DVDs and more are killing the movies
05-27-05, 03:17 PM
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DVDs and more are killing the movies
Wow, I'm surprised they don't blame Internet piracy for this one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/bu...gewanted=print
LOS ANGELES, May 26 - Matthew Khalil goes to the movies about once a month, down from five or six times just a few years ago. Mr. Khalil, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, prefers instead to watch old movies and canceled television shows on DVD.
He also spends about 10 hours a week with friends playing the video game Halo 2. And he has to study, which means hours on the Internet and reading at least a book a week.
"If I want to watch a movie I can just rent it on DVD," he said. "I want to do things that conform to my time frame, not someone else's."
Like Mr. Khalil, many Americans are changing how they watch movies - especially young people, the most avid moviegoers. For 13 weekends in a row, box-office receipts have been down compared with a year ago, despite the blockbuster opening of the final "Star Wars" movie. And movie executives are unsure whether the trend will end over the important Memorial Day weekend that officially begins the summer season.
Meanwhile, sales of DVD's and other types of new media continue to surge.
With box-office attendance sliding, so far, for the third consecutive year, many in the industry are starting to ask whether the slump is just part of a cyclical swing driven mostly by a crop of weak movies or whether it reflects a much bigger change in the way Americans look to be entertained - a change that will pose serious new challenges to Hollywood.
Studios have made more on DVD sales and licensing products than on theatrical releases for some time. Now, technologies like TiVo and video-on-demand are keeping even more people at home, as are advanced home entertainment centers, with their high-definition television images on large flat screens and multichannel sound systems.
He also spends about 10 hours a week with friends playing the video game Halo 2. And he has to study, which means hours on the Internet and reading at least a book a week.
"If I want to watch a movie I can just rent it on DVD," he said. "I want to do things that conform to my time frame, not someone else's."
Like Mr. Khalil, many Americans are changing how they watch movies - especially young people, the most avid moviegoers. For 13 weekends in a row, box-office receipts have been down compared with a year ago, despite the blockbuster opening of the final "Star Wars" movie. And movie executives are unsure whether the trend will end over the important Memorial Day weekend that officially begins the summer season.
Meanwhile, sales of DVD's and other types of new media continue to surge.
With box-office attendance sliding, so far, for the third consecutive year, many in the industry are starting to ask whether the slump is just part of a cyclical swing driven mostly by a crop of weak movies or whether it reflects a much bigger change in the way Americans look to be entertained - a change that will pose serious new challenges to Hollywood.
Studios have made more on DVD sales and licensing products than on theatrical releases for some time. Now, technologies like TiVo and video-on-demand are keeping even more people at home, as are advanced home entertainment centers, with their high-definition television images on large flat screens and multichannel sound systems.
Time spent on the Internet has soared 76.6 percent and video game playing has increased 20.3 percent, according to the association. Last year, consumers bought $6.2 billion worth of video game software, an increase of 8 percent from 2003, according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game sales.
05-27-05, 03:23 PM
#2
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And the studios are crying all the way to the bank. Movies make more cash now in home video sales than they do during their theatrical run. In fact, I'd say that the studios are targetting the home video market as their PRIMARY focus, with the theatrical run quickly becoming a quaint throwback.
05-27-05, 03:33 PM
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Shitty movies are killing movies... lame, artless rom-coms and soulless action fare will not persuade the discerning cinema-goer from forking over their cash. 
05-27-05, 03:36 PM
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ROTS, which broke every record despite being pirated before it was released in the theaters, should be proof enough that Internet piracy isn't killing the movies.
Frankly, it takes something like Star Wars or Spiderman to justify going to the movies. Otherwise it's just better to netflix.
Frankly, it takes something like Star Wars or Spiderman to justify going to the movies. Otherwise it's just better to netflix.
05-27-05, 03:40 PM
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Who doesn't get the munchies when watching movies? I can go to town at a Wal-Mart with $10....At a movie theater, that will get you a medium drink and a medium pop-corn. (If you're lucky) Insane.
05-27-05, 03:47 PM
#9
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Originally Posted by wordtoyamotha
Hollywood shot themselves in the foot when a movie ticket became $10 (not including gasoline, parking and snacks) and a copy of the dvd became $15.
05-27-05, 03:49 PM
#10
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Originally Posted by DrGerbil
Shitty movies are killing movies... lame, artless rom-coms and soulless action fare will not persuade the discerning cinema-goer from forking over their cash.
Originally Posted by Class316
ROTS, which broke every record despite being pirated before it was released in the theaters, should be proof enough that Internet piracy isn't killing the movies.
05-27-05, 03:50 PM
#11
DVD Talk Special Edition
Originally Posted by wordtoyamotha
Hollywood shot themselves in the foot when a movie ticket became $10 (not including gasoline, parking and snacks) and a copy of the dvd became $15.
05-27-05, 04:00 PM
#12
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by wordtoyamotha
Hollywood shot themselves in the foot when a movie ticket became $10 (not including gasoline, parking and snacks) and a copy of the dvd became $15.
I feel sorry for the people who have to pay 10 bucks for a ticket to a movie,luckily it is nowhere near that much around here.
