Why is Movie Theatre Revenue Attendance Declining?

The decline in sales is probably not anyone’s fault. It’s probably unavoidable. Digital media is just changing the way we want content. People will still go to the movies, but they’ll go less often because they can substitute a cheaper, individualized, private experience for the pleasures and annoyances that come with watching a movie on a big screen with a group of strangers.

More commercials is a symptom of the underlying problem, not the cause.

Actually the core problem is the general business problem. Assuming that sales will go up, all time, on an infinate basis. Personally, as a movie buff, I still enjoy the movie experience. Mind you, where I’ve never had talking at the movies, no cell phones, no nothing like that. So yeah.

But because movies are a creative venture, receipts are going to vary from year to year. People don’t go to the movies just to go to the movies. People don’t go to the movies, and wait until they get there and say…what do you want to see? It doesn’t happen. People say, I’m going to go to see movie X. And if there’s no movies they want to see? They stay home or do something else.

Simple as that. I don’t think that DVD sales play a huge part in this, I think it’s mostly the natural nature of the content delivery business.

I love the movie experience but the cost does not justify the experience for me. I hate spending $60 to take my kids to a movie and then not being entertained what so ever (Madagascar). I would rather take them to another form of entertainment. If we go to a water park and spend $100 I think that is ok because of the value. I will wait for a movie to come out on dvd or pay per view because if I hate the movie, it wasn’t as costly. I don’t mind seeing a bad movie, but I hate paying so much for it. Anyway, I think it is a cost issue. Make it more affordable and I will go to many more movies. Send it straight to DVD and I will pay $20 to watch it in my home!

I think I am a typical consumer and here’s why I don’t go to the theater anymore:
1. Decreased movie quality – the studios are just not putting out as many movies of the really high quality, and because there is so much competition, its harder to find those movies, so you have to be more discriminating in what you select to spend your money on.

2. Overhype – another thing that exasserbates that problem is that the studios hype every movie beyond any measure of normal so that its impossible to determine which movies are the ones you want to see based on the claims of the studios. its a classic case of “the boy who cried wolf”. The studios keep telling us that every dang movie they make is a blockbuster, so pretty soon, you just tune them all out and let other people waste their $8 and report back to you.

3. Too many movies – By the time you find someone who has seen the movie and says that its great, then find someone to corroborate the story, there are so many movies coming out that by this time, the movie is no longer in the theater. Again, i think I am an average consumer, and planning my schedule around the 1 week that the average movie is in the theater just doesn’t work for me. If the theaters don’t bother keeping them in the theater long enough, I’ll just wait for the DVD instead of configuring my schedule around theirs. who is the dang customer here anyway?

4. Increased quality of Home theater and poor quality of theaters – since I now have a 52″ TV with surround sound and great speakers, I find that my system at home is pretty much better than what I find at the theater, especially with sound. This was certainly the case with Episode III, which was the last movie I saw in the theater. The sound at the theater was barely cranked up and thus defeats the prupose of going to the theater. Why do most theaters today still use a reel to reel mechine to display movies? step up to digital for pete’s sake! on top of all that, I can lay on my couhc at home and eat homemade lasagne. that hardly compares to a $25 for a hot dog, popcorn, and a drink while sitting in an uncomfortable seat that only reclines to the point of discomfort and the guy next to me who has a bladder the size of a peanut.

5. DVD’s come out so fast now, and the content/convenience of places like Netflix and filmmovement.com is really uncomparable.

Although I have downloaded one movie when I went to the theater and had to leave in the middle of the film because the fire alarm was triggered, that experience made me really reject downloading bootlegs because of the astounding poor quality (and my TV is bilt to be a computer monitor). In my life, priracy is not a factor in why I do not go to the theater. They just need to improve their product.

Trailers. They friggin tell you the whole plot. They suck big time. Look at the trailers for The Island. They literally spoiled the whole movie!!!

Personally speaking I don’t go to the cinema as much as I used to because I am older.

I actually just wrote about this on my site.

Yes, the commercials suck, but I am not too bothered by them, because they don’t (yet) play past the start time of the movie. As long as the movie starts when it is supposed to (with previews) I don’t really care what’s on the screen, every one is chatting and ignoring it anyway.

