Ryan McNeil
Do people still care about movies?
A few weeks ago, Roger Ebert wrote a theory about why box office receipts are their lowest since 1995. You might have already heard that attendance was down 3.5% compared to the year before. That said, with the cost of a movie ticket being what it is these days, the cash take was still pretty decent. Mr. Ebert lists a few valid theories why attendance has dipped, and I would whole-heartedly agree with him that factors like high ticket prices and poor theatre-going experiences are in play. However, in trying to settle on something definitive, I ask again:
Do people still care about movies?
Obviously, I’m not talking about you since the time you took to drop by this space likely comes with a healthy interest. I’m wondering about the public-at-large. The sorts of people who used to see nine or ten movies in a year and now are don to four or five. You know, the people who listen to you mention a great film you saw with a look like they want to pet you on the head when you finish. Less the sort who make plans to see a specific film and choose the least objectionable option on the designated night.
Those people. The ones who pad the overall numbers. Do they still care?
I wonder his because I have in fact noticed my multiplexes getting quieter and quieter as time goes on. It used to be that the opening of an event movie would have lobbies jammed (and before that, send box office lines snaking down a city block). There was an excitement in the air, a buzz that had drawn the avid and passive moviegoers together. Now it seems like that electricity is widely gone. The event films are only playing to fans of the property – because, let’s face it, almost all event films now are based on a pre-established property. Those who come out are the same ones who always come out; none of their parents, none of their bosses, none of their kids.
I wonder if people still care because everywhere you turn nowadays, people talk about being so busy. They live further from where they work, and that’s not taking high volume traffic into account in major urban centres. For these people, who get home at 7pm on a good day, there’s no such thing as a quick bite and then a movie after dinner. Seeing a movie spontaneously is almost a ridiculous an idea as flying to paris spontaneously – though in Paris the food would be better.
Then there are those who used to care, but for whom movies have become a commodity. They aren’t interested in fighting the crowd, forking over the cash, or travelling the distance. However they are more than happy to use on-demand services, stream whatever’s available regardless of what they might actually want to see…or of course, pirate the latest Hollywood fare illegally.
Perhaps the short answer to my question is simply “No – people don’t care anymore”. Perhaps the interaction and entertainment of it all has given way to hassle and ambivalence for the rest of them. Perhaps that old saying is true and they don’t “Make ’em like they used to”. Perhaps those who used to be thrilled and engaged have become apathetic; after all, not only do we now know how the magicians are doing their tricks, but the magicians are going so far as to tweet us their daily anxieties.
Perhaps, like many other art forms before it, the motion picture has entered into its decline into a smaller, focused audience. Perhaps, the party is truly over. We live in an age where any normal Joe can be a household name if they get stranded on an island with fifteen other Joe’s. We live in an age where any spoiled Jane can become a household name if she drops any sort of mental filter and lets TV cameras follow her around her daily life. And we live in an age where people will find themselves watching both of these offerings not necessarily because they want to, but because they can’t find anything better to distract them as they turn off their brain.
So no Hollywood – your attendance isn’t down because you didn’t have an event film to give you that extra layer of cream. Your attendance is down because with every passing day, more and more people just don’t care.
I too cringe sometimes when I watch truly wonderful movie and there are only a handful of people in the theatre. It makes me worried about the future. But I went to check up the statistics and in Sweden the number of theatre visits for the period Jan-Nov 2011 was actually a little bit higher than in 2010, hitting the average of the last ten years. That makes me less nervous about the empty salons than I otherwise would have been.
What’s the feeling of the general public over there? When writing this, I was thinking about the moviegoing attitudes of the average North American, but I realize this probably isn’t the case worldwide. Is it something that’s still sorta thriving, or is it just one more avenue for distraction?
It’s hard to tell. I’ve never lived in North America so I haven’t got any first hand knowledge of what the movie going attitude is like there. But well… my very superficial impression is that there has been a stronger tradition there, at least in the US. I remember when I visited California how fascinated I was by seeing huge advertising outdoors in a way we don’t see here. So much marketing going on! Perhaps the Swedish market has been somewhat more lukewarm? But that’s just speculation. I’d need to go through statistics, checking up on number of theatre visits per person in respectively country to get it confirmed.
The multiplex in my home city, which is number four in size in Sweden, has a pretty crappy multiplex cinema with 12 salons, but each one of them ridiculously small and with small, uncomfortable seats and pretty bad inclination, nothing anywhere near the comfort level I’ve experienced in the US. Perhaps we’re a little behind you in that aspect. But I don’t think there has been any dramatic change or decline in the climate the last year.
The biggest problem we’re facing right now is the digitalization of the theatres. It’s threatening countless of small theatres in the countryside who can’t afford the transition. It will probably change the theatrical landscape radically in the next few years. I reckon those who will lose their theatre will have to do with downloads, view on demand etc.
