The box office slump

[ReBurn]

I've been reading a lot about how the motion picture industry is whining about the decline in revenues at the box office.  I suppose that it is so bad that AMC theaters is offering a money back guarantee for those who don't like Cinderalla Man.  I've been thinking about this, and I think there are a couple of facets to this.  First, it costs $8 - $10 to get into a movie.  That's outrageous, in my opinion.  If you wait a couple of months you can buy a copy on DVD for the price of two admissions, so why go to the theater?  For $7 popcorn? 

The other facet is, and I wonder how much it factors in, is the lack of monitoring at the theaters.  There are two theaters that I go to regularly.  In both you hand your tickets to someone as soon as you walk through the door and then you are free to go wherever you choose.  You can see as many movies as you wish because nobody is checking to see if you paid for a ticket or not.  I suspect that this is because the theaters don't make any money off the movies themselves, so why do they care if you see them or not?  A coworker of mine told me that he and his wife saw three movies last weekend and only paid for admission to one.

[Beefy]

I think there are many factors.

Part is rising costs.  The distributors demand ridiculous prices and percentages from the exhibitors.  In turn, to generate more profit, the exhibotrs charge an arm and a leg for concessions.

There is also the DVD factor.  While there is something undeniably magical about watching a film on the big screen with a group of people sharing the experience, a general lack of respect for that experience has led to rampant problems with rudeness, cell phones, children/babies, etc.  With the state of home theater being as modern and sharp as it is, many find it preferable to wait till DVD.

And speaking of DVD - the studios may not be making as much revenue as they would prefer from theater, they are turning huge profits on DVD, so it's not like it's a huge loss.  The system wasn't going to stay the same forever. 

Some filmmakers, like Steven Soderbergh, are looking to release their films simultaneously in theaters, on DVD, and on TV.  The results should prove interesting.