Ditto on the Alamo Drafthouse. My wife and I went to our first movie out of the house in about 2 years (new baby) for SW Ep III, and saw it at the Alamo. It’s hard to justify going anywhere else anymore, even though the theaters the Alamo owns are slightly less rock-em sock-em in the visual and audio department.

James,

Anyone who goes to a movie like Revenge of the Sith or The Incredibles really cannot complain about children — these are essentially kids films (cleverly created so as to have some appeal to adults also).

What I specifically mentioned was crying babies — not children — and I am continually astounded at some parents bringing their infants to inapproprite films (NC 17 or R) or inappropriate times.

btw, its not just movies — I was completely astonished when on Valentine Day, at a very upscale restaurant with a heavily promoted special Valentines Day Dinner, a couple brought their infant to dinner at 8:00. The baby cried all meal, ruining many an evening.

The restautrant was fully booked. Obviously, its not the infants fault — rather 2 very selfish parents, and a cowardly/clueless Maitre D.

The restaurants name is Diannes (in Roslyn, NY) — and we’ve never gone back.

>”Just once, I’d love to see a discussion of the moviegoing experience that doesn’t involve child-haters spewing their nastiness all over the place. For the record: not once have I ever had my theater experience spoiled by crying children, talking children or any variety of child-centric unpleasantness. Rather, adults who think the theater is an extension of their living rooms are a far greater issue.”

I suppose all the children have turned to donkeys on the childless island where you apparently live, but back here in the real world, pointing out that kids can be disruptive in a movie theater hardly makes one a “child-hater”. The fact is that selfish parents do indeed bring young kids to R films or late shows, and i’d love to smack them on the head with a blunt instrument (The parents, not the kids). It might actually be a form of child abuse, exposing a 3-year old to horrific gore and violent imagery.

Aside from that, i think a point has been missed about the decline of movie theater attendance. I dont think its primarily about content, or picture quality, or about the superiority of the home-viewing experience. Movies are, and have ALWAYS been, fuled by the desire of kids and couples to simply GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. It’s not a matter of there being nothing worth seeing, or films being easier to watch at home. It’s that there are simply more, better, cheaper, more pleasant environments to go OUT to.

Movies used to be the cheapest date you could go on, but they’re not anymore. That the experience has been degraded by ads, bad food, bad projection and bad service certainly adds insult to injury, but if they were still a cheap, convenient night out, the decline would be less pronounced. That the movies aren’t particularly good… thats subjective and cyclical. That you can have better viewing at home is true for high-end tech owners but thats not yet so widespread as to have had this kind of effect. It also doesn’t address the still existing need to “go out”.

The answer for movie theaters isn’t better technology or better movies. Its about making the experience of going out to a movie a good, relatively inexpensive option for people again.

Publicidad antes de las películas en los cines

Se supone que cuando vas al cine estás pagando por ver una película de cine, no por tragarte diez minutos de publicidad antes del comienzo. Además, nunca empiezan a la hora que dicen y encima las palomitas y refrescos cuestan…

here’s another thought on the reason for the decline: Americans have less disposible income. Real Wages have been going down for about the last 5 or 6 years, and inflation is going up. I’d be curious to know if other entertainment goods and services have also experienced a decline in sales. The RIAA will be quick to point to CD’s and music declines, but what about theme park sales? What about video game console sales? Perhaps people are strpped for cash and choose the video game console, which is tangible and retains at least some of its value, over things like movies and theme parks, which are bassically just money down the drain since one cannot sell memories. …just a thought.

When I went to see Return of the King, I was turned away by the long line-up. Then every time I considered going, I thought that I would be funding Hollywood’s evil copyright policies. On top of the crowds, the loud noise, the endless advertising, the expense, it was just enough. Overnight, I went from over a movie a month to one or two a year. I never did see Return of the King.

Interestingly, I just had a dialogue with a city newspaper reporter who wrote a basically pro-commercials at the movie theatre. She surveyed the local theatres (in Houston) and found that while theatres had lots of commercials, most of them started before the official movie start time. In other words, come early and get bombarded by commercials.

I still don’t like that, but if movie times aren’t being postponed, that’s a different story.

I’ve written extensively on why I don’t think P2P is what’s impacting CD sales; (See this http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/music/index.html)

If you want to argue that Bit Torrent is hurting Theatrical sales, how about providing us with some data points? When did BT come out — when did theatre sales slow? Is there are proven overlap between theatre custmers and BT users?

