Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

Ayla

Ayla

Well-Known Member
Ayla said:
I'm going to see the Downton Abbey movie today and going into a theater for the first time in probably 6 or 7 years. :oops: The theater is about half full at the very first showing with pre-purchased tickets, so I think that's pretty good. lol

Bring on the diacetyl!!
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(For those that don't know, diacetyl is the fake butter on the popcorn. 🍿)
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Tony the Tigger said:

🤦🏻‍♂️
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Welcome to the continuous world of Hollywood consolidation. While the specific player has changed, its been expected since almost the moment that WB and Discovery merged that Zaslav was looking to sell off WBD. The original suitor was expected to be Comcast, but Paramount/Skydance is just as good. Makes them a powerhouse with Netflix/Disney/Comcast.

So much for those posters who kept claiming that Disney would be buying WB for DC, knew that was never going to happen. 🤣
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Average ticket price is now reaching almost $12 -

www.the-numbers.com

Premium formats are driving average movie ticket price increases in 2025 - The Numbers

The first half of 2025 has presented a mixed picture for the North American box office, with fluctuations in both revenue and ticket pricing. The first
www.the-numbers.com www.the-numbers.com

This combined with all the other stuff talked about this year could be what is causing many movie goers to stay home.
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I know I’m in a totally different market and currency, but for some reason 12$ doesn’t strike me as being expensive. I’m curious what the American market has done on a longer horizon as we’ve been largely stagnant for 30 years now.

Article from Jan 2005 below

Blame the almighty DVD, the splashy home theatre and the comfy armchair in your family room.

All those factors were cited yesterday for a stealthy drop in attendance at movie theatres that prompted Famous Players Inc., the country's largest exhibitor, to chop $4 off its ticket prices in Ontario.

Starting tomorrow, cinephiles will shell out $9.95, rather than the usual $13.95 for general admission, as part of a marketing ploy to lure warm bodies out of their homes and into the stadium-style seats.

The timing is impeccable for those keen to glean the Oscar worthiness of those contenders now flying planes, inventing Peter Pan, or boxing their hearts out on big screens across the land.

The Famous Players initiative is an across-the-board cut in Ontario and applies to all show times, any day of the week. Company president Robb Chase said his motivation for dropping general admission to under $10, its lowest level since 1998, is simple economics.

"Box office is up, prices are up, but attendance is what drives the health of the theatre business," he said yesterday, noting that while discount Tuesdays will disappear, seniors and children's prices will remain at $8.50.

Since 2002, North American box-office revenues have been generally robust, thanks to ever-inflating ticket prices. But admissions have declined in the United States and Canada -- a disturbing trend for movie chains, since the majority of their butter comes from high-margin popcorn and pop sales.

"It's a gutsy but business-savvy move," said Howard Lichtman, president of The Lightning Group, a marketing consulting firm.

"What Famous Players is trying to say is, 'Come to the movies. We've made it more affordable.' A dollar or two price cut wouldn't have ignited the attendance they're looking for.

"Now the $100-million question is will the strategy work to stimulate attendance?" Mr. Lichtman asked.

"The best-test case was our own Canadian model, half-price Tuesdays, where Canadians reacted dramatically to a one-day-of-the-week price drop. That not only changed movie-going habits, but lifestyle habits as well."

Mr. Chase said he blames a combination of things for the decline in theatre admissions, everything from improvements in home theatre viewing, more aggressive pricing of DVDs and videos, and the plethora of other entertainment options.

"All that kind of stuff is nipping around the edges of theatre attendance. So we added it all up and decided we needed to do something to give people incentive, to capture their imagination, to get them out to the movies more often."

Yesterday, Pat Marshall, vice-president of communications at Cineplex Galaxy, said her company had no plans to follow Famous Players' lead. "Of the 40 Cineplex Odeon and Galaxy Cinemas in Ontario, 30 out of the 40 theatres already offer the same or lower tickets for both adults and children/seniors than Famous Players' newly announced reduced ticket prices," she said.

"We pioneered this ticket-pricing model over five years ago in our Galaxy theatres."

But regardless of who did it first, movie lovers will no doubt be pleased, primarily because a night with Nicole Kidman or Jude Law was no longer cheap, costing two people roughly $50 in major cities once the $30 for two tickets and $20 for snacks are tallied. To that total, some people had to add the cost of a babysitter.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Inc. in Los Angeles, said a $4 price drop might be the kick in the pants movie goers need.

"It's smart to think of the foot traffic," he said. "The more people who walk into the theatre, the more people buying popcorn and soda, which is what propels their bottom line."

