The Great Box Office Recession? -- Discussing the Up & Down Trends of the Box Office Market

[kayumanggi]

Please continue watching movies guys.

[Shawn Robbins]

Unfortunately, a lot of people are limited by little expendable income. I myself am slowly but surely gravitating toward only paying for movies that I'm looking forward to and/or have strong reviews/word of mouth. I'd rather spend the money elsewhere at this point, not on junk films like Alvin 3 or Ghost Rider 2.

Edited December 26, 2011 by ShawnMR

[BK007]

Unfortunately, a lot of people are limited by little expendable income. I myself am slowly but surely gravitating toward only paying for movies that I'm looking forward to and/or have strong reviews/word of mouth. I'd rather spend the money elsewhere at this point, not on junk films like Alvin 3 or Ghost Rider 2.

I really only started watching movies when I started following box office, so around 2005. I watched few movies in theatres at first but the number has risen and risen as the years go by because of myself being aware of movies that are out and taking a chance on many.I do realize however even in the relatively short period of time, I've hit a stage where I've decided I watch too much that ultimately disappoints. It's a "Do I really need to see this?" that pops up. Whilst the number of theatrical visits has increased the total watched fallen due to this and will probably fall next year as well. Movies I might have seen in the past ie Contraband, Wrath of the Titans, Underworld etc. I dissect their trailers and what the are trying to hide. Reviews also play an important role. Sure critics don't get it right all the time, and for some movies I know I like that they trash I'll ignore them or if I hear splendid WOM and a great divide but movies I feel get mired in genericalness like the three I mentioned I'll avoid.I guess it's also because having watched about an average of 80 releases each year since 2005, it's probably already a lot more than most people normally watch in decades, so it starts to make you more discerning and more attentive or comparative and therefore critical.This summer was probably the final straw for the checking out movies that haven't convinced me because honestly crap like Cowboys & Aliens didn't deserve my time. Also I should watch full trailers for movies that haven't convinced me because Bad Teacher and Change Up were beyond awful.

[AniNate]

I suspect the only movies I'll be seeing in January are the Beauty and the Beast rerelease and The Descendants if my theater gets it. I may also skip February entirely unless my theater somehow gets Arrietty.

[fishstick]

I was on EI for 6 months and movies were same old same old. Seriously there are,like, 3 movies told in 500 movies! Why would I spend any savings on that or % of my current pay? It`s acomplete waste. They should make good movies. Hopefully, 2012 looks great so movies better deliver.

[rockNrollaDIM]

BK- I'm the same way. I've seen 32 films this year, 30 in theaters, but they're all films that I genuinely wanted to see and I think I will enjoy and because I set my criteria like that, most of them end up having a pretty decent rating from me once I see them. Alot of movie fans will watch every single release but like you said I'll skip the crap that I think looks terrible like Drive Angry, Green Lantern etc etc etc. That's why in my "Favorite Movies" list I have very few films that end up in the D/F or even C range simply because the films that I know I won't like, I won't bother seeing in the first place.

[BK007]

I suspect the only movies I'll be seeing in January are the Beauty and the Beast rerelease and The Descendants if my theater gets it. I may also skip February entirely unless my theater somehow gets Arrietty.

People have different tastes but either the movies are really crap or I'm getting as I said more discerning, here's my takes:The Devil Inside- Don't watch horror films. Why watch a movie whose purpose is to scare you? Not fun for me. Plus, story is mostly crap and in general they are IMO a mostly creatively bankrupt genre with no replay value. You don't go on a rainy day "Let's pop in a nice slasher/gory/killing flick with guaranteed sub-standard acting, and completely irrelevant to real life in any good or enjoyable way" because yes, it's nice to imagine you're a pirate, in a world with space robots or superheroes not being the victim of or more creepily the killer. /endrantonhorrorgenreBeauty and the Beast- May see it only because I remember it being good and never seen it on the big screen, plus many Disney fans as friends.Contraband- Generic Wahlberg cop drama movie that may hit certain notes but you've seen one you've seen them all.Joyful Noise- Not to be racist but urban movies always seem awful to me. Humourless every single time.Haywire- The cast is good enough to rent and Soderbergh presents some sort of integrity to what otherwise looks like a B-grade production.Red Tails- Better and more interesting war movies already made that don't focus on minorities to pretend it's a significant event a la sports movies.Underworld 4- Rewatch all their trailers. The images get sleeker but it sounds like the same damn thing. Production value is terrible too.Grey- Do I really care about Liam Neeson fighting wolves? Why even make this movie?Man on Ledge- Worthington cannot act. The twist is in the trailer. But mostly the former kills it.One for the Money- I love a good rom-com but they keep producing shit like this. Who the hell finds these entertaining or even interesting? They are always so detached from reality.Big Miracle- Inspirational, probably. Interesting, not really.Chronicle- First flick I actually want to watch. Could reek of Percy Jackson/I Am Number Four being a teenage fantasy but if it goes darker instead of teen it could be good.Woman in Black- See Devil Inside, but also, as a thriller, not interesting.Journey 2- First was a guilty pleasure but the effects look so bad, I've never read the book and a lot of the humour missed plus chemistry seems non-existent.Safe House- Could be generic but Denzel guarantees a little class to proceedings still.Star Wars- No.Vow- Channing Tatum has proven he cannot act well enough to make me invested in any dramatic storyline.Act of Valor- Could be good as a TV special.Ghost Rider 2- No one asked for this. It looks ridiculous. Story is a joke.Arietty- Already out on home video.This Means War- Like both Pine and Hardy and even Witherspoon but really? Spies fighting for a girl? Why would anyone watch this?Gone- Seyfried seems to be more and more of a go-to cheesy role actress. Idiotic sounding plot.Tyler Perry- Tyler Perry. No.Wanderlust- Extremely unfunny.

