2011 Movie Attendance the Lowest in 16 Years

[postmortemIA]

You guys need to go to better theaters. A home theater is nice but it's a COMPLETELY different experience. I generally go to dinner theaters if I'm bringing kids or if it's a date I spend the extra $2 to $3 to go to one of the VIP theaters where there are maybe 20 spots, it's 21 and up, there is an usher who brings you drinks, and the seats are love seats. It's plush and a great experience.

Yep, perhaps we should drive 1,000 miles to closest one.

There was not a single movie in whole year worth going to theater for me. I bet many feel the same.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

For me personally I just don't like being around people. Same reason I don't go out to eat.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

You guys need to go to better theaters. A home theater is nice but it's a COMPLETELY different experience. I generally go to dinner theaters if I'm bringing kids or if it's a date I spend the extra $2 to $3 to go to one of the VIP theaters where there are maybe 20 spots, it's 21 and up, there is an usher who brings you drinks, and the seats are love seats. It's plush and a great experience.

Nope. Leather recliner, dog in my lap, Panasonic plasma, and nobody saying dawg with their pants around their knees.

 

[velillen]

You guys need to go to better theaters. A home theater is nice but it's a COMPLETELY different experience. I generally go to dinner theaters if I'm bringing kids or if it's a date I spend the extra $2 to $3 to go to one of the VIP theaters where there are maybe 20 spots, it's 21 and up, there is an usher who brings you drinks, and the seats are love seats. It's plush and a great experience.

Theres a nice theater by me (well 20 minutes away) that has the 21+ area. but still you pay normal price for the tickets. I just cant justify paying 10 bucks a ticket to go see a movie that i can wait a few months and see for "free" (via netflix) or just buy outright. Let alone the drink prices are jacked up so I'd only get one or two if any. Its just to expensive for me to want to go more than once every couple months. That and im not one who has to rush to see the latest movie...i can wait.

 

[tboo]

Going to the theaters is too expensive for me. Id just sooner wait for the releases to come out on bluray & Ill watch them at home.

 

[K1052]

A LOT of films underperformed, even a number of good ones (mainly due to marketing fail). A few circuits, AMC mostly, were aggressively raising prices in mid and lower tier markets over the past couple years which was a poor decision. It only served to drive attendance down.

Nothing revolutionary has happened over the past year to indicate the collapse of the movie industry. Bad years of film happen and will happen again.

 

[SunnyD]

The biggest problems imho with movies are:

#1 - Price. Seriously, $15-20 for a debut week ticket for today's crappy movies these days is a bit ridiculous.
#2 - Quality. Seriously, $15-20 for a debut week ticket for today's crappy movies these days is a bit ridiculous.
#3 - 45 day home release window. Why pay $15-20 for a debut week ticket for today's crappy movies these days when you can wait a month and watch it in the comfort of your own home.
#4 - Movie theaters suck, are disgusting, and overpriced.
#5 - Dealing with asshats in theaters suck.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

My opinion is that movie attendance is falling because:

1) Movie tickets are too expensive.

Agree. Take Inception, for example. It would've cost me $20 in tickets and probably another $7 or $8 in concessions to see it. The Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack was $17 at Target, so I bought it and can now watch it any time.

2) The vast majority of movies are of such low quality that they insult your intelligence.

Agree. Most movies today seem to think that the more explosions and car chases, the better.

3) The economy continues to drag along ... and ...
4) There may be some resentment against "Hollywood" as many over-paid actors' paydays continue to get bigger while the common-person sinks into a lower income bracket.

Agree with both of these as well, though I am not sure #4 is really a major factor. I think people are getting tired of Hollywood "stars" and their out-of-touch antics.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Nope. Leather recliner, dog in my lap, Panasonic plasma, and nobody saying dawg with their pants around their knees.

No to mention, no rude assholes texting or talking on their cell phones during the movie. A couple of years ago, the wife and I were at a movie and some stupid teenage girl actually answered the phone and was talking on it DURING the movie. Another person sitting closer to her asked her to end the call and it erupted into a shouting match with the girl screaming "You bitch, you bein' rude to me! Fuck you!" I can't even begin to contemplate the utter stupidity of that thought process where she thought OTHER people were rude for asking her to shut up; fortunately, the theater manager showed her the door with her screaming the entire way out of the theater.

 

[alent1234]

easier to just wait for these crappy movies to come out on bluray and watch it then.

