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interpreting box office number?

post #1 of 7
5/27/05 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
What should I be going by for top movies if i'm looking for just how many people were actually in the theatre.
I am assuming the adjusted for inflation one would be appropriate but then I find it hard to believe that GWTW had more people in the seats than say titanic. just what stat should I be going by. BTW i am getting everthing from boxofficemojo.com

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post #2 of 7
5/27/05 at 3:24pm
GWTW sold more tickets because home video didn't exist until the mid-1970's.
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post #3 of 7
5/27/05 at 4:33pm
Well really home video wasn't even a factor until the early 80s.

Almost no one owned a VCR in the 1970s AFAIK.
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post #4 of 7
5/27/05 at 6:07pm
Quote:
I am assuming the adjusted for inflation one would be appropriate but then I find it hard to believe that GWTW had more people in the seats than say titanic. just what stat should I be going by


What does it matter, if you're going to disregard it if it doesn't fit your expectations?
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post #5 of 7
5/28/05 at 2:48pm
Quote:
I find it hard to believe that GWTW had more people in the seats than say titanic

This is why I wish they'd report the number of tickets sold, rather than the dollars spent -- at the end of every year it's the same. News outlets report BOX OFFICE UP! (but ticket sales down).

As far as GWTW is concerned, remember that competition from TV, etc., was not a factor, a whole lot more grown-ups went to the movies regularly back then, and the final figure takes into account numerous re-releases.
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post #6 of 7
5/29/05 at 2:29am
I'm with you, Don. I think the number of tickets sold should be the factor determining whether or not a film is successful.

Someone today making $ 100 million dollars on a film, with ticket prices in some areas at $ 10 apiece is a lot less impressive than a movie that made $ 100 million dollars when the ticket prices were $ 2.50 apiece.

Using simple mathematics, the movie with the $ 100 million box office today was seen by 10 million people. The $ 100 million made when tickets were $ 2.50 was 40 million people. So which one was more popular? Going by box office receipts alone is very, very deceptive.
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post #7 of 7
5/29/05 at 12:43pm
If you look at how BoxOfficeMojo does the list, they simply take estimated admissions times the current average admission price ($6.40), so that list is exactly what you want. If you want to find the estimated admissions, just divide the number by 6.4. If you don't want to believe the results, look elsewhere.
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