[tonytr87]

Unfortunately, a lot of people are limited by little expendable income. I myself am slowly but surely gravitating toward only paying for movies that I'm looking forward to and/or have strong reviews/word of mouth. I'd rather spend the money elsewhere at this point, not on junk films like Alvin 3 or Ghost Rider 2.

You can still go to the movies quite often without watching stuff like that. Case in point: myself.

[tonytr87]

People have different tastes but either the movies are really crap or I'm getting as I said more discerning, here's my takes:The Devil Inside- Don't watch horror films. Why watch a movie whose purpose is to scare you? Not fun for me. Plus, story is mostly crap and in general they are IMO a mostly creatively bankrupt genre with no replay value. You don't go on a rainy day "Let's pop in a nice slasher/gory/killing flick with guaranteed sub-standard acting, and completely irrelevant to real life in any good or enjoyable way" because yes, it's nice to imagine you're a pirate, in a world with space robots or superheroes not being the victim of or more creepily the killer. /endrantonhorrorgenreBeauty and the Beast- May see it only because I remember it being good and never seen it on the big screen, plus many Disney fans as friends.Contraband- Generic Wahlberg cop drama movie that may hit certain notes but you've seen one you've seen them all.Joyful Noise- Not to be racist but urban movies always seem awful to me. Humourless every single time.Haywire- The cast is good enough to rent and Soderbergh presents some sort of integrity to what otherwise looks like a B-grade production.Red Tails- Better and more interesting war movies already made that don't focus on minorities to pretend it's a significant event a la sports movies.Underworld 4- Rewatch all their trailers. The images get sleeker but it sounds like the same damn thing. Production value is terrible too.Grey- Do I really care about Liam Neeson fighting wolves? Why even make this movie?Man on Ledge- Worthington cannot act. The twist is in the trailer. But mostly the former kills it.One for the Money- I love a good rom-com but they keep producing shit like this. Who the hell finds these entertaining or even interesting? They are always so detached from reality.Big Miracle- Inspirational, probably. Interesting, not really.Chronicle- First flick I actually want to watch. Could reek of Percy Jackson/I Am Number Four being a teenage fantasy but if it goes darker instead of teen it could be good.Woman in Black- See Devil Inside, but also, as a thriller, not interesting.Journey 2- First was a guilty pleasure but the effects look so bad, I've never read the book and a lot of the humour missed plus chemistry seems non-existent.Safe House- Could be generic but Denzel guarantees a little class to proceedings still.Star Wars- No.Vow- Channing Tatum has proven he cannot act well enough to make me invested in any dramatic storyline.Act of Valor- Could be good as a TV special.Ghost Rider 2- No one asked for this. It looks ridiculous. Story is a joke.Arietty- Already out on home video.This Means War- Like both Pine and Hardy and even Witherspoon but really? Spies fighting for a girl? Why would anyone watch this?Gone- Seyfried seems to be more and more of a go-to cheesy role actress. Idiotic sounding plot.Tyler Perry- Tyler Perry. No.Wanderlust- Extremely unfunny.

Well said. This is Jan/Feb almost every year. Only Chronicle and This Means War (dig the cast) look appealing to me. Maybe Haywire if reviews are good enough.

[CJohn]

I have a diferent January.Sherlock Holmes 2, Moneyball, The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo and J. Edgar. Big month for me :lol:And February is looking good, too, with The Muppets, Safe House (I think it looks cool, and Denzel is awesome), Hugo, This Means War (looks to be a lot of fun and I love the cast) and War Horse.

[Shawn Robbins]

You can still go to the movies quite often without watching stuff like that. Case in point: myself.

