2011 Movie Attendance the Lowest in 16 Years

[K1052]

The only movies worth seeing in 3D are animated. The rest just give me a headache and the colors are too washed out.

I read somewhere that 3D is the greatest thing since sliced bread for a studio since it costs them around $100,000 to convert a movie to 3D but then the reap a huge premium. I'm hoping to never see a 3D movie again.

Er no, you're looking at costs of $50-$70K per minute to do conversion. Cameron's conversion of Titanic for 3D is going to be north of $18 million dollars (or about $90K per minute of conversion). He's a presentation nazi though so I expect it will look rather good.

 

[slayer202]

Er no, you're looking at costs of $50-$70K per minute to do conversion. Cameron's conversion of Titanic for 3D is going to be north of $18 million dollars (or about $90K per minute of conversion). He's a presentation nazi though so I expect it will look rather good.

how the hell is that possible? what's involved?

 

[thegimp03]

I'm happy enough waiting for movies to be released on blu-ray most of the time, unless it's a movie that I really want to see in the theaters.

 

[K1052]

how the hell is that possible? what's involved?

They have to run it through software tools to add depth and then look at everything and correct what the tools missed or didn't get right. Rinse and repeat until satisfied. This takes a LOT of man hours and server farm time ($$$).

 

[DesiPower]

Dub? No thanks.

The % of English speaking people is declining, movie industry can use this new customers. Music industry has adapted

 

[Macamus Prime]

For what is costs me to see a movie today, I can buy it in a few months from now. Plus, my HD LED looks better than the movie theater's screen (IMO).

I love how recently, there is a movie theater ad, where they show a huge screen shrinking. It eventually goes down to the size of a 30 inch TV screen. Then the word's "It's just not the same,.." or something like that, appear over the TV screen.

HA!

Yeah. OK Hollywood. You got me! Here, take my money for Transformers 8!!!

 

[IceBergSLiM]

stop making shitty remakes or shitty movies over all. Good films still profit very well. Alternately, slash the prices by 50% so more people will take a chance on your shitty movies.

isn't this like business 101?

 

[randomrogue]

The % of English speaking people is declining, movie industry can use this new customers. Music industry has adapted

If you can't understand the language of a movie just watch it with subs. Dubbing is dumb. The Chinese shouldn't have to dub their movies and neither should English speakers or anyone else. Just my 2 cents after being in countries like Spain where nobody can speak English while countries that don't dub can speak English.

Er no, you're looking at costs of $50-$70K per minute to do conversion. Cameron's conversion of Titanic for 3D is going to be north of $18 million dollars (or about $90K per minute of conversion). He's a presentation nazi though so I expect it will look rather good.

Holy crap! Per minute? Wow I got that wrong.

 

[MrChad]

http://drafthouse.com/houston

if i pay for a movie i prefer to go there

a friend of mine gets free tickets all the time and i'm still out $15-$20 if i try to get us something to eat.

Sounds great. Why hasn't this caught on in other parts of the country? I would gladly pay the theater price premium for that kind of experience.

 

[KeithTalent]

I went to the movies three times this past weekend.

KT

 

[Fritzo]

1- Hollywood is mass producing crap. They're down to making sequels to movies nobody wanted to see in the first place, using special effects instead of sets because it's cheaper, and forcing 3D on everything because they think people are amazed by it.

2- While production costs have gone down, ticket prices have skyrocketed. I took my family to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie last week. There were 4 of us, We bought 1 popcorn and 4 drinks. It cost $86. $86 to see a terrible movie.

3- Production companies see piracy as the reason nobody is going to the movies anymore. Of course it's not their fault.

I'm watching everything on pay-per-view from now on. I have a nice home theater, I get movies in full 1080p over Dish Network, and at $7, I don't feel so bad if the movie sucks.

 

[RPD]

I'm sure it's been mentioned here, but instead of listening or doing what the market wants, they do what they THINK the market SHOULD want.

