Ticket sales down 20%...Nothing worth seeing? (1 Viewer)

[Stan Rich]

Latest is ticket sales down over last year by 20%.Due to the crap they want $8.50 a ticket for.Seems more and more are waiting for DVD releases,is the movie house a dinosaur?seems like just a matter of time.What do you think?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's definitely a combination of poor quality movies in theaters and shorter windows until video/DVD release.

But of course the MPAA will undoubtedly blame it on the internet...

 

[Joe D]

I'm sure the numbers will increase substantially by the end of the year:

Star Wars
Batman Begins
War of the Worlds
King Kong

But yes, the quality of films is definately lacking while the window from Theater to DVD is short. The last film I saw was The Aviator.

 

[Joel...Lane]

Isn't this the reason Lucas and co. are developing movies in 3D to get people back into theaters? They want to give the viewer an experience they can't get with their own home theaters.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Go see "Crash".

 

[Steve...O]

Tickets and concessions are too darned expensive.

Some good movies, but a LOT of clunkers. Not willing to take a $20+ gamble on a film that has over a 50% chance on being a dud.

 

[ZacharyTait]

I agree with what Patrick said. Crash is a masterpiece. It'll end up on my top 10 at the end of the year.

Kingdom of Heaven is quite good too. I just wish more people would see it. It doesn't deserve the beatdown it is getting right now.

Other than that, there isn't really anything worth seeing, except for Sin City if it is still in your neck of the woods.

I expect the B.O. to pick over the next month with the release of that small space movie, Madagascar, and Batman Begins.

 

[Adam_ME]

For me personally, the crappy presentation of the films coupled with rude theatergoers who talk on their cell phones, bring screaming babies, and generally don't shut the hell up are what keeps me away from the multiplex.

Oh, and 10 minutes of commercials before 15 minutes of trailers don't help matters either.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Except for the trailers, I'm going with Adam. They can't heard us in like cattle anymore, and I think that the public has just had enough of it.

Let's get some employees that will boot out anyone making any kind of noise, and scrap the ads, and I might go back.

Gotta have the trailers, though. It is what should get you going back their the next week.

Glenn

 

[Mark-W]

I'm with Adam and Glenn on this.
Honestly, there are not that many "event" films any more, and with home theaters becoming more and more common, it becomes a matter of wanting to put up the money to risk the being in an audience with some a-holes who think we came to hear them talk during the film.

For $20, I can buy the film on DVD.

If theaters got serious about kicking people out who talked during films (or even bothered to mention it in the openning "welcome to out theater" presentation, I might be more eager to head to the theater. They bother to tell us to turn our cell phones off, but say nothing (at Regal Cinemas) about asking patrons to be not talk during the film.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

What do they expect when Ashton Kutcher is in every other movie?

Bruce

 

[Ray Chuang]

Well, last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly summed up a lot of the reasons why moviegoers are staying away in droves. The issues of too many commercials and trailers before the feature presentation and the rude audience has really turned off a lot of moviegoers.

Also, the high price of energy this year has cut quite a bit into the family budget for moviegoing, too.

 

[John Kilduff]

I've only seen 3 movies in a theater this year, and two of them ("Million Dollar Baby" and "The Aviator") were 2004 releases.

Even if I were able to get to the movies more often, there still wouldn't be much to interest me. Before anybody suggests art-house and independent movies, I must tell you there are no art house theaters in the Orange County, NY area and our own Peter Apprusezze's theater in Suffern...Well, I can't see the classic movies they have there on the weekends because I work weekends and I have to rely on taxis and my brother since I don't drive yet (I'm 22 years old, and I can't drive...Someday I'll learn).

I don't know what it is that makes theater attendance go down so sharply.

To me, I'm always either seeking out the old stuff or watching it on TCM...Whether it be 40s classics, 60s revolution cinema, or the fine aged cheese of the 80s, I'll gladly watch it. I don't know why today's movies don't appeal to me.

I love action movies, but I'd rather watch "The French Connection" and "48 HRS" than "Bad Boys 2" and "XXX".

I love comedies, but it's "The Apartment", "Animal House" and "This Is Spinal Tap" that I prefer more than "Guess Who?" and most any movie with any of the following actors:

-Ben Stiller
-Will Ferrell
-Owen Wilson
-Jack Black

To me, the dramas of the past and present are on an even keel.

What does it say about me and some of the others in my age bracket (There are some, right?) that we'd rather watch older movies than most newer movies, and could that tie in with why the ticket sales are going down?

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

Everything has a meaning...

 

[Jason Adams]

It's $10.25 now in BROOKLYN. But on 34th, theres a Lowes that charges $8.99.

But anyways, there is nothing really worth seeing for me except the big event movies, not to mention i've been toiling on my own little faux-documentary, so i've barely found the time to go.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

This has already been discussed in the 2005 box office thread. With the exception of one film from last year at this time, this year's crop of films are actually doing a lot better. No, the sky is not falling.

~Edwin

 

[Aaron Cooke]

ticket prices are bad but that's not what keeps me away....it's the other movie goers. i'm not paying $8 to sit in a theater full of rude people talking through the movie.

A run of bad luck with sound and projection problems kind of turned me off a lot too. especially since no one seems to care to fix them.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Has it been two months already?

 

[SteveJKo]

I've owned Ben-Hur in various formats for years, but I'd gladly spend $25 to see it on a big screen in it's original 70mm. But I wouldn't pay a dime to see most of the stuff that's been out so far this year.

If the "powers that be" in Hollywood want to give us something new and fresh, how about a well written story?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Exactly. If not for The Passion, we would have been having this same discussion last year. Also Van Helsing, which opened much better than Kingdom of Heaven despite being a dog of a movie.

All it takes is a couple of films that people can't wait to see (I believe there's one opening this week), and ticket sales will zoom.

I still go to the movies as much as I used to. I'm just not seeing the studio pictures. (And Patrick is right: See Crash, and see it on a big screen.)

M.

 

[Shawn_KE]

Yup, lack of good movies.

And yes, Crash is good. I went into it knowing nothing about it.