Of course. Those were extreme examples that mainly applied to a more general movie-goer, not myself (though I do have to suck it up and watch a horrible one from time-to-time as part of my field of interests/hobbies/work). But, whereas I was willing to pay $10 to see J. Edgar this year despite the poor reviews and my general lack of interest in Mr. Eastwood's directorial style, I might forgo that desire more often starting in the new year -- even despite the fact Leo is one of my favorite actors currently working.I like to support good movies and theaters that know how to treat their customers right by forking over that money to them. But I have no qualms with not paying full price on an inferior product that is a driving part of the modern day collapse of Hollywood originality. Edited December 27, 2011 by ShawnMR

[rockNrollaDIM]

Shawn, off topic, but you thought Cowboys & Aliens was crap? I remember you being a big supporter around this time last year.. or was that someone else?

Edited December 27, 2011 by rockNrollaDIM

[CJohn]

He was a big supporter of C&A and Super 8.

[rockNrollaDIM]

Shawn, off topic, but you thought Cowboys & Aliens was crap? I remember you being a big supporter around this time last year.. or was that someone else?

He was a big supporter of C&A and Super 8.

Nevermind- I see now it was BK who called it crap and not Shawn.

[Shawn Robbins]

Shawn, off topic, but you thought Cowboys & Aliens was crap? I remember you being a big supporter around this time last year.. or was that someone else?

One of the worst movies I've seen this year. And yep, I had faith the talent involved would turn it into something pretty cool. Predicted at the time it would do at least twice as much as it ended up doing. My expectations didn't start to decline until early summer; I had $188m for it at the start of Baumer's Summer Game.

[CJohn]

It was very crappy, definitly. I was expecting much better from those guys.

[wboxoffice]

Here are the 2011 movies I've seen so far in theaters, in order of release (not necessarly in the order that I've seen them).

Movie Title (click to view) Studio

Total Gross / Theaters Opening / Theaters Open

The Green Hornet Sony $98,780,042 3,584 $33,526,876 3,584 1/14

Hall Pass WB (NL) $45,060,734 2,950 $13,535,374 2,950 2/25

Beastly CBS $27,865,571 1,959 $9,851,102 1,952 3/4

Limitless Rela. $79,249,455 2,838 $18,907,302 2,756 3/18

Source Code Sum. $54,712,227 2,971 $14,812,094 2,961 4/1

Hanna Focus $40,259,119 2,545 $12,370,549 2,535 4/8

Thor Par. $181,030,624 3,963 $65,723,338 3,955 5/6

Bridesmaids Uni. $169,106,725 2,958 $26,247,410 2,918 5/13

The Hangover Part II WB $254,464,305 3,675 $85,946,294 3,615 5/26

X-Men: First Class Fox $146,408,305 3,692 $55,101,604 3,641 6/3

Transformers: Dark of the Moon P/DW $352,390,543 4,088 $97,852,865 4,088 6/29

Horrible Bosses WB (NL) $117,538,559 3,134 $28,302,165 3,040 7/8

Captain America: The First Avenger Par. $176,654,505 3,715 $65,058,524 3,715 7/22

Crazy, Stupid, Love. WB $84,351,197 3,020 $19,104,303 3,020 7/29

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Fox $176,711,822 3,691 $54,806,191 3,648 8/5 (TWICE)

Conan the Barbarian (2011) LGF $21,295,021 3,015 $10,021,215 3,015 8/19

Colombiana TriS $36,665,854 2,614 $10,408,176 2,614 8/26

Warrior LGF $13,657,115 1,883 $5,242,107 1,869 9/9

Drive (2011) FD $34,775,325 2,904 $11,340,461 2,886 9/16

Real Steel BV $84,026,000 3,440 $27,319,677 3,440 10/7

In Time Fox $36,823,008 3,127 $12,050,368 3,122 10/28

Tower Heist Uni. $76,279,000 3,870 $24,025,190 3,367

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas WB (NL) $34,534,186 2,875 $12,954,142 2,875

Immortals Rela. $82,196,342 3,120 $32,206,425 3,112 11/11

Jack and Jill Sony $71,059,708 3,438 $25,003,575 3,438 11/11

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Sum. $271,252,000 4,066 $138,122,261 4,061 11/18

Even though a movie like Twilight was released in mid-november, I saw it a week ago in the mid of december. I'm pretty sure I also saw Jack and Jill sometime at the beginning of december. All these movies are not necessarly movies that I was looking forward to seeing, but rather deciding to go out with a friend(s) and picking what current movie could be interesting.

As you can see, I won't be stopping watching movies in theaters any time soon. To me it will always be different from watching a movie at home, it's basically a night out, a reason to GET OUT OF HOME. lol

My favorite movie for the year is by far Rise of the Planet of the Apes which I saw twice in theaters. Definitely the movie of the year in my eyes. My least favorite was Drive, it was too slow/boring and also more violent/graphic than the trailer suggested.

Anyways all this to say that I won't be stopping going to theaters anytime soon!

Edited December 27, 2011 by wboxoffice

[Shawn Robbins]

I still can't believe how boring it turned out.

[Hiccup]

In January and February the only films that I am seeing are Underworld 4, Chronicle, and Woman in Black.

[AniNate]

Haywire and The Grey do look decent, but I don't think I'll be able to spare money for "decent" anymore.