Boxoffice® Pro - March 2014

EXECUTIVE SUITE
UPCOMING EVENTS
CinemaCon 2014 Mar. 24–27
National Assoc. of Broadcasters
(NAB) Conf. & Exhibition
Apr. 5–10
NATO of Pennsylvania Apr. 23
NATO of CA/NV Southern
California Film Product Seminar
Apr. 24
North Central States NATO 2014 Apr. 29–30
NATO of CA/NV Northern
California Film Product Seminar
TONE 2014 Future of Cinema
Conference
Mid-Atlantic NATO “Cinema Show
& Tell”
Apr. 29
May 7
May 13–14
ShowCanada 2014 June 3–5
Cine Europe 2014 June 16–29
NAC Convention & Trade Show
2014
July 15–18
ShowSouth 2014 Aug. 19–20
Geneva Convention 2014 Sept. 9–11
CineShow 2014 Sept. 16–17
Kino Expo International
Convention & Trade Show 2014
NATO General Membershp and
Board of Directors Meeting
Sept. 22–26
Sept. 30–Oct. 1
Rocky Mountain NATO 2014 Oct. 7–9
Australian International Movie
Convention 2014
Oct. 12–16
ShowARama Oct. 14–16
ShowEast 2014 Oct. 27–30
CineAsia 2014 Dec. 9–11
population. Americans go to the movies a little more than four times
a year at a relatively (by global standards) high ticket price. The U.S.
market is strong but mature. The European market is also relatively
mature, though people there go to the movies about twice a year on
average. Meanwhile, box office is exploding in places like China, India,
Russia, and Brazil. Chinese box office grew 400 percent in five years and
will likely outpace the United States by 2020. Simply put, the emerging
markets have become the growth engine to replace declining DVD sales.
What does the growth of the international market mean for the
quantity and diversity of movies distributed by the majors in the United
States? I have shown how the numbers have declined. Ms. Obst’s book
describes the resulting death of genres, including many (but not all) comedies;
sports movies; small dramas generally, and particularly those that
explore national history; political pieces; period pieces; romances; movies
with minimal pre-awareness; mixed genres; westerns; and more.
AVATAR
MARVEL’S THE
AVENGERS
TOY STORY 3
IRON MAN 3
TOP 5 HIGHEST-GROSSING 3D FILMS
HARRY POTTER
AND THE DEATHLY
HALLOWS PART 2
DOMESTIC
INTERNATIONAL
$760.5m
$2,021.8m
27.3% 72.7%
$623.5m
$895.2m
41.0% 59.0%
$415.0m
$648.1m
39.0% 61.0%
$409.0m
$806.4m
33.7% 66.3%
$381.0m
$960.5m
28.4% 71.6%
SOURCE: BOXOFFICE.COM
At the same time, 3D works better overseas than it does in the United
States, which may explain why so many movies are released in that format.
After Avatar (once again from our honoree Jim Cameron) and Alice
in Wonderland had great success with 3D, the expectations were sky-high
for the format. But as the technology didn’t work well with some movies,
the slice of domestic box office coming from 3D has waned. Not so in
many overseas territories. And the fact that China’s movie-import quota
system applies differently to 3D than other movies also has an effect.
Further compounding the problem in the United States are rules
of some foreign countries that give preference to movies made in their
homelands. To cope with these rules, the major studios enter into coproductions
with foreign firms and produce movies in foreign lands. The
coproduction factor also has a diminishing effect on the breadth of movie
genres released by the majors in the United States.
At the same time that major studios have reduced the number and
scope of their slates, more independent movies are being made. These are
the movies fighting to get on a few screens, often in New York and Los
Angeles. Traditionally there have been three barriers to entry in the movie
business: production costs, distribution costs, and marketing. Inexpensive
digital technologies have made it easier to make and distribute movies.
Yet few of these movies have found the ability to secure a theatrical run
of more than a handful of screens, or the financial backing to properly
market their wares. And yet we know that some of those movies could
have substantial commercial success if they could secure broad screen
access and awareness.
The challenge for exhibitors who want more commercial movies of diverse
genres on their screens is real and has become a topic for discussion
at NATO. We look forward to exploring those issues in future discussions
in this magazine.
14 BoxOffice ® Pro The Business of Movies MARCH 2014