+1

it's like $40 for two people to see a movie. and if you see right after opening it's like a 2 hour wait standing in line or sitting in your chair waiting for the previews to start

$30 max for blu ray and i can skip the previews if i want

 

[randomrogue]

Yep, perhaps we should drive 1,000 miles to closest one.

There was not a single movie in whole year worth going to theater for me. I bet many feel the same.

Not sure where you live but there seemed to be a lot of them in the midwest when I was there.

I agree though that most movies this past year were terrible and not worth going to the movies for though. I'd take it a step further though and say there weren't many movies even worth watching at home though. There was better television in 2011 than films.

 

[Anubis]

You guys need to go to better theaters. A home theater is nice but it's a COMPLETELY different experience. I generally go to dinner theaters if I'm bringing kids or if it's a date I spend the extra $2 to $3 to go to one of the VIP theaters where there are maybe 20 spots, it's 21 and up, there is an usher who brings you drinks, and the seats are love seats. It's plush and a great experience.

TBH im not sure there is a dinner theater in this state, actually there prob is closer to NYC but thats 6 hours away. no idea about the VIP ones


the normal theater near me is cheap, like 7$ a ticket, i still don't go for many of the other reasons already posted. mostly stupid people and shit movies

 

[dmcowen674]

2011 Movie Attendance the Lowest in 16 Years

What do you think? Will 2012 find big crowds returning to the local multiplex?"

My opinion is that movie attendance is falling because:

1) Movie tickets are too expensive.
2) The vast majority of movies are of such low quality that they insult your intelligence.
3) The economy continues to drag along ... and ...
4) There may be some resentment against "Hollywood" as many over-paid actors' paydays continue to get bigger while the common-person sinks into a lower income bracket.

It's mainly the economy and the ticket prices too high.

How can you expect people that still have jobs but their wages not keeping up with prices going up to spend money for movies?

 

[Zedtom]

The worst promotion is coupons that admit users to a movie theater for free. Not $2 off or reduced rates, but free admission. The theaters only allow them to be used on shows that have been out for several weeks and in their smallest or crummiest auditoriums. Theses coupons are usually distributed through local hotels or visitor's agencies and are a total ripoff.

 

[randomrogue]

I'm trying to think but Minneapolis has a really good VIP one in the mall of america, Milwaukee had a bunch, I think I went to one near Chicago too.

Some theaters only have VIP arrangements at set times and not on all their screens. So you might have to go on a Saturday night after 9pm.

This theater comes to mind for adults: http://www.ipictheaters.com/ipic-locations.aspx

Then there's more lowkey dinner theaters where you sit at tables and can watch the latest disney movie with kids. Nothing fancy, food isn't fantastic, but it's different and fun for them.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Not enough "deals" if you ask me. Occasionally one of the bigger chains will put out a coupon for a free large soda or small popcorn, but if I wasn't a Slickdeals junkie I never would have known about them. Ticket deals are non-existent, gotta hit a matinee if you want any kind of discount there.

 

[Arkaign]

I'm lucky, there's a Cinemark 14 not too far away that has regular matinees for $3.25, evening adult prices are $5. It's not the newest ZOMG ultra theatre, but it's fine.

I do think that most films are just worth waiting for redbox/netflix though, and agree about the home experience getting much better for the average person lately with cheap bigscreens, sub-$100 bluray players, etc. And the regular theatre prices are crazy. Went to imax digital MI4, and it was cool but not worth the insane pricing.

The films go so quickly to home release that waiting really isn't a big deal. Perhaps if it were more like the old days when a film would be in a theatre for like 4 months, then dollar theatre for a while, then nowhere or perhaps on hotel payperview only for a while, and then like a year later on home video, it would get me to go see more movies. But waiting is easy, and probably 90% of movies are from first release to dvd/bd in what, 6 months or less?

 

[MrPickins]

One thing that I would like to see more of are the dinner theaters. You go 30 minutes before the film starts, get a large, comfy chair, and order off a menu. Eat dinner, have a drink or two, relax, and watch the movie.

All that is generally only a couple of dollars over standard ticket prices (plus meal).

I won't go to any theater other than Alamo Drafthouse.

Food, beer, no kids and no cell phones.

 

[MrPickins]

Also, I'd be more inclined to go to the theater if most of the recent movies weren't recycled 80's franchises or more comic book movies. :thumbsdown:

 

[Craig234]

I don't think movies are a 'ripoff', it's just that the alternatives like home theatre are tempting; movie theatres cost money. They're retail space selling no retail products but snacks, where reportedly they pay so much for the movies they don't make any money on the tickets (like a lot of car dealers who reportedly make nothing on new care sales, only on the service). So if the only money they make is the snacks, that's a lot of retail space to just make a few bucks on popcorn and soda, no wonder it's expensive.