Your argument lacks details, or persuasive facts. You think that higher prices, more ads, weak contents, DVDs, and noisy unpleasant theaters have nonething whatsoever to do with this?

Petey, step it up.

Before you start name calling, put forth a strong argument (or at least a real one). Otherwise, everyone here will merely assume you to be an MPAA troll.

Petey – I agree with Barry. Perhaps you are correct, but you do not provide any data to back up what you are saying. I do not download movies because the bootlegs tend to suck, and the download times are excessive, and most of the time its just easier to rent a DVD than to figure out how to make it worth watching on my home theater. I have not downloaded a movie in over 3 years, but I have joined both Netflix and Filmmovement.com in the last 3 years. If a movie is not worth my money and time to go see in a theater, its sure not worth the time and money required to (a) locate on the net, (b) spend hours and GB downloading, (c) unzip/decode/unhack/etc. IMO, Its just a waste of time and resources.

It’s funny that the L.A. Times wrote that article. Here in L.A. we have to sit through their commercials before a movie starts.

I don’t go to the theaters to see big mainstream movies anymore. I can see them 10 times a week when they come out on HBO. I enjoy the often unpredictable and stylish indie and foreign films. Thank goodness I live in Pasadena where I have three theaters of the sort to walk to.

I actually don’t mind ads before the movie. As someone else mentioned, it’s a nice buffer if you need to grab some food or visit the bathroom. Kind of like boarding time. Plus the ad’s themselves aren’t usually that bad.

That said, I’ve been going to the movies less though. One decisive thing is the main cinema near me (who charge obscene amounts for the candy bar), just start enforcing a ban on outside food. (previously they only took issue with hot food and glass bottles).

1) I care deeply about both the film and music industry, as I am a huge film buff and music fan. Indeed, Music is one of my great joys, and I am all too aware that if it is becomes an economically unviable entity, it wont be around available (at least no in pesent form). Ditto film.

2) But I also care about reality, and have been deeply disturbed by the RIAA’s attempts to distort and misrepresent. My hostility is to them — not the artists/producers/managers of music, not to the directors/writers/producers of films.

3) If you really want to see some hostility, read about the industry weasels who steal from artists (see the books “Hit Men” or “Stiffed”) and have conspired to fix prices and thwart competition.

4) The music industry’s woes predate Napster — look at the 1996 Telecommunications act, which set the wheels of radio consolidation in motion. Thats the genesis of shrunken playlists, reduced variety, and vanishing radio share of entertainment, and reduced CDs sales. Consumers cannot buy what they never get exposed to;

5) Speaking from personal experience, I never bought more CDs than the period when Napster was around; It was like the ultimate radio, and I discovered more new music then, than any other recent period;

6) Your complaints about arguing that P2P advocates do not use facts are disingenuous: They have been discussed ad nauseum on this site in lurid detail. After the 1996 Telecom act, we saw a major recession, 9/11 attacks, and then the rise of alternative entertainment — DVDs, Video Games, MMPOG, Blogs, etc. all of which impacted sales.

7) Its not just CDs, but all “old” media — sports attendance, TV viewing, newspapers, magazines, radio — have suffered from a sales slowdown. There has been a major shift occurring, and industry execs who just blame Napster are missing the bigger picture. (Get a clue);

