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| Zogby Poll: Empty Seats Coming to a Theater Near You? |
| 2007-02-08 |
| Survey shows high ticket prices and poor film selections causing some to think twice about heading out to catch the latest blockbuster There’s nothing quite like watching a film on a giant screen – but as home theaters become more and more common (and affordable), should theater owners be worried? Nearly half (45%) said that, while they still go to the movies, their movie attendance has decreased from five years ago – 27% said it is much less, and 9% said they never go to the movies anymore, a recent Zogby Interactive poll shows. As Hollywood struggles with a years–long box office plunge, Zogby finds that those age 25-34 are most likely to say their attendance has decreased over the past five years – and the oldest respondents (age 70 or older) are most likely to say they no longer go to the movies at all (23%). The survey, which focuses on the ever-changing entertainment habits of Americans, is featured in the February issue of Zogby’s American Consumer newsletter, now available at www.zogby.com. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #16 Too damn dirty, too damn loud, and the popcorn price is just ridiculous. On top of that, I can't pause the thing to take a leak. I've watched more films on NetFlix in the last couple of years than I've seen in my whole life. The selection is great, I'm getting all the old films I missed while I was busting my hump. |
| Posted by: KBK 2007-02-08 23:51 |
| #15 Whatever happened to the Double-bill at the Drive-In? Didn't matter what the movie was, even if the wind-screen wipers worked or not, long as it wasn't yo folks car. The Venue matters. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-02-08 18:54 |
| #14 Good animated movies are often written to appeal to adults and children. Not easy, but when you do it you've got a bigger audience than the teen boys. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-02-08 17:14 |
| #13 Another thing I've noticed. Most of the flicks that appear to make money are almost all animated. Who would you rather give your money to, Shrek or Sean Penn's commie lovin ass? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-02-08 16:40 |
| #12 The bulk of movie tickets in America are bought by teenage boys. They tend to like simple plots, violence and boobies the same as the unwashed masses of the world. If you're gonna risk millions you want to bet on the largest ticket buying demographic as often as possible. Having said that they still make a lot of good movies, and during the golden age a lot of crap was made that has been gladly forgotten over the years giving a shiny glossy image to the past that isn't entirely deserved. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-02-08 15:07 |
| #11 You are probably on to something, Moose. In San Antonio, one of the ginormous multiplexes rents a theater to a local mega-church for services on Sunday morning. It's perfect for them, you know: plenty of parking, easy access, comfortable pews... they even open up the nearest snack concession for coffee and donut service. IIRC, from the newspaper article, the congregation isn't in much of a hurry to build their own facility for Sunday services, since this works out so well. Doesn't stop the movies from sucking, though! |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-02-08 14:06 |
| #10 I wonder if movie quality is only half the problem. Theaters right now are designed like fast food restaurants. Enter, see movie, get out. And while this may work for the few new movie theaters with a good location, in the long run it will kill that kind of theater in a less ideal location. Some theaters are available for rental for meetings, and even have a small stage beneath the screen. However, older theaters were designed to actually be able to host theater performance in addition to movies. In the future, theaters might be redesigned so that they are multi-functional. The emphasis would be on getting use in the mornings and hosting special events, like theater performances. Even if just one theater in a multiplex was designed for this, it could bring in a lot more revenue. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-08 13:46 |
| #9 You went to Bid-ness School didn't ya, DV? /sarc |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-08 13:36 |
| #8 I have an idea, make good movies and lower the cost of the admission. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-08 11:59 |
| #7 They are ideologically driven, Dr. Steve, so their business plan is just like Pinchy Sultzburger, which is to drive their economic machine down the road towards the cliff, or into the swamp. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-02-08 11:07 |
| #6 In the old days, Hollywood made many a film for the US market, then using the same stage and foreign actors, made the foreign version (usually Spanish language). Now films are made with American or English actors with the foreign market foremost in mind. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-02-08 11:04 |
| #5 I don't get it. We're a growing country, 300 million plus. That's double or more from the golden days of film. We're much wealthier and have lots more disposable income to watch movies, DVDs, etc. We have marvelous technology: HD televisions, DVD players, iPods, laptops, all of which allow us to watch movies wherever, whenever we want with wonderous quality. And Hollywood can't make a good movie to save itself. You'd think the demand, the money to be made and the technology would drive Ho'wood to make more films, more diverse films, more entertaining films, but apparently it doesn't. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-02-08 10:49 |
| #4 Part of the structural problem is that Hollyweird no longer cares really about the American market. They dump their trash on the foreign circuit [where dvds and tapes are less prevalent] for their bookkeeping profits. That’s why all the anti-American culture sells and sells well because it feeds ‘dreams’. Think about it, you’re stuck in some stagnated economy with little hope of social mobility and no adjacent border, do you really want to know how Americans really live? Don’t you want reinforcement that as bland and without hope as life seem to you now, that you get to miss all the crap in the evil imperialist uneducated Redlands of America? Hollyweird is to be the next Detroit where once three American auto makers dominated the American market. We’re just waiting for someone else to step up with a better alternative. It seems the male 19-36 age group may have found such an alternative in the form of console and PC based entertainment, as reflected in the desperate attempt to incorporate the technology in movies as a substitute for craft in writing and production, let alone storylines. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-02-08 09:06 |
| #3 Hollyweed Fixed it for you! I would love to see all the Hollywood type out of work and placing their big homes for sale. Can't wait to see them at the mobile home dealer picking out that doublewide! |
| Posted by: Omolurt Elmeaper6990 2007-02-08 08:51 |
| #2 There was a chinese style kung fu movie that was suppose to be great. It was advertised on tv but they only showed it in a gold coast art theater (chi-town). I know all the kids in my burbs wanted to go but didn't want to grab METRA and a cab to see a kung fu movie. I doubt the gold coast folks would have been interested. Hollyweed's distribution networks seem to be on crack. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-02-08 08:16 |
| #1 Eh... to judge by the previews and ads, practically everything but "Bridge to Terebithia" sucks with the force of a factory full of Hoovers. Please, oh please, Hollywood, making something that doesn't feature explosions, car chases, and machine-gun fire in lieu of intelligent conversation and deft plotting should not be that difficult. Until then, there's always Netflix...thank god! |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-02-08 07:22 |