I think this would be a sad deveopment since I’m a huge fan of watching film in theatres rather than on a crappy screen at home with all sorts of distractions around you.
Ryan, I do think you have a point about people not caring as much about movies. Busy lives and the ease of access at home are one factor, but I think another is the high ticket and concession prices (like Ebert mentions). If you’re not a huge movie fan, paying that much could make it a tougher sell, especially in a rough economy. This has been the case with concerts, sports teams, and other activities. Once people are out of the habit due to the exorbitant prices, they just stop going.
I think another factor is the place of movies in the overall culture, especially among teenagers. When people have kids and get full-time jobs, going to fewer movies will happen for many casual viewers. In the past, young people would fill in that gap as they grew older. Now, there is serious competition from video games, mobile devices, etc. Movies don’t have the same prestige. Like you’ve said, they’ve become another commodity.
It’s possible that the main reason is simply a rough economy. In a few years, the box-office receipts could rebound. But I’m not sure. It does seem like I meet a lot of people who never go to the movies.
You’re right to point out the economics of the situation. Movies and many pro sports are sort of in the same boat in the manner that the at-home experience has (for the average consumer) begun to match, if not overtake, the live experience.
The odd thing is that it’s not across the board. Ceryain event films still pack ’em in, and certain sports (namely NFL football in America, Premiere League soccer around much of Europe, NHL hockey here in Canada).
Could be that the rouch economy you mention is forcing people to be choosier.
The second time I saw Hugo, my brother and I were the only people in the theatre. I mean we always go to that particular multiplex because very few people go there and we always get tickets, but that has never happened. But even if I was in India, I would not think that many people would see Hugo. In terms of Hollywood, only the big action flicks or some of mainstream comedy films actually release in Calcutta, where I live, because honestly those are the only ones which sell. I feel bad for using the unfairer means, but most of the time that’s the only way for me to watch a particular film. I mean things like MMMM or Shame would never ever release there, and so even though some of us really want to visit the cinema, we never get the chance.
I’ve heard people mention “using unfair means” in the past when trying to access smaller North American films while abroad (my younger brother spent the better part of a year in Egypt and had to use that method a few times).
Have you noticed any sort of a downturn in attendence for the big blockbusters? I’m quite curious about that as in the past year Hollywood has started trotting out the worldwide box office total to trumpet a film’s success as opposed to the North American total which was the tradition.
Yes I was trying to put things delicately. I hope I don’t start losing followers now 😛
I don’t know. I mean I usually visit the theatre in the first week of a film’s release, and at the early morning time slot where the price is cheaper and most college kids skip their classes to watch the film, so I don’t think the films are suffering so much. Big blockbusters like POC and Harry Potter do very good business I think, and I remember that Avatar was playing in the theatres even in August of ’10.
In terms of Indian films, every year there are new records being set for biggest openings. The films are mostly awful, but they have some of the biggest names in the Indian film industry and they really sell because of that. But all this is an uneducated guess.
But I ask you if this is truly a bad thing? Think about it: if the general audience member is no longer “padding” those numbers and film is shifting more toward a focused audience like us die-hard film bloggers, maybe, just maybe, there will be an eventual decline in garbage films too. Our kind isn’t as likely to pay good money to see crap like Jack & Jill when Midnight in Paris is an option. This change of course won’t be sudden, but maybe it’s down the road. Even better, maybe it’ll force Hollywood to become creative once again to try to get audience members back. I think the decline of the casual moviegoer is a blessing and not a curse.
The crap has always been there, and will always be there. The thing about the crap, is that it fades from memory. So we might think that we are seeing more crap than ever, but it’s probably the same quotient that has always been around. Our brains might filter out junk like I COME IN PEACE, 8 HEADS IN A DUFFLE BAG, THE FLINTSTONES, JAWS 4 and such…but it doesn’t mean Hollywood didn’t try to sucker us in!
The problem, unfortunately, is that Hollywood will see a dwindling audience as a sign that they are becoming too niche…and the response will be to push the less lucrative films (MMMM, SHAME, PROJECT NIM) to dvd and on-demand since the distribution is so much cheaper. If the studio is going to go through the expense of marketing and printing a film, they will stack the deck in favour of broad appeal…your Pirates, your Avengers, your sparkly vampires.
I wish having the riffraff out of the way meant for happier times, but the artistic passion producers and studios had in the 70’s for such intelligent fare is long gone. It’s all corporate now, and corporations wanna get the most money on their return.
There is something to this, but not really…
I will claim that I am the international audience, so maybe I’m an anomaly.
I remember seeing Drive last year. I spoke before about how I’ll head out to the theatre on a Saturday for the 11 am screenings, so I can get in and out with little hassle since I don’t have a car and have to do some work to get to and fro, and I remember the attendance being sparse.
