Box office essay

Box office figures are falling. Why do you think this is?

The year 2012 saw US Box office revenue hit its lowest point since 1993. The revenue of ticket sales was down 3% from $4.4 billion in 2011 to $4.27 billion.

These figures could come as a surprise considering some of the films released in 2012; Avengers Assemble, Amazing Spiderman and Skyfall were all huge successes, yet revenue still went down. This could be down to the high-profile failures Hollywood saw in 2012, such as Battleship, Rock of Ages and John Carter.

Another reason for this fall in revenue could be the rising ticket prices in cinemas. It could potentially cost around £20 or more for your own ticket, plus drinks and snacks. Even more if you opt to go for 3D or IMAX. From personal experience, I know that prices do put me off going to the cinema regularly, and the times I go are often ‘Orange Wednesday’s’ or opening evenings of highly-anticipated films (which often only occur once a year).

Furthermore, the ‘experience’ cinema offers is not necessarily new any more. Due to the emergence of new technologies, we can now enjoy movies in our own home, with 3D TVs, home cinema systems and a newly released Blue-ray film. The high-profile failures seen in 2012 were mainly ones driven by special effects and were high-concept. These films are not necessarily ones that are ‘must see’, and the lack of franchises has further failed to help cinemas.

Usually, the must see films each year are part of a franchise, a franchise with a loyal fanbase prepared to pay the rather extortionate prices in a cinema to be one of the first people to see the film. Personally, I’ve done that many times. I paid around £10 each time, plus snacks, to see the midnight showing of each of the Twilight films. By Breaking Dawn part two, I wasn’t even doing it because I was a loyal fan, but because I felt almost obliged to see out the franchise.

However, cinemas are no longer benefiting from this loyalty and obligation. The Harry Potter, Batman and Twilight film franchises all ended recently, and although there are still Marvel films such as the Avengers forming a likely successful franchise, there seems to be a distinct lack of that ‘big franchise’ to pull in the fans who simply can’t wait until the DVD/Blue-ray release. The Hunger Games came out last year, but they hype surrounding its initial release has never really been kept up. I feel the lack of huge franchises is another reason for the decline in Box office figures.

As mentioned earlier, new technologies enable people to experience cinema from their own home, but it also enables them to watch films wherever and whenever they like.

Subscriptions to TV channels, and free to air TV are both options that almost every household has, but there are other options that have come to the forefront more recently. Films can be downloaded to a PC or laptop, or even smartphones and tablet computers for on-the-go viewing. As well as this, there is digital distribution, such as iTunes, or even BBC iPlayer, and the hugely successful Love Film or Netflix. Of course, there is also the illegal pirating of films, but it must be noted that this doesn’t take money from the film studio, it just denies them of a potential profit. However, is it not logical to say that a person may not want to pay for a film they don’t think they will like? If they watch it for free online, they may love it and decide to buy the DVD/Blue-ray, or even pay to see it in the cinema to get the full experience that piracy couldn’t supply. It is true that piracy does deny a studio some profit, but there is a possibly it could provide them with profit too.

Another reason for the falling Box office figures is one that links in to the lack of franchises. Are films really ‘must see’ any more? Certain big films, such as Avengers and Skyfall, probably were, but when it comes to seeing Pitch Perfect, will people just wait until its DVD release? It’s likely that they will, or will watch it illegally. Last year, I paid around £12 for a ticket alone to see Katy Perry’s 3D film Part of Me. I know have the DVD, and although the 3D was fun and it was a nice novelty see her concert in 3D, it wasn’t really anything new, considering I had seen her in concert twice the year before. In hindsight, I could’ve saved my money and watched it online, and I feel this is now the mind-set for many people who were once keen movie-goers.

Furthermore, many star-driven films just aren’t as successful any more. Rock of Ages was full of stars but was a box office failure. Personally, I’d blame Tom Cruise, because he seems to divide opinion with everything he’s in, but it was clear to see that just because a film features a big star, or an ensemble of stars, it won’t necessarily succeed. Battleship was highly talked about because it was Rihanna’s first film role, but I don’t think people who are fans of Rihanna, are also fans of action movies set aboard a naval vessel. Star-driven films appear to be a dying art, and this could definitely contribute to the falling Box office figures.

Finally, TV shows now have bigger production values, and shows such as Games of Thrones are hour-long spectacles every week, shown for free on our TVs, meaning cinema is not the only place to experience special effects and high-concept plots.

However, it is also worth mentioning that 2012 saw the Aurora shootings occurring in a cinema, which inflicted a fear to go on several potential cinema-goers.

To conclude, I would say that the main reason for falling Box office figures are the high ticket prices, as they put off the casual movie-goer, and even the dedicated fans. There are other factors, as mentioned above, but overall the reason that puts off everyone, not just a certain set of people (franchise fans, technology buffs etc), are the high ticket prices.