New Technologies

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

There are multiple reasons as to why box office figures are falling.  Declining appeal in stars is one that 

but also the steady increase in ticket prices. New Technologies has a big part to play in the reason as to why box office figures have fallen.

In 2014 US box Office revenue hit its lowest point since 1994. With only $1.26 Billion consumers purchasing cinema tickets.Even though the year did contain some hits , it was mainly made up of films that included the star appeal but ended up being a failure. The reason they say that these films failed is that 2014 was the year that a number of tentpoles under performed compared to previous instalments. Tent pole films allow a greater focus on expensive franchises and leads to less 'risky' films being made.2014 was the year that not as many franchises were set to be released. It was predicted that 2015 would be a massive year for he box office , and they were right as it hit an all time high of $38.5 Billion.

Franchises generally have a two year gap in which the film and produce the new films . This allows for more low budget films to be released into the cinemas. This creates anticipation for the audience. Marvel for example ,will release a high budget film such as Captain America and then in between the release of that and the wait for the next instalment they will release a less anticipated film such as AntMan in order to fill up the two year gap. Franchises however, are becoming 'universes' which means that they are having a film released each year instead of having a two year gap. This is supported by the new Star Wars films one has been released at the end of 2015, one set to release in 2016 but also a planned release in 2017.

There are multiple reasons as to why the global box office will increase. For example, more films are appealing to foreign audiences. The chinese box off increased by 48% in 2014 and is predicted to be the biggest cinema market by 2017.

Piracy is one reason why box office figures have fallen. Despite various studios best efforts ,they are finding it increasingly difficult to combat alternative ways to see films other than going to the cinema. Even though illegal downloading a movie does not take money from the studio it prevents them from making any and also prevent consumers from going to the cinema. The MPAA estimates that piracy and illegal downloading costs the industry $0 billion per year. However, these figures are disputed with some claiming that the industry looses only $446 million per year. In my opinion piracy could be seen a a positive thing as the audience could watch the first part of the film and decide wether they like the film and what it promises, therefore they will be willing to pay money at the cinema to achieve the 'cinematic experience'.

There is a huge focus on 'cinematic experience' which has lead to the development of new technologies. technology is affecting the way films are financed, produced, distributed and exhibited.
Avatar was a major success when promoting the new way to watch films in the cinema. Audiences were able to experience the film in 3D which at the time of its release was not available for households. However, in 2015 we are able to replicate the 'cinematic experience' in our homes. The development of new technologies has made the home cinema more appealing to many people.

There are other ways besides going to the cinema to watch a film. New technology has lead to the companies such as Netflix, Virgin Media releasing films and Tv shows on there channels making it easier for people to view films. Digital distribution means that people can access films when the are on the move, for example, Apple (iTunes) apps for Netflix. This means that people can access films whenever they please and they will only have to pay a set fee each month instead of paying a lot of money in one go to watch one films and buy snacks. Illegal downloading can also be seen as a positive alternative to going to the cinema as it allows the audience to watch the film without paying , but it doesn't promise the best cinematic experience.

New technologies are not seen as threat to film studios as they have always had advances in technology to overcome, they have always been able to draw their audience back into the cinema. The introduction of the TV can be seen as an obstacle that they have overcome. Due to the introduction of these technologies the film studios began horizontally integrating there business models. Recently cinema has attempted to offer more unique experiences that can not be be replicated anywhere else. Studios can make use of their horizontally integrated businesses to create franchises sell merchandise and  and develop other revenue streams for their films titles.