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Despite Piracy Claims, North American Box Office Hits Record $11.4 Billion In 2016 (variety.com)
Slashdot reader rudy_wayne writes: Despite constant claims of losing billions of dollars to "piracy", the North American box office closed out 2016 with $11.4 billion in ticket sales. That marks a new record for the industry, bypassing the previous record of $11.1 billion that was established in 2015.
Disney had four of the top five highest-grossing films, including "Finding Dory," the year's top film with $486.3 million. "When holdovers are taken into account, Disney had six of the year's ten highest-grossing releases, a group that includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which debuted in 2015," reports Variety. Other top films include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($408.2 million), Captain America: Civil War ($408.1 million), The Secret Life of Pets ($368.4 million), and The Jungle Book ($364 million).
Disney "controlled more than a quarter of the domestic market share despite releasing fewer films than any of the major studios," according to the article, which notes that the record was achieved despite the absence of big releases in several major movie franchises partly through higher ticket prices (and possibly also inflation).
Disney had four of the top five highest-grossing films, including "Finding Dory," the year's top film with $486.3 million. "When holdovers are taken into account, Disney had six of the year's ten highest-grossing releases, a group that includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which debuted in 2015," reports Variety. Other top films include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($408.2 million), Captain America: Civil War ($408.1 million), The Secret Life of Pets ($368.4 million), and The Jungle Book ($364 million).
Disney "controlled more than a quarter of the domestic market share despite releasing fewer films than any of the major studios," according to the article, which notes that the record was achieved despite the absence of big releases in several major movie franchises partly through higher ticket prices (and possibly also inflation).
Step 1: Target your children. ...
Step 2: Release
Step 3: Profit.
what these numbers don't seem to keep into account it the increase in ticketprices... Also the production costs of the movies are again higher than in 2015. So comparing the years purely on boxoffice income is useless..
The "piracy problem" is a sideshow, Hollywood (and music / TV industry) always wants more cocaine to shove up its, and politicians collective nose, while they all collude to sell defective products that the pirates fix (removing DRM from DVD / BluRay / data CDs passed of as Red Book Standard audio CDs etc).
Take Nobody's Word For It.
What part exactly? The sound that's too loud when something explodes or too soft when someone's talking? The sticky floors? The people talking on the phone? The overpriced popcorn?
Wow dude, except for the overpriced popcorn I have to ask where did you find such a crappy theater. I go to movie theaters with some regularity since there are some movies that really are best seen on the biggest possible screen. Sometimes you want to see dinosaurs life sized instead of just 70 inches tall. It's also a nice way to go on a date with your significant other - cuddle close and no talking necessary for 2-3 hours. The sound is generally excellent, I can't remember the last time someone talked loud enough for me to be bothered by it and I certainly haven't seen anyone answer their phone in ages. Hell they even do a pretty good job cleaning the floors these days. I'm not saying none of those things happen but it's been my experience that the movie theaters are actually working pretty hard to make it a nice experience. I've seen them kick trouble makers out. Occasionally you run into some selfish assclown who tries to ruin it for everyone else but mostly people are pretty respectful and just trying to have a good time just like you and me.
As for the popcorn, do you understand the business model of a movie theater? Let me break it down. When you go to see Rogue One, the theater gets to keep something like 20% of the ticket price - the rest goes to the studio. They get to keep a bit more the longer the movie runs but they never get to keep most of it. That means when 30 people show up to a showing they might make $60 if tickets are $10 each. That isn't enough money to keep the doors open. That means they have to have other sources of income. You can think of movie theaters something like a concession stand that uses movies to get you to show up and buy something. (kind of like petrol stations in that respect - they don't make much if any profit on the fuel itself) So yeah, they jack up the price of the popcorn. But you know what? You don't have to buy it. But most do anyway because they enjoy it. Just because it isn't as cheap as possible doesn't mean it isn't good value for money. If people really thought the popcorn was overpriced then they wouldn't buy it and the theater would have to lower prices. Believe it or not you can see a movie without eating popcorn.
Just because the entertainment industry is making record breaking money doesn't mean that they are also not losing alot to piracy. The "despite" term in the Slashdot headline is inaccurate and clearly shows a leech slant.
Just because the entertainment industry is making record breaking money doesn't mean that they are also not losing alot to piracy.
Actually it means EXACTLY that. Piracy is not necessarily a bad thing for the industry and the relationship between piracy and profits is complicated. The simplistic notion that every pirated copy equals a lost sale of equivalent value is demonstrably nonsense. Most pirated content would not have resulting in additional sales. It's been demonstrated that piracy in many cases actually INCREASES sales.
Movie theaters aren't (or shouldn't be) selling a mere viewing of a movie. I can get that without involving them. They have to be selling something I cannot get elsewhere. A huge screen and an awesome sound system that I cannot replicate at home. Smarter theaters like Alamo Draft House sell pretty decent dining as well. Some theaters offer super comfy seats and other amenities. One near me has a bowling alley and bar. Many have video arcades. THAT is what I am paying for and it is not possible to pirate that experience. If all people wanted was to watch the movie on whatever crappy screen I could find then movie theaters would have been out of business a long time ago. Sure piracy might lose a few marginal customers but if their business model was so poor that piracy could make a real dent then they deserve to lose money.
Movie theaters aren't in the business of selling movie viewings. They are in the business of renting large projection and sound systems and providing entertainment. The movie is just the loss leader to get you in the door. It's like Las Vegas. Nobody really needs to go there just to gamble. I have three casinos in my home town. I go there for an experience that I cannot get at those local casinos and that those local casinos cannot really replicate.