That doesn't fly in this day an age.

 

[slayer202]

I went to the movies three times this past weekend.

KT

but, but why aren't you complaining about the snack costs and shitty movies!

what, you didn't pay $40 to see Sherlock Holmes with a gallon of soda and a duffel bag of popcorn?

that's unamerican! :sneaky:

 

[K1052]

1- Hollywood is mass producing crap. They're down to making sequels to movies nobody wanted to see in the first place, using special effects instead of sets because it's cheaper, and forcing 3D on everything because they think people are amazed by it.

2- While production costs have gone down, ticket prices have skyrocketed. I took my family to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie last week. There were 4 of us, We bought 1 popcorn and 4 drinks. It cost $86. $86 to see a terrible movie.

3- Production companies see piracy as the reason nobody is going to the movies anymore. Of course it's not their fault.

I'm watching everything on pay-per-view from now on. I have a nice home theater, I get movies in full 1080p over Dish Network, and at $7, I don't feel so bad if the movie sucks.

1) I see this criticism all the time but it is really no different than the last 80 years of cinema. Most people think that there was some mythical golden age of cinema where nothing sucked and every film was destined to be a masterpiece for the ages. The is the most common misconception by far about the industry. There was a shitload of disposable film made for a quick buck since the dawn of the industry. Not everything has to be Citizen Kane either.

2) Production and ticket costs are pretty much entirely unrelated since movies are made by and shown by different business entities. The studio owned chains were broken up long ago by antitrust cases. Also your admission probably ran $30-$40 for the family. Concessions are optional, always have been and always will be.

3) Piracy is way overblown and there are few actually effective ways to fight it. This is unlikely to change regardless of the DRM schemes dreamed up over the last decade.

 

[KeithTalent]

1) I see this criticism all the time but it is really no different than the last 80 years of cinema. Most people think that there was some mythical golden age of cinema where nothing sucked and every film was destined to be a masterpiece for the ages. The is the most common misconception by far about the industry. There was a shitload of disposable film made for a quick buck since the dawn of the industry. Not everything has to be Citizen Kane either.

2) Production and ticket costs are pretty much entirely unrelated since movies are made by and shown by different business entities. The studio owned chains were broken up long ago by antitrust cases. Also your admission probably ran $30-$40 for the family. Concessions are optional, always have been and always will be.

3) Piracy is way overblown and there are few actually effective ways to fight it. This is unlikely to change regardless of the DRM schemes dreamed up over the last decade.

Definitely agree on the first one. If you look back at some of the shit that was being released back in the day, well it was no worse than what happens now, you just don't remember all of the crap when thinking back to those days. Besides, there were a tonne of great movies that came out this year, you just need to pay attention and seek them out.

KT

 

[DesiPower]

If you can't understand the language of a movie just watch it with subs. Dubbing is dumb. The Chinese shouldn't have to dub their movies and neither should English speakers or anyone else. Just my 2 cents after being in countries like Spain where nobody can speak English while countries that don't dub can speak English.

Lot of this demography is very proud of their culture and language, not sure why. They will see this as an effort by the movie industry bending over for them and that will bring in a lot of crowd. Lets face it, lot of our govt resources are spent on taking care of these people, they have the money, what better way to make them spend it on movies.

 

[slayer202]

the most popular and best money-earning movies aren't "good" movies. look at most top 10 movie lists and you might find one(hugo) that was in the top 20 in revenue

 

[randomrogue]

Lot of this demography is very proud of their culture and language, not sure why. They will see this as an effort by the movie industry bending over for them and that will bring in a lot of crowd. Lets face it, lot of our govt resources are spent on taking care of these people, they have the money, what better way to make them spend it on movies.

