This summer seems to have been one of the best movie seasons in my own memory. So many great films released all vying for a piece of your disposable income. Compare this to the Summer of 3’s (Spiderman3, Shrek3, Pirates3) and we have a major hit on our hands.
Word in says it tipped the FOUR BILLION DOLLAR mark!
Led by the blockbuster Batman sequel “The Dark Knight,” U.S.-Canadian weekend ticket sales since May 2 are running just ahead of last summer, up 1.2 percent, according to box office tracking service Media By Numbers.
But with the number of actual admissions down nearly 3 percent from a year ago, the gain in revenues is fueled mostly by higher ticket prices.
I do find it interesting that when it comes down to it, the actual attendance at the theaters is actually DOWN while higher ticket prices are blowing the budget open.
So this amazing blockbuster summer that will forever be known for its domination of Superhero films didn’t draw more people to the theater, just more of their money.
I would have thought with such an amazing lineup of films that they would be reporting more people being drawn to the cinema than ever before, but it was approximately the same.
Still. Four Billion Dollars is still an amazing achievement, and a large portion of that was due only to The Dark Knight accounting for nearly an eighth of that total. Considering how many movies came out this summer, an eighth is still a pretty dominating slice of the pie.
Without it Hollywood would be reporting a decline for this summer.
Amazing
I’m with Vargas. I think it’s really about the economy as a whole. Higher ticket prices just increase the impact on people already finding ways to stretch a thin dollar after filling up their car for $75+, more expensive grocery costs, and just about everything else. The average person has to think twice before spending $12 on a movie ticket and another $15 or more on concessions per person. It’s impacting every sector of the economy where the expense isn’t “necessary”.
One of the problems these days is that more people have LESS money to spend. A lot of people are losing their homes, losing their jobs, taking paycuts dealing with “downsizing” and watching their jobs go elsewhere. At least people in the US anyway. I can’t speak for anyone else.
So they have less disposable income and I think that’s why ticket sales aren’t increasing. With movies being easily gotten through torrent sites, a lot of folks just download most movies and buy the DVDs later. Also, a lot of people have very large screen TVs, lap top monitors and video monitors that can display beautiful images and graphics. They don’t have to go to the theater because they have their own personal theater at home.
It would be nice if studios made their big tentpole movies available to buy as high quality digital downloads as soon as they are released in theaters. They might see an increase in sales.
Isn’t Downey Jr. doing Cowboys and Aliens or something.. is that a comic derivative?
thats because batman is the best and everything else comes in second. ;)
I’m always curious, though, if prices stayed down, how far up would attendance go. If tickets were still the same price they were when I was a kid, I swear I would’ve seen The Dark Knight 6 or 7 times by now. Instead, I could only afford 3 trips, ha. There would’ve been numerous repeat trips to Wall-E, In Bruges, Iron Man, etc. I’m not a supply and demand expert. I’m sure they feel they’ve found the right prices to maximize profit off of shitty movies, but I feel like they may be losing money on some of the really good movies by prices discouraging repeat viewings.
There is probably super hero or at least comic book movies lined up for the next 4-6 years. Now a great western hasn’t been made in a while. I know that 3:10 Yuma is fairly recent, but it wasn’t great.
Westerns would be awesome. I love me a good wild west story.
But I think we haven’t seen the end of Superheroes just yet. Next summer seems to have just as much if not more Superheros on the big screen.
MovieReign,
Movies change, so whatever brings a good idea, that’s where Hollywood would follow,
we don;t wana watch too much of Transformers or wahtever… now !
Comic is always meant to about human face themself..
I think!
What theme will draw ticket sales next? Now it’s comic book movies… What’s next? Spaghetti Westerns?