However, I returned to Drive a couple weeks later at a later screening (abt 3PM) and found the cinema packed. An art action movie with not much to go on is packed. Anytime I manage to hit up the theatre after 12PM for any film the screening is packed (unless the film is a month old, and even that isn’t a promise).
I remember in JA a number of times the theatre would be packed on a Thursday night for certain features and that’s saying something.
I can’t speak to the weekday screenings (refer to above statement abt no car) but I imagine that it remains lively here in T&T… but then again I don’t get SHAME or TYRANNOSAUR showing here.
You also have to say that once the film isn’t Michael Bay or Tyler Perry the audience draw will be less. And streaming services do help.
I sorta want to call “shenanigans” here since even I don’t see movies before noon with any sort of frequency. Take TIFF out of the equation and I can count my morning screenings on one hand for the last decade.
There might be many aspects to this that we do not even know about. But, I think we have many options to watching a movie in Theater(I am talking of Legal options off course) that I will definitely think before going out to watch a movie – especially if it is just for fun.
And I agree with Nikhat. I have also mentioned it couple of times when I was in India, we wouldn’t even know about a lot of movies until they won Oscars. Only handful of films get released properly there. So, when we decide to watch a movie, it is usually based on how was it marketed ? not on how good is it? But then even in US, if I have an option of watching a movie sitting on my couch, most people will think Do I Have To? before actually going out. And then there are illegal ways where you do not have to pay anything at all.
Your comment makes me wonder about how well films are finding their place within the public concious. It seems as though to become the pop culture phenomenon they once were (think GHOSTBUSTERS, MEN IN BLACK, JURASSIC PARK), movies now have to work *that* much harder for a thinner piece of the pie.
As for the Oscar comment, perhaps based on that we shouldn’t be surprised that the films that have been winning Best Picture have a lower box office than they once did…that “Oscar Bump” that used to nudge a film’s gate after a nomination now doesn’t kick in until after a win.
Thanks for the comment – like Nikhat’s and Jessica’s it really interested me to read about the state of moviegoing habits in other countries.
I think there was a time in the early 70s, which then transformed into the late 70s and early 80s, when the American public viewed movies as both the prime source of artistic entertainment, as well as serving an actual importance in the cultural landscape. I don’t think this is the case anymore. The blockbuster market has so saturated viewers, and the indie market is far too niche, and there are so many other sources of screen entertainment, and in the end what you get is a public who no longer holds cinema with high regard. Movies have always been considered a way to pass the time, but they were also once considered a “valuable” way to pass the time. Now they’re little more than another distraction on top of TV, YouTube, and Twitter. It’s a sad thing, because it’s just another example of Western society distancing itself from quality culture in favour of instant gratification.
You may be on to something. There’s a strong possibility that film as an art form has reached is just past its peak with the masses (though for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you what has taken its place).
Nothing has taken its place. The thing is film was the ultimate mass artform. It combines all other arts together in order to tell stories, which has always been the ultimate artistic form of human communication. It required theatrical projection. There didn’t used to be as many movies made. In general it was perfect.
But it has since been diluted. In some ways, film is still the ultimate, except that it’s morphed into a million different videos on the net, thousands of TV shows on hundreds of channels. There are just so many options and so many niches, that the idea of film as a mass artform has simply lost its lustre. It makes me sad.
The last movie I went to the theater at the end of the year was Young Adult and you know what the sad part is. I was one of 2 people who went to see that film in the morning where usually, I would expect maybe 10-20 people at the most. This is fucking sad.
While I’m going on the broad numbers to discuss these trends, I myself haven’t been in an empty-ish theatre in quite a while. Even last week when I walked into MY WEEK WITH MARILYN to see I was one of five people, when I turned around at showtime, I noticed that the house had filled in pretty nicely.
I think what it comes down to for most people, sad to say, is convenience. With the advancements in home entertainment, the ever-decreasing window between theatrical and home-video release, the increasing quality of TV shows (Breaking Bad, The Wire, what have you) and a plethora of other options not available before; the cinema just don’t hold the same sway it once had. Remember, in the fifties, with the dawn of Television, there was a large decline in ticket sales. People knew the TV couldn’t match the cinema experience, but the TV was right there–in the living room. You no longer had to leave the house to watch people pretend to be other people.
Even I, a hardcore movie geek, don’t go to the theater nearly that often anymore. I would love to go more, but with my work schedule, I just don’t have the time. More and more often, I’ll think to myself: eh, it’ll be on DVD in a few months. Ashamed to admit it but it’s the truth.
Sort of a “Video Killed the Radio Star” situation, no?
While I agree that convenience and price play a large role, they are not the main reason the numbers are down. Sure the economy is bad and ticket prices are high, especially for 3D films, but theatre actually did good business during the first year of the recession. People went to the movies to forget that they just lost their jobs, were behind on bills, etc. Unfortunately those looking to forget their woes will not likely pick up and go see a film like Take Shelter. Instead they will opt for the comfort food that is big budget films.
