The box office slump this year was not down to the movies there were plenty of big summer movies and had all the films that were delayed that were meant to be released this year the position wouldn’t of been any better.
The biggest problem is that ticket prices have dramatically increased in prices in the last 30 years the BFI reported that they have gone up by over 26% in the last 5 years. For me to see a 3D film at my local Vue it would cost me over £20 which used to be the price of Leicester Square. The Daily Telegraph recently reported it costs almost £100 for a family of 4 to go to the cinema which is pricing out audiences.
These days you only need to wait 3 months before the film is released on DVD. I used to go to the cinema several times a month now its about half a dozen times a year and I’m a massive movie fan worked in the industry for over 20 years. Spending 9 years as a projectionist in preview theatres at film studios.
Many box office experts are saying that this year was a blip and everything will be better next year but its just filled with remakes, reboots, sequels and comic book movies away from the hype these films are mostly like the Emperor’s New Clothes fairy-tale nothing to see.
I was thinking about films that I have seen recently that have opened in the last couple of years and wondered would I see these films again and the answer is no, but their are films many before that I would happily see time and again.
In the news this week was Bond 24 will start shooting soon the film is in an impossible situation as there is almost no chance it could match the success of Skyfall. Many rave about Skyfall as a great Bond film I was one of them when I first saw a preview of it but then I saw it again and away from the hype it is Home Alone Bond, most of the other Bond films I will happily waste an afternoon watching rather than Skyfall.
It was also announced this week that Deadpool would be released in 2016 adding to the other 8 comic book movies already set for release in 2016. Sony Pictures were disappointed with the $700m The Amazing Spider-Man 2 took this summer how will all 9 comic book movies match studio expectations? Sooner or later the bubble will burst with comic book movies.
In 1980 United Artists released Heaven’s Gate which was a massive flop destroying the studio but the budget of that was nothing like the budgets of the massive mega movies that are released today. But today the Hollywood studios are owned my mega billion dollar corporations that can eat up $250m losses much easier. The studio executives who green lighted the films will be canned the head of the studio will leave and set up a production deal with a rival studio and they studio will start again with nothing really changing