8) Indeed, most of the Recording industry’s woes are self inflicted: High prices, refusal to respond to the demand for digital distribution for too many years, boring retail experience, and of course, weak content (insipid Boy Bands!) are the main sources of industry problems.

~~~

Blame P2P. Thats easier, and requires no thinking — or innovative management — or responsibility — by the recording industry.

“The music industry’s woes predate Napster — look at the 1996 Telecommunications act”

And look at the music sales graphs – consistently up until ’98/’99, and then they fall off the cliff. Yeah. It must be something other than Napster. Can you hear yourself?

“Speaking from personal experience, I never bought more CDs than the period when Napster was around”

You’re experience is not the norm.

I was in a college town during that period, and all the kids – the lifeblood of the music industry – basically stopped buying CD’s.

The demographic most active in P2P is the demographic most crucial to the pop content industries, and is the demographic most likely to steal with any moral compunctions.

“But I also care about reality, and have been deeply disturbed by the RIAA’s attempts to distort and misrepresent.”

The music industry suits are undeniably sleazy. But you seem to have decided that if they aren’t intellectually honest, that frees you from the burden of intellectual honesty. I don’t like that logic.

And I’d expect you can see the fallacy of assuming you are only hurting the suits, and not the artists. I have friends in bands, and I know how the collapse of A&R spending in the post-Napster era has hurt them badly. I have friends in creative positions in the film & TV industries, and they’re all terrified about the future.

But you go have fun sticking it to the RIAA and MPAA. Bad suits. Bad.

“Your complaints about arguing that P2P advocates do not use facts are disingenuous”

That’s my experience. Folks who have made an ideological determination that Information Wants To Be Free and that P2P serves a societal good are willing to fix the facts to “prove” their ideological decisions.

They are more concerned about proving their case than they are about the validity of their points. They feel they have a larger truth on their side, and thus are allowed to cut corners on all the other “minor” truths.

I kid you not. It’s a specific mindset I’ve only seen when debating global warming deniers and Intelligent Design proponents.

“Its not just CDs, but all “old” media — sports attendance, TV viewing, newspapers, magazines, radio — have suffered from a sales slowdown. There has been a major shift occurring, and industry execs who just blame Napster are missing the bigger picture.”

The shifts you discuss are all true, but music sales peaks right as Napster peaks. 6 years later, theatrical movie attendance peaks right as currently-in-theater movie P2P distribution takes off.

If you’re determined to massage the facts to fit your conclusion, you can close your eyes to Occam’s Razor.

“Blame P2P. Thats easier, and requires no thinking”

Easier?!? I’d suggest the content industries would rather be fighting any enemy in the world except for piracy. They can deal with the other factors and still make money. Piracy is the one thing they know can kill them.

The 90’s media conglomerations were all about making sure they’d still be able to sell product even as distribution methods shifted with technology.

But piracy isn’t solved by innovative distribution methods.

“Thats easier, and requires no thinking — or innovative management — or responsibility — by the recording industry.”

It sure is hard to compete with free, even with the most innovative management.

Maybe you’re one of those folks who think bands should just make their money selling their T-shirts while touring. You can’t download those, I guess.

——-

Pretend you hold no brief for P2P or against the RIAA and MPAA, and try looking at the data again with an open mind. It’s really pretty clear.

To return to the global warming metaphor yet again, that’s kinda what the content/piracy issue is like. I can’t prove with 100% certainty that the largest factor in music and movies right now is piracy, but an open minded observer will quickly come to conclusion that piracy is the overwhelmingly likely explanation.

Petey

Your corrolation of the entertainment industry with globel warming is interesting. I know I have gotten hot under the collar after attending my local theater. If others have the same reaction that could explain the globel warming.

Thank you for articulating the problem with theater experience so well. You really hit the nail on the head. My wife and I are opening our own indie theater and will bending over backwards to create a one-of-a-kind movie-going experience. Not only will it differentiate us from the multiplexes down the road, but we’re also hoping it will help us maintain a high rate of customer retention. Thanks again for a great article!

Yes indeed!
but at home it is not as fun when you poke a hole in middle of the popcorn bucket and sneak a suprise into the bucket for your friend sitting next to you

Commercials in movie theatres killed my father.

Right on the money! I made essentially the same point (with less supporting evidence) here. The more people write about this, the more the movie industry will be forced to examine just how badly they treat their customers. Maybe they’ll figure a way out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves, which would certainly help moviegoers as well as the movie industry.

