicit part of the internet where people illegally download and stream new films and do not pay at all towards the product, combine this with the technological prowess of modern day phones, tablets and computers and their ability to display the films and audio in such high quality consistently, why should consumers ever leave their homes at all if they want to enjoy a new film or creative project?

Another reason for the deteriorating Box Office figures is the lack of original ideas available to the public in the cinema. Since 1981, the top ten grossing films In America have gone from 70% original material to 80% sequels (2011), with the only original idea that year coming in at number fourteen.

Star power to bring an audience to the cinema has been replaced by franchises, with nine of the top ten films in 2014 being part of a franchise – the only exception being Interstellar coming in at tenth place. This is due to studios realising that they no longer need to spend money creating original ideas and smaller, more avant-garde productions as they benefit more of spending more money on few, select ‘tent-pole’ films (expensive franchises). These franchises often last for many years, shown through Harry Potter, the first of the franchise being the number one film in 2001 and the final instalment claiming the top spot again in 2011 - with a spin off series coming in 2016 which will end up lasting several years and several films. So for anyone looking for a good, high quality, original film, you would be hard pressed to find one in this day and age.

February 2005 spawned the birth of what since has become a global monster in the form of free expression of creative ideas - YouTube. Filmmakers are now able to use the Internet to profile their abilities to reach the largest audience possible. Using platforms such as Kickstarter, independent filmmakers can gain an audience and also a budget for their creative pieces, which they give back in forms of rewards and free publishing on sites such as YouTube and Netflix. Because of this,

However, in contrast to this we can see that 2015 was a break from the decline in Box Office figures with the largest numbers in 20 years. This is down the return of Star Wars and Jurassic World, combined with the extreme blockbuster power of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Minions, Fast and Furious… The list goes on, with four films each bringing in over $1billion and a further eight films each bringing in over $500million. The fact that 2015 was such a success and the popularity of the franchises on offer, we can expect for the next few years that Box Office figures may rise or at least remain on the 2015 standard as we can prepare to see sequels, spin offs and expanded universes created as of this.