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I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

rogerebert.com

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Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#21

Post by zackzackzack »

jsaxton86 wrote: post #9

In addition to ridiculous ticket prices, the actual movie doesn't start until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime. While you're waiting, you're expected to watch advertisements. I don't have any concrete data to back this up, but I feel it wasn't always this bad.

I went to a movie a few days ago for the first time in months. As soon as the advertisements started for other movies/consumer good I had to walk out. I couldn't bear to sit through 10 minutes of all that advertisements anymore.

I've told my parents that I like movies but I hate going to movie theaters before and I think this might be why.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#22

Post by ChrisLTD »

tsunamifury wrote: post #19
jsaxton86 wrote: post #9

In addition to ridiculous ticket prices, the actual movie doesn't start until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime. While you're waiting, you're expected to watch advertisements. I don't have any concrete data to back this up, but I feel it wasn't always this bad.

Not sure why you've been down-voted, but this has infuriated me more than any other single thing. I pay a good deal of money to see a film in which I am so bombarded with ads beforehand that its ruined the film experience. The last film I saw had a full 15 minutes of ads and trailers before it started! My girlfriend asked me if we could just leave and get our money back.

I don't so much mind seeing trailers before a movie. It seems like a tradition, and trailers can be fun to watch. However, ads for other stuff like cars, or soft drinks cheapens the experience. I'm at a damn movie theater, don't remind me that it's really just a big TV screen.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#23

Post by dangrossman »

jsaxton86 wrote: post #9

In addition to ridiculous ticket prices, the actual movie doesn't start until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime. While you're waiting, you're expected to watch advertisements. I don't have any concrete data to back this up, but I feel it wasn't always this bad.

I love movie trailers. That 15 minutes is one of the reasons I go to a theater instead of streaming something at home.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#24

Post by neutronicus »

tsunamifury wrote: post #8

I like that some independent films are beginning to branch out in their strategy. For example, one of the best films of the year -- Margin Call -- was released on a variety of streaming services the same day it was available in theaters. Sometimes I like watching a movie at home, other times I'm looking for a chance to go out. Dates will probably always involve movie theaters for my girlfriend and myself -- even if I…

Not to mention HBO, which is a more direct challenge to theaters in the "you give me money, I give you high-quality content" sphere than, say, AMC, which is still ultimately banking on selling advertisement.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#25

Post by ChrisLTD »

killnine wrote: post #20

What does it take to have movies that are in theater streamed to your home? Would you not watch more movies at theater prices if you could watch it on your couch at 12:01am Friday morning? I think the problem is at the theater, the companies get $12/person, $12 PER person. How can we come up with a solution where they still get their dollars, but I don't have to leave my couch to go sit in a dirty, loud theater to wa…

I'd pay double, maybe even triple the regular price of streaming rental (~$5) to see movies at home on the day of release.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#26

Post by maeon3 »

Movie revenue is dropping for the same reason buggy whip sales decreased with the deployment of engines. Movies are a dead medium walking. Interactive beats mindless observation.

The mpaa wont go down without taking a handfull of civil liberties with it though.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#27

Post by nlawalker »

jwallaceparker wrote: post #5

> 5. Competition from other forms of delivery. This is by far the biggest reason. All of my peers own Netflix streaming accounts and watch most of their movies this way.

Don't forget the bit he dropped in that same bullet point about better home theater technology. Instant availability and movie delivery would still leave a lot to be desired compared to the theater if we were watching it on boxy 27" CRTs with stereo sound and "tracking...tracking...tracking" on the media player.

Flat screens measured in feet and thinner than a ream of paper and surround sound (all digital) are now within reach of a large segment of the population. The higher quality of picture and sound at a theater, relative to a home setup, no longer outweighs the negatives, many of which have gotten worse in the last ten years (price, distractions, miscellaneous theater rigmarole).

IMAX is pretty much the only theater experience I still leave the house for. The screen size and sound are still novel enough to draw me in, and I find that the audiences tend to be more focused on the movie-going experience as opposed to being obnoxious.

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#28

Post by [deleted] »

killnine wrote: post #20

What does it take to have movies that are in theater streamed to your home? Would you not watch more movies at theater prices if you could watch it on your couch at 12:01am Friday morning? I think the problem is at the theater, the companies get $12/person, $12 PER person. How can we come up with a solution where they still get their dollars, but I don't have to leave my couch to go sit in a dirty, loud theater to wa…

[deleted]

Re: I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping...

#29

Post by archangel_one »

jsaxton86 wrote: post #9

In addition to ridiculous ticket prices, the actual movie doesn't start until 15 minutes after the scheduled showtime. While you're waiting, you're expected to watch advertisements. I don't have any concrete data to back this up, but I feel it wasn't always this bad.

15 minutes isn't even so bad any more. The last movie I went to see was 30 minutes of ads (seriously, I checked) and about an hour 40 long. That's a broadly similar proportion to TV, which doesn't make a good case for paying £8/person for it.

I feel like it's never actually been that good, but I think it has actually gotten worse than it used to be. Possibly doesn't help that I remember actually being interested in movie trailers, whereas mostly now I'm just bored by them. That ties in a bit with Ebert's point the first, but to me it feels like it goes further; most of them look rubbish and any exceptions I've normally already heard about via an internet.

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