Tips for the Movie Industry – Redux

A couple of weeks ago I posted that the movie industry needs to stop treating its customers like lab rats. There’s a great article about this topic over at The Big Picture. Hopefully the Powers That Be in the movie…

Items of Interest #49

In this issue: a girl who throws, a boy who stays out late, and a cow.

one word, IMAX. Differentes with pricing power.

The Big Picture

Why are movie revenues going down? Well, let’s see, maybe it’s because A)They are overpriced B) The movies aren’t very good for the most part and C) There are too many other annoying people in these facilities that aren’t really…

I actually think it is this:

– Movies offer a lower-quality experience than they once did. It is an uncontrolled environment; people are noisy, disrespectful. No one at theaters takes responsibility, it is just hoped they will behave.

– Home theaters aren’t great, but they’re “good enough.” I’d rather watch in the privacy of my home than risk an experience ruined by inconsiderate people.

I don’t care about the price point, I don’t care about the ads.

If a theater took care to ensure people were quiet, enforced order, etc, I would pay double my ticket price for a guaranteed quality experience.

If Starbucks can teach us anything, it is that experience matters. – Ed

I’m another fan of the Alamo Drafthouse theaters in Austin. I don’t live there anymore, but back when I did, they were the only theater I would visit. Why? From the time I walked in the doors to the time I left, I felt like I was in a place that ~cared~ about movies. They were not just selling me a product, they were sharing something they were passionate about with me. Instead of gigantic cardboard billboards for a movie that was months away from release all over the lobbies, there were posters from classic movies. And this sensibility pervaded the moviegoing experience there. Buying food during the movie was novel enough to get me to try the place (and the food was really good), but it was the overall quality of the experience that kept me coming back. Instead of ads before the movies, they’d show trailers for the actors’ previous works (trailers for Losin’ It and Risky Business preceded Minority Report), or some other clips that related to the feature. When I went there, I didn’t feel like some conglomerate was just shovelling so much product at me. I felt like people who “got” what made movies, and the moviegoing experience, special were wanting me to enjoy what it was all about, the FEATURE. The downtown location was constantly hosting a festival of some sort or other, or a screening with the stars of the movie (I saw Shaun of the Dead hosted by the director and leads), or just something interesting (I experienced Dark Side of the Rainbow at the drafthouse). All that, and the ticket prices were the same as the big chains (probably subsidized by the food sales). I hear they are branching out beyond Austin, and I sincerely hope they can maintain the feel that made it such a unique place as they grow.

So, maybe there’s a future for theaters that actually focus on letting customers experience the movie, rather than making us feel like we’re being gouged to increase somebody else’s bottom line. Make no mistake, I expect a business to make money, but there’s a value point past which I no longer feel a transaction is equitable. And standard theaters have long since passed that point for me.

Slate: Hollywood shortens theatrical release window

This Slate article, Hollywood’s Death Spiral,confirms my theory that the race to sell movies on DVD is creating a decline in theater ticket sales:The [Hollywood death] spiral begins with a shortening of the delay, or window, that separates a movie’s

It is directly related to quality- no question. The quality of the theater experience, but more so, the movies themselves.

I do not buy music or movies or go to the theatre anymore. Since the RIAA and the MPAA likes to sue 12

year old girls, 85 year old women who don’t even have computers, and plus even dead people.. They are

going to have to get their next Lamborgini without my help…

Before anyone says that not buying their products will hurt the little guy, remember that the entertainment

industry loves to call for a boycott against any industry that doesn’t fit their view of how the world should

be and they do not care how many “little people” get ran over in the process…..Besides, my life is not

dependant on the entertainment industry, but their’s is dependant on people such as me…..

read with much interest all these comments im a chief technician of a 3 screen cinema here in england uk much of whatswritten here is same in uk however adverts are limmited to max 13 min [still too long ] but thetre chains get a LOT of revenue from adverts [can save cinemas closing then we show a few trailers of forth coming movies max agan 3 or 4total time alotted is 20 min i can sugest you find out actual movie start time not start of programe [poster outside our cinema states actuall movie starts 20 min after prog stars as for poor quality presentation ie picture /sound it just should not be happening [ive done it 40 yrs so know what im saying here ok lol on in plexes 1 guy running up to 20 screens cant check sound n focus 100 % its hard sometines wityh my 3 and things can /do go wrong hope you enjoyed my comments feel free to e mail me ok[I LOVE AMERICA ] OH STOP THE ILLEGAL VIEWING .COPYING OF MOVIES B4 U CLOSE ALL CINEMAS OK dave s

i forgot to add my e mail addresss [DAVE S