You don't go to the mall and see stores making nothing on most space and just selling some snacks in the corner.

And movie prices go up, with inflation and technology.

No wonder they put the ads in to make a little extra money.

When movies were 'a night of entertainment' in contrast to going out to live entertainment, paying a good amount might have made more sense.

When the only thing on tv was live broadcast, not even recordings...

 

[Imp]

Two things led to the change in our lifestyle for movie-watching:

1.) The audience just was too inconsiderate of his/her fellow viewers.
2.) The presentation was severely lacking.

Ya, this - seriously. I'm not just talking cellphoners and talkers. When I went to see Avatar opening weekend (ya, dumb), I essentially got "asked" by some jackass and his family of 4 to move because they came a minute or two before showtime and couldn't get 4 consecutive seats together. Got forbid 3 of you sit beside me, and 1 alone. That put me in the front row rather than a slightly better second row.

 

[HeXen]

Didn't read the thread, but imo, its nothing like it used to be. Price being the major one. I could buy 2 BR movies and make my own popcorn that tastes better for the cost of seeing 1 movie. It also doesnt take near as long to come out on disc like it used to. Now we even have 3D option in the home, good audio systems are common place, TV's are widescreen and good size for an average room and even projection is affordable. Plus movies are risky, so many just flat out suck. i get mad spending all that money for a movie i didn't care for..or hate.

Years ago, it was much more worth it. We had much smaller TV's and VCR's wernt that good looking, A decent audio system was much more ..involved. Seemed popcorn at the movies back then tasted much better cause they used coconut oil and buttered flavocol and not this cheap crap they use now.

I do miss the Drive-in's though. btw, AMC theaters really sucks. Kerasotes was much better imo.

*edit: i wanted to add how commercials suck at the theaters these days. I even see regular TV ads there. WTF? its like 30 minutes of commercials and theater information. When i was a kid, it went straight to trailers but now you can see those on the web.
I think theaters will eventually be a thing of the past and we'll be reminiscing about them when were old.

 

[Cruisin1]

That's only part of it. The other part is that the movie theater experience mostly sucks. You now have commercials and small screens and people on cell phones and a theater that's either too hot or too cold. It's not that it's easier to wait, it's that it's better. My home theater starts exactly when I want to to start, the temperature is exactly what I want it to be, the movie pauses on command, I sit exactly when I want to be sitting, there are no heads in my sightline, no giggling teenagers 2 seats away, no idiots on cell phones and better snacks. If the movie theaters want me to go to the theater it's going to take more than better movies, they have to give me a reason to see it there rather than seeing it here and so far they're failing in that regard. And I think they always will.

How many game arcades do you see now? There used to be one on every corner and they were all busy because the arcade experience was superior to the home game console system. And that gap shrank and people lost reasons to go to arcades and arcades pretty much disappeared. And movie theaters are going to do the same. They're dinosaurs, their days are numbered and the current business model is doomed. Every single year home theater gets better and cheaper and every year movie theaters get worse and more expensive. It's time for Hollywood to cut the cord and face reality. It's over and in 20 years movie theaters are going to be more rare than drive-ins are now.

I couldn't agree with you more. That is the exact reason I dont' go to the movies... has nothing to do with the quality of movies hollywood is putting out. Has everything to do with comfort. I would much rather watch a movie at home then in an uncomfortable theatre surrounded by strangers forced to sit somewhere I don't want to and watch a movie at a time I don't' want to either.

 

[KeithP]

The movie viewing experience in theaters has declined while the experience at home has improved...and its too expensive.

Done.

Now, can we get back to the plane on the treadmill thing.

-KeithP

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Too many lousy movies is partially reason to blame. That and the tremendous quality now possible with home entertainment. Ticket prices, while on an upward swing, are tolerable for movies that really benefit from the movie-theater experience.

For instance I watched Mission: Impossible 4 on a 116ft diagonal IMAX screen and I felt it was worth the cost of entry. Watching it at 11PM reduced the hassle considerably. Some dramas and most comedies benefit from the shared experience of a movie theater. However, fuck you Hollywood if you think I want to spend an absurd amount of money for some paint-by-numbers Sex and the City-type movie with a teenybopper, uncivilized crowd for company.

/Will be back at the IMAX screen on July 20th 2012.