Box office receipts up in ?04, but sales slump

[K1052]

?Shrek 2? was highest grossing film of year at $436.5 million

The Associated Press

Updated: 9:38 a.m. ET Jan. 4, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Box office receipts soared to a new record in 2004, although the actual number of moviegoers declined for a second year in a row.

Movies took in $9.4 billion in 2004 at the domestic box office, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. Revenue for the year was lagging last year going into the final weeks, but ?Meet the Fockers,? the sequel from Universal Pictures, propelled gross revenues with total ticket sales of $162.5 million in the last two weeks of the year.

But the record gross was due more to rising ticket prices than attendance.

Factoring in the nationwide average ticket price of $6.22, attendance fell about 1.7 percent in 2004 to 1.51 billion. Attendance in 2003 was 1.54 billion, down 4.3 percent from 2002. The average ticket price last year was $6.03.

Analysts say the two-year decline is no cause for alarm because 2002 was an anomaly with such blockbuster hits as the first ?Spider-Man? film and ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding.?

That year also included the latest installments in three huge franchises: ?Star Wars,? ?Harry Potter? and ?Lord of the Rings.?

?This is a great year,? said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. ?We saw such massive increases in revenue and attendance in 2001 and 2002, there is just no way we?re going to see increases sustained at that rate.?

Two big unexpected successes in 2004 were Mel Gibson?s ?The Passion of the Christ? and the Michael Moore film ?Fahrenheit 9/11,? which took in $370.3 million and $119.1, respectively.

The highest grossing film of the year was ?Shrek 2,? which earned $436.5 million.

?That?s even more impressive when you realize that many of those admissions were at children?s prices,? Dergarabedian said.

This year holds the promise of several large potential blockbusters which could boost attendance.

Among the films expected to do well are ?Star Wars: Episode III ? Revenge of the Sith,? the last in the George Lucas series; ?Batman Begins,? starring Christian Bale; ?King Kong,? directed by Peter Jackson; and the Steven Spielberg version of ?The War of the Worlds,? starring Tom Cruise.

 

[Megatomic]

Attendance will continue to fall as more people set up home theaters and watch movies on DVD in their homes. Ticket prices are ridiculous, I won't go see a flick at the theater unless it's matinee. I won't even start in on the prices at the concession stand. :|

 

[conjur]

Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

 

[Amused]

I hardly ever go to the theaters anymore. About the only time I go is when my family drags me out to one when visiting them in CA.

My home theater is a far nicer experience.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

 

[hpkeeper]

Just a side not to that article... I don't think children should get a break at the movie theatre.. they take up as much space as I do (1 seat). Not to mention, unless I leave my cell phone on and it rings, they tend to make more noise than I do.

What's that about? ...at least I can get into R rated flicks... ...short bastards.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Waterworld Part Duex?

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Attendance will continue to fall as more people set up home theaters and watch movies on DVD in their homes. Ticket prices are ridiculous, I won't go see a flick at the theater unless it's matinee. I won't even start in on the prices at the concession stand. :|

Not to mention the convenience of being able to pause (handy when watching the movie with the woman and children).

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Attendance will continue to fall as more people set up home theaters and watch movies on DVD in their homes. Ticket prices are ridiculous, I won't go see a flick at the theater unless it's matinee. I won't even start in on the prices at the concession stand. :|

yes, prices for food and popcorn are absolutely retarded.
it's like $10 for crappy popcorn and warm coke... PATHETIC.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Waterworld Part Duex?

I kinda liked Waterworld.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Waterworld Part Duex?

I kinda liked Waterworld.

It had it's moments, and would have been a far better movie had they cropped out about an hour of wasted time here and there.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

ticket price up -> attendence down, this is not rocket surgery

almost 10 billion in sales, thats almost enough to feed latrell sprewells family

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Here comes the next big LOSER for Hollywood.

That's going to SUCK. I can just about guarantee it.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Here comes the next big LOSER for Hollywood.

That's going to SUCK. I can just about guarantee it.

It's Spielberg's project. He rarely crashes and burns.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Here comes the next big LOSER for Hollywood.

That's going to SUCK. I can just about guarantee it.

It's Spielberg's project. He rarely crashes and burns.

But he's going downhill.

Remember the renamed Raiders of the Lost Ark for the DVD?

What about the CGI-altered version of E.T. where he took out the FBI guys' guns and replaced them with walkie-talkies?

$pielberg's ego is bigger than LucASS's and he thinks he's his own Disney (by putting movies into moratorium.)

Oh, and remember A.I.? I barely do.

This will SUCK.

$pielberg is losing his creative talent. He's remaking a classic S-F film. Why? Remakes rarely work.

 

[purbeast0]

i don't care if the price of a ticket is $10. i will still go to the theatres to watch movies. on average right now i see atleast 3 movies a month. that is about 36/yr. i just love movies and there is no better experience of watching a movie than seeing it in a theatre.

i also have a great HT system right now at home as well, but since dvds don't come out when movies hit the theatre, i will continue to see them in the theatre. watching a movie with great sound (i would rather have the best sound than the best picture) is probably my favorite thing to do. and my gf loves movies as well which is even better

EDIT: and i think War of the Worlds will be great. Spielberg and Cruise, they are both great in my eyes. I do not understand why so many people on these boards hate tom cruise so much, he's a great actor and can take on many different roles (IMO) and pull them off.

 

[Coquito]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Waterworld Part Duex?

I kinda liked Waterworld.

So did I. It is also a misconception that Waterworld was a bust. It made a good amount of money.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a War of the Worlds remake?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Yes, it is also being touted as the most expensive movie ever made.

Here comes the next big LOSER for Hollywood.

That's going to SUCK. I can just about guarantee it.

It's Spielberg's project. He rarely crashes and burns.

But he's going downhill.

Remember the renamed Raiders of the Lost Ark for the DVD?

What about the CGI-altered version of E.T. where he took out the FBI guys' guns and replaced them with walkie-talkies?

$pielberg's ego is bigger than LucASS's and he thinks he's his own Disney (by putting movies into moratorium.)

Oh, and remember A.I.? I barely do.

This will SUCK.

$pielberg is losing his creative talent. He's remaking a classic S-F film. Why? Remakes rarely work.

Granted, the ET changes bothered me a little.

He has a long way to go in the ego department compared to Lucas. Hell, Lucas hasn't done sh!t for film besides EP 1-3 for the last 15 years and he acts like he owns the world.

Remakes are just popular these days and some of them do quite well. Peter Jackson is redoing King Kong.

 

[conjur]

Yeah...a remake of a remake...that'll suck, too.

 

[Gothgar]

Originally posted by: conjur
Tom Cruise in a any movie?


<----- runs for a barfbag

Fixed.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I have some faith in Spielberg and Cruise. I rather enjoyed Minority Report and it was one my favorites for 2002.