Some Interesting Movie Factoids

Happy New Year! My personal outlook for 2010 is very bright and I truly hope that we all make this a very good year.

I really enjoy good (and sometimes even not so good) movies. As a somewhat recession proof industry, the movie industry just had a record breaking year. Even at current box office rates, research firm OTX discovered in a survey that consumers ranked moviegoing as the best value for their entertainment dollar and this has apparently been reflected in the marketplace. According to a Los Angeles Times story box-office revenue was up 8.6% for 2009 in the U.S. and Canada and was projected to ultimately top $10 billion, an all-time record. This article also points out that moviegoers in 2009 viewed a broader variety of offerings. Whereas in the past, a few "mega-hits" accounted for most of the ticket sales, in 2009, an unusually large number of pictures, including "The Hangover," "The Proposal," "The Blind Side" and "Paranormal Activity," played for weeks and netted more than $100 million, based more on buzz via via texting, Twitter and Facebook than traditional movie industry marketing.

Today, I came across an article (10 Things Movie Theaters Won't Tell You) on SmartMoney.com that I found very insightful. If you are interested, I would encourage you to read it. I will, however, attempt to highlight some of the facts provided in this story:

• Revenue from the on-screen advertising shown before the previews start has been increasing by roughly 10 to 15 percent a year for the past several years. In 2003, marketing firm Arbitron peformed a survey that found two-thirds of audience members didn't mind them. Recently, however, more than 3,400 moviegoers cared enough to sign an online petition demanding Regal Cinemas stop showing ads before movies.
  
• Coming digital projection technology may result in major change to the cinema industry. For instance, they may be able to broadcast live events on slow days, when theaters are usually "lucky to fill 10 percent of their seats." If theaters move to an iPod-like movie distribution and projection capability, more opportunities for independent filmmakers to get their work screened could open up.
  
• Theaters pay somewhere between 35 and 70 percent of box office receipts to the studio as a film-rental fee. In most cases, the studio takes the biggest cut in the first week, and the percentage drops from there. Therefore, from the standpoint of the local theater, they make more money if you don't come on opening night.
  
• "Premium experience" amenities (e.g., 3-D, IMAX, etc.) are in demand. Regal Cinemas, for example, had 168 digital 3-D screens out of a total 6,782 screens nationwide by the end of 2008, but plans to up that number to 1,500 in the next few years.
  
• Concessions typically account for about a quarter of total revenue. The amount each customer spends keeps heading steadily upward, from $2.51 in 2004 to $3.09 in 2008.
  
• Despite all indications to the contrary, theaters are reluctant to crack down too hard on the ringing cell phone or the distracting glow of a text message during a movie. They are afraid of customer backlash from the younger audiences who are primarily responsible for these disruptions. Kerasotes Theatres, a Midwest chain with 94 theaters, has tried to balance this somewhat, however, offering an escape from rowdy crowds with its "enchanted evening" policy. At select locations on Friday and Saturday nights, no one under the age of 17 is permitted without an adult into movies that start after 9 p.m.
  
• Protect your hearing. Individual theaters' decibel levels vary, but special effects-laden action flicks, for example, can hit the same dangerous territory as a loud rock concert, thus potentially contributing to hearing loss, according to the Center for Hearing and Communication.
  
• Theaters traditionally bring in 40 percent of their yearly revenue in just three months: May, June and July. The winter holidays are another big period for box office revenue. Things are slowly changing, however, as studios seek to spread their quality releases more evenly throughout the year.
  

I'm not sure that there is anything shocking or surprising here, but this Blind Bambi found it interesting and wanted to share.