Christmas-New Year Weekdays Thread (12/26-28)

[M37]

So to sum up the last couple of pages:

1. Concession prices are too high, should be lowered (or just will not buy)
2. Ads should be reduced and/or eliminated
3. And maybe the number of trailers too
4. Ticket prices should be lowered
5. There needs to be more staff to monitor poor audience behavior like cell phones

So theaters should lower prices, cut advertising, reduce trailers and hire more people.  That will surely make them more profitable and save the industry!

 

I'm being a little facetious here, but also do want to give the view from the other side. The days of high volume admissions, movie-going being a regular activity for a large number of people, are basically gone - that ship has sailed. Prices were always high, but have gotten higher with inflation.  Some of that volume loss was supplemented with advertising, including the deluge into the listed showtime, but those are typically multi-year contracts, so don't hold your breath on change. [At least its not like streaming where you get ads interrupting mid-program]

And previews (for which theaters do get paid by the studio for placement) are especially important in driving repeat business, at a time when its much more difficult for studios to reach people with traditional advertising

 

I get the friction, really do, but also at a time when fewer people are patronizing the business there has to be sufficient revenue to cover the high fixed costs (higher as an operating % than say food service industry)

[MightyDargon]

I see "people hate all musicals" is the NEW new "Avatar had zero cultural impact".

Despite a trial run of "kids don't like Mario" which didn't work for some raisin.

[MightyDargon]

4 minutes ago, M37 said:

So to sum up the last couple of pages:

1. Concession prices are too high, should be lowered (or just will not buy)
2. Ads should be reduced and/or eliminated
3. And maybe the number of trailers too
4. Ticket prices should be lowered
5. There needs to be more staff to monitor poor audience behavior like cell phones

So theaters should lower prices, cut advertising, reduce trailers and hire more people.  That will surely make them more profitable and save the industry!

 

I'm being a little facetious here, but also do want to give the view from the other side. The days of high volume admissions, movie-going being a regular activity for a large number of people, are basically gone - that ship has sailed. Prices were always high, but have gotten higher with inflation.  Some of that volume loss was supplemented with advertising, including the deluge into the listed showtime, but those are typically multi-year contracts, so don't hold your breath on change. [At least its not like streaming where you get ads interrupting mid-program]

And previews (for which theaters do get paid by the studio for placement) are especially important in driving repeat business, at a time when its much more difficult for studios to reach people with traditional advertising

 

I get the friction, really do, but also at a time when fewer people are patronizing the business there has to be sufficient revenue to cover the high fixed costs (higher as an operating % than say food service industry)

Theatres absolutely SHOULD cut ads but the idea that food prices would fall is beyond ridiculous.

Food has skyrocked up EVERYWHERE since the pandemic. Since theatre operators mainly make money from concessions they won't lower it.

[Kon]

20 minutes ago, JonathanMB said:

Not sure y'all are familiar with Mark, but he's a German box office tracker and a pretty reliable source for early numbers (if he wants to share):

 

 

As you can probably guess #2 is Migration and #4 is Color Purple...#5 is Anyone But You, which somehow enjoyed a fourth daily increase.

 

If these numbers are correct, Anyone But You seems to have good holds.

 

The Color Purple... we can just hope the weekend is better.

[Agafin]

16 minutes ago, JonathanMB said:

Not sure y'all are familiar with Mark, but he's a German box office tracker and a pretty reliable source for early numbers (if he wants to share):

 

 

As you can probably guess #2 is Migration and #4 is Color Purple...#5 is Anyone But You, which somehow enjoyed a fourth daily increase.

 

If those numbers end up being right then Migration is actually currently having better legs than Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It's probably not gonna hold as well in January and February but since it's gonna be the main animation movie during those months, it won't fall off either. A $120m+ total seems at least 90% likely now.

[Krissykins]

4 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

Theatres absolutely SHOULD cut ads but the idea that food prices would fall is beyond ridiculous.

Food has skyrocked up EVERYWHERE since the pandemic. Since theatre operators mainly make money from concessions they won't lower it.

It’s not ridiculous when a watered down syrupy fizzy drink costs £5 when a few litres would cost you £2. 
 

Popcorn and hot dogs (floor meat) aren’t expensive to make. 

[MightyDargon]

1 minute ago, Krissykins said:

It’s not ridiculous when a watered down syrupy fizzy drink costs £5 when a few litres would cost you £2. 
 

Popcorn and hot dogs (floor meat) aren’t expensive to make. 

Again, they make their money off concessions, not the movies themselves. Concessions have always had an inflated price vs. what food should cost.

[BadOlCatSylvester]

5 hours ago, Zak said:

The thing is The Color Purple crawling to 100M still isn't going to make it a hit because the overseas numbers will be bad. That 100M budget is insane for a film the had poor international prospects. 

They gambled on a mini Black Panther breakout not too dissimilar to what Disney were hoping to see for their Little Mermaid remake. And it just didn't end up happening despite the early presales. At least Mermaid did decent enough domestically that merchandise revenue will likely be enough to make that profitable in the end. This one has been falling off a cliff after Christmas Day and probably won't even reach $100M domestically.