05-27-05, 04:06 PM
#13
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by DrGerbil
Shitty movies are killing movies... lame, artless rom-coms and soulless action fare will not persuade the discerning cinema-goer from forking over their cash.
05-27-05, 04:14 PM
#15
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Internet piracy or DVD isn't killing the movies...shitty movies are! Other then SW III & Sin City, I haven't had a desire to go to the theaters in a long time. Plus add the fact that since most movie tickets cost $9+, why not wait for the $15.99 DVD?
05-27-05, 04:25 PM
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I agree with everyone on this thread,I mean these film company's are not loseing money because there makeing profit's off the DVD's so why complain?because there money hungry and would rather have the money sooner then later,Hollywood will find a way to ruin DVD's or Hd-DVD's as well im sure.
05-27-05, 04:26 PM
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Movie prices are a cause and effect of studios wanting more of the pie upfront and not producing films that have legs enough to stick around till when the theater starts getting a decent % of the take in.
That and stupid double dipping. Stating before a film is even released that you aren't going to be watching the final version or that there's a special super collectors edition with an hour more of footage on the dvd no less than four months after it's in theaters.
Eventually, studios will really just release direct to dvd. Is it killing movies? No. I wouldn't say it is. What it's killing is theaters. But we still have plenty of movies making extreme amount of money. ROTS is just one of those cases where people will see it in the theater because they can and it's an event type of thing.
That and stupid double dipping. Stating before a film is even released that you aren't going to be watching the final version or that there's a special super collectors edition with an hour more of footage on the dvd no less than four months after it's in theaters.
Eventually, studios will really just release direct to dvd. Is it killing movies? No. I wouldn't say it is. What it's killing is theaters. But we still have plenty of movies making extreme amount of money. ROTS is just one of those cases where people will see it in the theater because they can and it's an event type of thing.
05-27-05, 04:41 PM
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Ticket prices, assholes and commercials have pretty much killed the theater for this guy... But yeah, there is a certain amount of truth in the home theater at home thing as well. I know i'm not alone in saying that once you've invested $4 or $5 K in your home theater gear, you quickly lose interest in the theater. That said, if ticket prices weren't so high, there were fewer jerks and less Coke commercials, I - personally - might not have been in such a hurry to go 16X9 with a bunch of new gear a few years back. However, that's a pretty big might... But there's no doubt that the factors that I mentioned played into that decision.
05-27-05, 04:47 PM
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if ticket prices weren't so high, there were fewer jerks and less Coke commercials
Remember, we've had advertisment in theaters for as long as I remember in movie previews.
But yeah, once you put enough money in a home theater, you sort of feel wrong in going to a theater.
05-27-05, 04:57 PM
#20
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Originally Posted by Class316
ROTS, which broke every record despite being pirated before it was released in the theaters, should be proof enough that Internet piracy isn't killing the movies.
DJ
05-27-05, 05:02 PM
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Except in my late teens and 20's (now 50'ish), I have not been a movie-theater-goer. However, I would have to say that DVD's has actually encouraged me into going to the theater more often. The larger exposure to "good" and "great" films on DVD (especially foreign and indie films) begs me to catch the latest releases by certain directors/actors when the come to the theater.
But I have no urge to see the flood of boiler-plate Hollywood fare being pushed on us lately. I actually believe DVD's have allowed the biz to crank out crap, knowing full well they will more than make up for it on DVD sales. That more than anything is what is currently "killing the movies" (IMHO).
But I have no urge to see the flood of boiler-plate Hollywood fare being pushed on us lately. I actually believe DVD's have allowed the biz to crank out crap, knowing full well they will more than make up for it on DVD sales. That more than anything is what is currently "killing the movies" (IMHO).
05-27-05, 05:03 PM
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Well, the reason why I don't go to the theater is because of the $10 movie ticket price!
and also because I get to enjoy a movie better at home than at the theater.
There is also the factor that people like to talk too much shit during the film specially if they didn't like it! Forget it! I'll buy the dvd when it comes out.
and also because I get to enjoy a movie better at home than at the theater.
There is also the factor that people like to talk too much shit during the film specially if they didn't like it! Forget it! I'll buy the dvd when it comes out.
05-27-05, 05:19 PM
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The reason I don't go to the theater as often is because the movies that are being released don't appear compelling enough to make me want to go see it.
For over a decade, the movies that come out get put into three categories: the must-see, the wait-for-rental and the not-interested. For a good many years, there were plenty of must-sees. More recently, the number of must-sees has gone down significantly and the wait-for-rentals have gone up (overall the not-interesteds has probably grown a little).
I love going to the theater. It's almost entirely a lack of compelling product keeping me from going.
Of course, take out the non-traditional movie-goers lured to the theater last year for The Passion and is box office actually down from last year? I don't know the answer to that.
For over a decade, the movies that come out get put into three categories: the must-see, the wait-for-rental and the not-interested. For a good many years, there were plenty of must-sees. More recently, the number of must-sees has gone down significantly and the wait-for-rentals have gone up (overall the not-interesteds has probably grown a little).
I love going to the theater. It's almost entirely a lack of compelling product keeping me from going.
Of course, take out the non-traditional movie-goers lured to the theater last year for The Passion and is box office actually down from last year? I don't know the answer to that.