Busy over in the City Council, aren’t they?

The members of the New York City Council obviously need a hobby.
Introduction No. 563 of the New York City Council attempts to regulate the times at which movies can start.

Council Members Brewer, Gerson, James, Koppell, Liu, Nelson, Palma, Perkins,

There has been much tea-leaf reading in an attempt to explain “the summer that audiences stayed home,” including movie studio executives actually acknowledging that some of the films they released were less than brilliant. But I’d like to add a modest number of my own observations.

* Every new film being released competes with every other film that the studios have produced. There has never before been a time in film history when audiences have had so much choice, including the ability to see almost any film ever produced, via the boom in DVD releases, and unprecedented numbers of cable and satellite channels (multiple HBOs, Cinemaxes, Showtimes, Turner Classics, et al) devoted to film. Even though cable and home video have been widely available since the late 1970s, there’s never been such a glut of moviegoing opportunities. It is a buyer’s market.

* The so-called hundred-channel universe is now finally real, and the number of homes with access to them has never been higher, with multiple iterations of high-viewership networks for news, sports and entertainment. There have never been greater reasons to stay home and see what’s on TV. The cinema business may be impacted by stay-at-home audiences and theater owners lose, but the movie studios win, since they own and operate the broadcast and cable networks.

* Audience tastes are changing, and the younger, Internet-aware audiences are less attracted to traditional fare. More young people are sharing self-made media — digital “movies,” music, photographs, etc. — than ever before, and much of this kind of programming is higher quality than ever before, due to the availability of digital video and editing systems, digital audio recording and editing, etc. It’s never been easier for individuals to express themselves in words, sounds and pictures, and all of this is small but steadily growing competition for the studio fare.

* Media companies are cranking out record amounts of product — TV series and other network fare, feature films, home videos — but time to consume these products isn’t expanding nearly enough for audiences to take advantage of the boom. Competition, not just for moviegoing dollars, but for sheer attention among various divisions of the Big Six media companies — Sony/Columbia, Viacom/Paramount, Fax, Warners, Disney/ABC and NBC-Universal — is almost cannibalistic. For example, Time-Warner’s film division wants you to leave the house and go to a movie, but CNN, Warner Home Video and AOL wants you to stay home and devote yourself to their offerings.

Everybody’s making more movies. Nobody’s making more time in which to see them.

My husband and I operate two art cinemas we built ourselves, here in Corvallis, Oregon–a university town of about 50K people when school is in session. The Avalon Cinema has one screen and holds 110 theater-goers. The Darkside Cinema is a four-plex with each room holding 49. It’s built on the second floor of a former department store: renovated to reuse cool downtown space.

Links to both are here:
http://www.corvallismovies.com

Although we’re a university town, most of our clientele are not students; they’re young working singles and couples, aging boomers whose kids are old enough they don’t need a babysitter, and retired seniors.

It’s been interesting to watch the major studios whine about the decline in attendance. By contrast, we’ve been enjoying steady and even increasing attendance, and we think it’s due to several factors:

– The films we play are not Hollywood crap. We play a wide variety of “indie,” alternative, foreign, documentary films, rated anywhere from G (Penguins, Millions…) to NC-17 (Bad Education, The Dreamers…).

– Our prices are well below the cineplexes–both for tickets and snack bar items.

– Our popcorn is infinitely refillable.

– People can bring in their own food and beverages (even beer if they don’t get crazy), as long as they pack out the trash they brought in.

– We have a well publicized policy of (good-natured) harassment for anyone who leaves their cell phone on.

– We’re a visible part of the community, hosting benefits non-profits, and participating in civic issues to keep the downtown alive and thriving.

– We hire staff who bring their human-ness to the job. They interact with patrons in a friendly manner, not as corporate automatons. They know can make independent decisions about how to handle issues that come up.

– Customers can talk to the owner(s) face to face. We are not hiding in a 9-to-5 corporate office outside the area. Each week, we send an email to subscribers, listing upcoming shows and including a brief topical essay.

– We DON’T show commercials. Previews of coming attractions, yes. But never commercials.

So, even though we don’t have stadium seating complete with cupholders, we have a loyal following in the Mid-Willamette Valley, which grows each year as more people settle in the area. And cushy, old-fashioned seats. Plus a sofa.

We’re not perfect; we have business issues similar to any locally owned, independent, on-a-shoestring business. But we feel pretty good about bringing quality film–without the BS–to a wide range of local cinephiles who show their appreciation every week.

Thanks for the opp’ty to share,
–Lainie

