Last weekend, US box office hit a 3-year low in terms of revenues despite the release of star-studded movies that seemed very promising. This begs the question, is the cinema industry as recession-proof as it is believed to be? "The poor weekend leaves total box office revenues for 2011 about four percent down compared to last year," said BBC on Monday. While the effect on revenues did mark 2011, Hollywood, in general, does show strong signs that it is, indeed, not spared from the wrath of recessions. A quite stark sign, often unnoticed by the unobservant eye, is the kind of movies being produced. During dubious economic times, for the sake of minimising risks of failure, a lot of sequels and part 3s and part 4s of movies are brought to the box office. 2011 has to its credit a rather interesting record: 27 movie sequels in a single year as well as the most part 4s. And lets not forget the part 5s weve been inundated with, including some well-received ones such as Fast Five and X-Men: First Class. Also notice, how many of the movies are based on comic books, and best-selling novels, including Harry Potter, Twilight and also X-Men. Turns out that recession does affect the cinema industry in ways more than one. While it is often argued that because movie-going is a cheaper experience than frequenting concerts and sports events, or even dining out, it usually survives a recession particularly. However, with the advent of the 3-D cinema, the high ticket costs are a complain from many movie buffs. In fact, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners, - a US based trade organization of theatre owners - total theatre admissions in the US and Canada was at a 14-year low in 2010 at 1.34 billion, while they are expected to decrease by about 3 percent year-on-year in 2011. The Huffington Post quotes Edward Jay Epstein, author of the book, The Hollywood Economist, "Even a slight rise in ticket prices can slow sales." Besides this, with technology moving faster than the pace of life itself, cheap home video options and the relatively quicker release of box-office hits on DVDs compared to that in the past, mean that cinema is facing tough competition from its close cousin - the television. The easily beguiled may be surprised to know that concessions are also a major source of revenue for theatre owners, with Epstein saying as much as, "If they (theatres) were allowed to let people in free, they would do better. But the studios won let them." Yet, given the economic slump that the globe is experiencing in general, high concession prices may not be a saving grace for long for a creativity-started Hollywood, when moviegoers will be dissuaded to watch the umpteenth sequel of a supernatural-themed movie. But then, at least the American movie industry is not mired by competition from pirated movies as cinema at home is. But lets leave this scrutiny for another time.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.