I think the main reason for the decline is that studios still think that young kids and teenage boys are there main demographic. Which is an old-time mentality that needs to change fast or they will see further decline. Most of the people in line for the comic book flicks, and franchise films, at midnight screenings are men in their 30’s. On top of that, the bulk of theatre goers with the most disposable income are women…yet very few films cater to them. There is only so many times that you can sell the same hamburger in new wrapping before the customers decides to go somewhere else. Especially nowadays when there “key demographic” has grown up with the “if I want it, I take it” mentality that comes with torrent sites.
Good point, and that’s why I’m not wondering why the gate wasn’t higher for TREE OF LIFE or BEGINNERS. I’m saying that even where escapist films are concerned, it feels like the larger collective is tuning out. They might come out once a year or so for a Spider-Man or a Hobbit, but by and large they shrug it off.
I hadn’t thought about target demo, so you might be on to something there too. The target has always been male 18 – 34, perhaps it’s time for Hollywood to start widening the target if they want to keep the public’s interest.
Interesting piece Ryan.
I can understand your thoughts here. I must admit that I haven’t noticed a fall in interest, but this is probably because I am petty blinkered. My cinema trips are generally preview screenings or festivals these days so they are full of people that DO care.
You have got me thinking though, you are probably right as we do have a very broken and nonchalant society
“Nonchalant society”…that might be the best way I can think of to sum it up. We want much of what we’re interested in to come to us, to be available on our own computers and devices, To be able to come in and out of the world at large from the comfort of our living room.
But thank you for reminding me of the biggest reason why I look forward to times like TIFF and Hot Docs every year – those little slivers of time when I’m surrounded by strangers who care as much about films as I do!
Great article and an interesting question. I think the availability of so much content in the home is a big reason. Why go to the cinema and spend lots of money when you can just put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and enjoy the movie on TV. Went to the cinema last week with the kids and was shocked to find out it was 42 euros (for 3 people) and that’s without snacks. It’s not something you will do weekly that way.
Personally I just got myself an unlimited card, which will allow me to see as many movies I want at the cinema and only costs me 20 euros a month…great deal
Welcome to the Matinee Nostra!
You touch on something that I do wish the theatre chains would think more about – ways to reach out to their most frequent customers. I’ve heard a few european readers mention these unlimited cards, and I really wish we had them here. I imagine it’d probably screw with studios’ take at the box office, but I’d totally jump on a program that lets me see unlimited films for the cost of…say…ten or twelve. If that was the case, I’d probably buy food when I went and that’s where the theatres make their money.
Thanks a lot! The cinemas here are really adapting to the changes even offering streaming movies to your house (under the name of the cinema brand). The amazing thing with these card you even get a reduction of either 10 or 25% based on the type of card.
I’m moving to wherever you live.
You are welcome, my old house is up for sale at the moment 😉 It’s in the Netherlands.
I have readership in The Netherlands? That’s so cool!! My plan for world domination is taking shape nicely.
I’ve thought about this for a while as well, and I think part of the appearance of the decline in Movie sales is the ever growing presence of isolationist mentality. This is one of the reasons I argue video games have taken such a strong hold on the market. Beyond their direct engagement with our more adrenaline nature, but they also allow us to engage in social activities without engaging with people. For example, online gaming. Movies don’t really have that stronghold. Yet businesses where people can watch movies completely at home with limited human interaction (Red Box, Netflix Streaming, etc.) is still booming. With all of those there’s that sense of control over the environment – a factor I saw pop up a lot of times back when everyone was doing a “why I don’t go to the theater” blog post.
Of course that’s not going to be the entirety of the issue, but I think there’s lots lying underneath that. I might also argue that part of it lies on people’s reliance for movies to deliver entertainment above all other substantive components. Was bound to dwindle sooner or later.
A very good point, and one I don’t completely understand in people. I’m notn saying that everytime you want to watch any old movie you should be forced to go to a theatre, but there’s a social element that comes with it. Part of the fun of going out to a movie is being part of a collective that is amazed together, engaged together, or amused together. Ever watch a comedy by yourself and it doesn’t seem as funny because there aren’t a few hundred other people around you laughing too? That’s what isolation gets you.
I think you raise an interesting point, but then segway into a typical remark about how people don’t care.
Which could be in fact true, but is not all that surprising.
Fresno doesn’t have much of a film community. No art house theaters. And only three major multiplexes. Yet, all three do extraordinarily well.
Word of mouth still is key.
The problem is quite simple: Hollywood doesn’t churn out enough quality films for the masses. Especially for adults. There’s a reason a film like MIDNIGHT IN PARIS or DESCENDANTS does so exceptionally well at the box office. People still care about good movies, not just blockbuster affair.