Movie Nostalgia: Drive-In Theaters Plus A List Of Tennessee Drive-Ins

We went to a drive-in movie the other night and had a blast. We learned a few things about drive-in movie theaters at the same time! If your idea of a drive-in is SONIC, then you need to read this. It’s time to take a step back in time.

We have a family of three. I have a movie pass which allows us to get in for free. We get two large drinks, two nachos and a large popcorn. I still ended up paying $25. I am not justifying boot-leg movies, movie goers are my meal ticket, however, If you have 4 or more people in your family, you are spending over $80 for a movie that not everyone is guaranteed to enjoy. I hadn’t been to a movie theatre in a few years and would not have gone if it wasn’t for the pass. I like waiting for the DVD and enjoying it (or not) in the comfort of my own peaceful home.

There are three reasons for declining movie attendance:

1. Black themed movies/token characters
2. Gay themed movies
3. Treating these types of movies/characters as what white mainstream audiences want to see.

Hollywood needs a reality check. These types of movies have a relatively small target audience, and adding token minorities to movies and portraying them as wise, noble, and smarter than they are in reality, or portraying gay as “normal,” is advancing an agenda, not art imitating life. People want to see films with characters they can identify with, not films with people they’d like to forget exist for a couple of hours.

Look at the revenue generated by Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Narnia, and any of their sequels. Gay undertones, token actors and “color-blind casting” HURT films, and if Hollywood would figure this out, attendance might actually rise.

I’ve actually been standing in theater lobbies and heard people discuss films while looking at coming attraction posters. On more than one occasion, I’ve overheard, “Looks good, but I wonder how they’re going to work a ________ into that one?”

My biggest problem is that you have people talking during the film, baby’s crying and cell phones being used. I mean how disrespectful people in movie theaters are. I mean I am only in my early 30’s and some people somehow forget that other people paid to see the movie not hear them rant and rave with their friends or dates. When are the theater owner’s going to take more action.

Remember when the parking lot at
the movies used to be packed on a
Saturday?

the decline of movie attendence is most certainly due to the fact that the people who commission films are generally a committy of unimaginative fat cats who merit films on their profitability rather than their artistic content. one shining example of this is the recent film big mommas house 2 i mean come on, who thought of that. there are way too many sequills, prequills and remakes which just repeat the same tired old story lines and exploit the preexisting development of aleady two dimensional characters. this is not to say that there are no good mainstream films for example the lord of the rings, the new star wars`, king kong and batman begins. but these are generally very high buget epics which are a guarenteed success. there are other good films but these are often spoiled by sparse funding and therefore poor acting, twenty eight days later, serenty. my reconmendations are to watch as much asian cinema as possible and stay away from things like the remake of the planet of the apes remake that was so poor it tarnished the name of the brilliant film that didnt need messing with.

As more and more of the large theatres (4 – 20 screens & and running the movies 2 – 4 weeks are built the smaller theatres are forced to closed. It’s like a big retail store building several stores (with lower prices) in one town the smaller stores are unable to keep up. The theatre prices prices have gone through the ceiling an example: admissions and concession stand prices go up up and away. $9.00 or more for admission, $2.50 or more for a drink and $3.50 or more for popcorn really now who’s putting who out of business. The movie industry hasn’t helpeither releasing the movies on DVD after just 6 months in the theatre, it should be at least a year wait.

Hollywood will always be on the decline. this is a great thing. i believe it is showing the human race to show more signs of brain power.it takes more than a poorly written movie to entertain people now. people are starting to realize that these overpaid pre madonna actors are not worth a dime. nobady wants to support these big dheaded ego maniacs

I used to go to the movies once a week. Now, you can’t go, unless you want to punish yourself.

High ticket prices
Popcorn/candy/soda costs more than ticket

This is just for starters.

Sit down and get for your money:

Commercials
Repetitive vile movie violence
Extra loud explosions
Neverending sloppy wet kisses
Naked and more naked in one way or another
Sex of one kind or the other
Cursing, Cursing… plus…
Lousy storylines

… and I am going to “pay” to be put through this?
… and they wonder why the revenue is down?

Anyone that wonders why movie-goers don’t go to the movies anymore – does not “pay” to go to the movies themselves, or they would know, “why.”

I come out of the theatre, cursing my loss of entertainment more than the money. It’s not the money as, “WHERES THE STORY?”

i think this is all bullshit!
[:

I personally think it is a rip off to go to the movie theatre’s. I can watch 10 movies a month through netflix for the same price you pay to see one movie!