Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wikipedia Can Predict Box Office Flops

Posted by Soulskill on from the citation-needed dept.

Daniel_Stuckey writes "Despite a record year, like every year before it, 2013 remained fraught with its fair share of box office disasters. What if studios could minimize their loses and predict when the next Pluto Nash-level flop was imminent? According to new research published in PLoS One, they may actually be able to. Using data gleaned from Wikipedia articles, researchers measured the likelihood of a film's financial success based on four parameters: number of total page views; number of total edits made; number of users editing; and the number of revisions in the article's revision history, or 'collaborative rigor.'"

3 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Oh great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... because what we REALLY need is more studios taking LESS chances...

    Some of the greatest movies have been box-office flops.

    1. Re:Oh great... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Like it or not, studios are out to make money, not great movies. For all they're concerned, every movie could be a Chipmunks sequel.

      Exactly. The goal of a movie is to put asses in seats. That's it.

      But that is a silly goal EVEN IF you simply want to maximize profits. It would be better to charge more per seat for good movies and less for bad movies. Also, the price should fall each week as the audience diminishes, to encourage repeat viewers, or to get more "impulse watchers" that are willing to spend $2 but not $12.

      As long as I am on a rant, airlines should also price differentiate their seats. Middle seats should be $20 less than windows or aisles, and your ticket should be at least a few bucks cheaper in the back of the plane.

  2. A little late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Once there's a wikipedia article, with content, and page views, the movie's already made. Not releasing at that point, to avoid losing money on a flop, would only cause more money to be lost. Or am I missing something?