I'm not sure what demographic you're talking about but when I watch Bollywood Movies I watch them in Hindi. When I watch Chinese movies I watch them in Mandarin. When I watch Hollywood movies I watch them in English. I watched 13 Assassins in Japanese. I watched Underground in Serbian. I watched the Millennium series in Swedish. Run Lola Run in German. La Femme Nikita in French. It's butchery to watch them dubbed and it contributes to poor communication skills.

Whatever language welfare program you're trying to advocate is not productive for our society. My two cents.

 

[ShawnD1]

I saw tin tin this last week with my wife.
$7.50 for a large popcorn.

I'm amazed people still buy stuff at the theatre. My friends and I just bring our own food and drink. I usually don't even have a drink or anything to eat. I generally don't think about eating while I'm watching a movie or playing a game.

 

[DougK62]

Yikes, I feel for you in the big cities. I have a 16-screen theatre not far from me that I go to rarely and it's $6 per ticket. The theatre closest to me is a very charming old place that charges $3 per ticket. There is also an excellent theatre at a nearby college that shows all sorts of older and indie movies and they charge ~$5, depending on the movie - plus everything behind the concession counter is only $1 each.

That said, I still don't go to the theatre often. Hah.

 

[Koing]

I go as it's a social thing to do after dinner and to chill. My mates and I are fairly big cinema goers.

It is pricey and the concessions are crazy but f0ck it, it isn't enough to make me not go. But £12 for a 3D movie is stupid...I also have a lovefilm membership and get 4 BR a month. My 50" Panasonic plasma, my modest B&W front, center, sub and random eltax rear towers and receiver do a very good job of 5.1 HD sound.

I don't get complete knobs going to the cinema in the uk. Not really been in a movie where people were that obnoxious to be honest.

Too bad I don't have a room that I can stash a projector in...maybe I should get one for my living room with a pull down screen?

Koing

 

[IAteYourMother]

Honestly what they need is dynamic pricing. There are movies where I might be willing to pay $15 just because I'm anticipating it so much and the production value matches makes the image/theater quality worth it.

Other movies, I might pay 5 bucks to see. GF wants to see Happy Feet 2, no fucking way am I paying 30 bucks to watch that piece of shit.

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm amazed people still buy stuff at the theatre. My friends and I just bring our own food and drink. I usually don't even have a drink or anything to eat. I generally don't think about eating while I'm watching a movie or playing a game.

I get theatre popcorn all the time. I just can't replicate it at home and there are some theatres in-particular that have amazing snacks!

Of course I buy my movie tickets in bulk and cheap (~$7.30 per ticket) plus I get rewards at the bigger theatres, so all of those snack costs feel subsidized to me.

KT

 

[NuclearNed]

A point I made in a similar thread several years ago:

The internet kills some movies before they even arrive. No, I'm not talking about piracy. Back in the day, my friends and I would go see any movie that looked interesting because we had no way to tell if the movie was crap. If we were lucky, our local newspaper would carry 1 or 2 movie reviews every Friday, and everything else was a crapshoot. Nowadays, we have RottenTomatoes and other such review sites. There is no way I'll ever pay insane prices ever again to see a movie that is either not reviewed or has a low score on such a site.

 

[DesiPower]

I'm not sure what demographic you're talking about but when I watch Bollywood Movies I watch them in Hindi. When I watch Chinese movies I watch them in Mandarin. When I watch Hollywood movies I watch them in English. I watched 13 Assassins in Japanese. I watched Underground in Serbian. I watched the Millennium series in Swedish. Run Lola Run in German. La Femme Nikita in French. It's butchery to watch them dubbed and it contributes to poor communication skills.

Whatever language welfare program you're trying to advocate is not productive for our society. My two cents.

Well, I wish I lived in a society where most of the people are like you. But instead i live where I get 4 TV channels that show English movies dubbed in different languages, I was merely pointing out that maybe big screen can harness this client base too.

As for your last statement, the nonproductivity, is not in our hands, its happening right now and will increase in future, what cannot be cured has to be endured, why not even use it?