 

Also, what happened to your old account? I recognize you, but I don't think you got banned or anything as far as I'm aware.

[Torontofan]

Why did the colour purple have legs like flash lol

[M37]

41 minutes ago, JonathanMB said:

Not sure y'all are familiar with Mark, but he's a German box office tracker and a pretty reliable source for early numbers (if he wants to share):

 

 

As you can probably guess #2 is Migration and #4 is Color Purple...#5 is Anyone But You, which somehow enjoyed a fourth daily increase.

Just out of sheer curiosity, I wanted to know the literal translation of Migration there, which was … Get Out of the Pond?

[M37]

26 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

Theatres absolutely SHOULD cut ads but the idea that food prices would fall is beyond ridiculous.

Food has skyrocked up EVERYWHERE since the pandemic. Since theatre operators mainly make money from concessions they won't lower it.

For the ads, think of this way: that revenue is helping to facilitate upgrades like recliner seating, expanded food offerings and (eventually) more PLF-type experiences, and maybe something else no one has even started yet.  

 

Once that conversion to a more upscale experience is mostly on its way, they won’t be as necessary (but ticket prices will rise accordingly)

[MightyDargon]

3 minutes ago, Torontofan said:

Why did the colour purple have legs like flash lol

Because the book is in the weird category of "things most people know exist and can name but haven't actually read". This is not a quality judgment on the book, it's just that "literary award winner The Color Purple" is a book many people can cite as acclaimed but didn't actually read at some point in their lives. In contrast Roald Dahl is still pretty widely read among kids.

[interiorgatordecorator]

53 minutes ago, JonathanMB said:

Not sure y'all are familiar with Mark, but he's a German box office tracker and a pretty reliable source for early numbers (if he wants to share):

 

 

As you can probably guess #2 is Migration and #4 is Color Purple...#5 is Anyone But You, which somehow enjoyed a fourth daily increase.

 

 

 

[Torontofan]

As much as aquamarine flopped

 

X mas is helping it from totally crashing

[baumer]

41 minutes ago, MightyDargon said:

I see "people hate all musicals" is the NEW new "Avatar had zero cultural impact".

Despite a trial run of "kids don't like Mario" which didn't work for some raisin.

 

I don't think people are saying that people hate musicals. I think people are saying that if you're going to make a musical then market it as a musical. Don't leave it as a surprise for people.

[abracadabra1998]

11 minutes ago, M37 said:

Just out of sheer curiosity, I wanted to know the literal translation of Migration there, which was … Get Out of the Pond?

In Portugal, the translation is Patos!, which literally means Ducks!

 

illumination going wild with these foreign names

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

1 hour ago, Scubasteve716 said:

I’m not sure we should be taking Oprah’s word as law. Do we know if she was talking total budget or production budget? Was she rounding? Was she taking into account tax credits? I haven’t seen anyone confirm that number only going off what Oprah said. 

Oprah's a producer producer on the movie (she'll get nominated if it makes Best Picture), why wouldn't she know a ballpark budget amount? Musicals on that scale have a lot of moving parts and take time to film, especially with at least some Covid protocols to follow in 2022. She discussed the pressure to cast a Rihanna or Beyonce with the budget being where it is. Supposing the studio had got their way, it seems like the budget either would have been even higher, or they'd have cut other corners somewhere else. Looking at these numbers maybe they should have...

 

Dreamgirls' budget adjusts to about $115-120 million though it had more star power and wasn't such a downer story. It was still weaker internationally; while the Civil Rights era is a backdrop it's hardly the main focus of the story vs universal personal drama.

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[ChipDerby]

3 hours ago, baumer said:

 I would tell people not to go see the movie no matter how good it was.

 

 

This is insane lmao. You'd be so bitter you'd actively sabotage the word of mouth even though you loved the film. My god dude.

[wildphantom]

I’ve spoken to two separate friends who went to see Wonka and said they didn’t realise it was a musical. Both said they probably wouldn’t have gone if they knew, but really enjoyed the movie. So I guess hiding it has worked to a degree, at least with some. 

[Scubasteve716]

16 minutes ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

Oprah's a producer producer on the movie (she'll get nominated if it makes Best Picture), why wouldn't she know a ballpark budget amount? Musicals on that scale have a lot of moving parts and take time to film, especially with at least some Covid protocols to follow in 2022. She discussed the pressure to cast a Rihanna or Beyonce with the budget being where it is. Supposing the studio had got their way, it seems like the budget either would have been even higher, or they'd have cut other corners somewhere else. Looking at these numbers maybe they should have...

 

Dreamgirls' budget adjusts to about $115-120 million though it had more star power and wasn't such a downer story. It was still weaker internationally; while the Civil Rights era is a backdrop it's hardly the main focus of the story vs universal personal drama.

 

I literally said why in my post…. Nolan said Oppenheimer budget was $180. Gerwig said Barbies budget was $145. Reported budget is $100 and $128. Because who knows if they are including tax breaks or not, including marketing costs or not, including above the line costs or not. Etc etc