The lesson Event Cinema is teaching regular cinemas is audiences are bored of the same old same old content that is currently in cinema. Every week another big film opens but it feels like Groundhog Day it is all Live Die Repeat there reboots, remakes, sequels and comic book movies.
Exhibitors have blamed the films that have been released this year on the drop in box office. But it not the films how can 20th Century Fox who had a a bad year last year get it so right when other studios didn’t.
There was a survey this week that said cinema prices have gone up 2133% in the last 40 years another that said in the last 5 years alone they have gone up over 26%. These are the issues the industry needs to deal with as exhibitors are pricing out audiences going to the cinema regularly. The CEA claim the average cinema price is £6.53 my local might of charged that 10 years ago but yesterday it charged me £11 to see Gone Girl.
30 years ago cinema attendance was the lowest ever at 54m for the years up to 2002 there was a steady increase but in the years since they have been treading water. The film product has increased the choice of films has increased, size of budgets have increased as have the marketing costs, box office admissions should be near the 200m mark by now why aren’t they?
Since 2009 UK box office hasn’t increased the 3D ticket surcharges have hidden the decline in box office. Exhibitors add a third more for 3D but rarely does 3D with that extra ticket price out-gross the 2D version of the film. Cinema-goers have got tired of feeling that they are being ripped by exhibitors.
Next month is the 20th anniversary of the UK release of Pulp fiction it opened with £4.2m which is more than Gone Girl opened last month but ticket prices were probably a third what they are now.
Exhibitors always say that they make more money on popcorn sales than cinema tickets so if they were to reduce ticket prices more people would come and more wouldn’t feel like they are being ripped off as much and buy the popcorn?
25 years ago West End cinemas would break records Odeon Leicester Sq with Who Framed Roger Rabbit taking £190,000 over the weekend Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade £160,000 at the Empire and the same t the then Warner West End with Batman. i doubt these cinemas take anywhere that kind of money now even though ticket prices have gone up 300%+.
Going to the cinema used to be something people would do regularly now its becoming an expensive treat. With the likes of Netflix and DVD releases within 3 months of release with people having 4k TVs in their homes cinema needs to offer an experience that is different but also good value. 3 months after a films theatrical release I can buy the film on DVD or Blu-ray for less than it would cost me to see it in the cinema?
Exhibitors and studios say this year was a blip and look to the massive films set for release next year and beyond but will people really come back to the cinema to see something that they feel that they have seen before?