In 2004, 1.51-billion tickets were sold in North America, according to Exhibitor Relations, down almost 2 per cent from 2003. Attendance of 1.54-billion in 2003 was off almost 4 per cent from the modern benchmark of 1.6-billion in 2002 -- the year of blockbuster hits such as Spider-Man, the sleeper My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Trackers such as Nielsen EDI and Exhibitor Relations estimate that the haul from the North American box office in 2005 will be $9.2-billion (U.S.) to $9.4-billion, in the range of the record $9.3-billion set in 2002.

So, studios are obviously not hurting, but an increasingly large chunk of overall movie revenue is coming from DVDs and videocassettes, with combined consumer spending on home video totalling slightly more than $22-billion in 2004, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Since the early 1990s, Famous Players and Cineplex Galaxy have gradually rolled out price discounts in markets such as Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal. In almost every instance, both firms say, attendance has grown.

For now, the price change at Famous Players is temporary. But Mr. Chase said "if the audience reacts the way we hope they will, we will be very inclined to keep it in place."
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Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
BrianLo said:
I know I’m in a totally different market and currency, but for some reason 12$ doesn’t strike me as being expensive. I’m curious what the American market has done on a longer horizon as we’ve been largely stagnant for 30 years now.

Article from Jan 2005 below
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$12 is just the average, that includes everything from matinees to discount deals to premium formats to regional fluctuations, for example the Coasts are often way higher than in the Midwest. Premium ticket prices for example are often way higher, sometimes hitting almost $30. Personally I don't think I have paid less than $17-18 since the pandemic, and that is even for a matinee, I'm averaging like $25. For example I saw Caught Stealing on Thursday night, good movie by the way, and I paid $18 for a small 25 seat theater for a 10pm showing.

In 2005 for example the average ticket price in the US was $6.41, so almost half what it is now, which when factoring in inflation would only be $10.63 now. So average ticket prices have outpaced inflation.

Note this list hasn't been updated yet with the latest ticket prices for 2025, it'll be updated at the end of the year to reflect the increase -

www.the-numbers.com

The Numbers - Movie Market Summary 1995 to 2025

Overall movie market summary for each year 1995 to 2025
www.the-numbers.com www.the-numbers.com

Additional note, this is also where we can see that 2025 is coming in under 2024 for the year. And they are usually pretty spot on by the end of the year. And why we can see we're not going in the right direction if people want a health theatrical market.
 
D

DKampy

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
$12 is just the average, that includes everything from matinees to discount deals to premium formats to regional fluctuations, for example the Coasts are often way higher than in the Midwest. Premium ticket prices for example are often way higher, sometimes hitting almost $30. Personally I don't think I have paid less than $17-18 since the pandemic, and that is even for a matinee, I'm averaging like $25. For example I saw Caught Stealing on Thursday night, good movie by the way, and I paid $18 for a small 25 seat theater for a 10pm showing.

In 2005 for example the average ticket price in the US was $6.41, so almost half what it is now, which when factoring in inflation would only be $10.63 now. So average ticket prices have outpaced inflation.

Note this list hasn't been updated yet with the latest ticket prices for 2025, it'll be updated at the end of the year to reflect the increase -

www.the-numbers.com

The Numbers - Movie Market Summary 1995 to 2025

Overall movie market summary for each year 1995 to 2025
www.the-numbers.com www.the-numbers.com

Additional note, this is also where we can see that 2025 is coming in under 2024 for the year. And they are usually pretty spot on by the end of the year. And why we can see we're not going in the right direction if people want a health theatrical market.
Click to expand...
As someone who is in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin market. I can confirm middle America is cheaper than the coasts…. 17/18 would be the max I would pay… that would be for a premium screen 3d…. The only exceptions would be 4DX or screen X… which are are about a 45 minute drive for me

I am locked into a $10.00 per ticket no matter the showtime through our local theater… it costs 10.00 a month…. But you get 1 movie ticket credit a month…. So it really costs me nothing
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Interesting! We are dominated by two main chains and there is no regional variability in their pricing. Largely I feel the Canadian ticket pricing has remained stagnant due to the membership schemes with ongoing 10$ tickets. Famous players was notoriously expensive prior to that price drop. With the respective 3/5$ imax and 3D premiums

The exception would be PLF “VIP” adults only offshoots and that can be 20$.

Now popcorn on the other hand… that’s been above inflation.
 
FrontierSpirit

FrontierSpirit

Active Member
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
FrontierSpirit said:
I guess others know about this film. My girls can’t wait to see this. I have no idea what I’m about to watch.

deadline.com

‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ Huge With $70M Opening: A Record For Anime & Crunchyroll; 6th Best For September, Sony’s Biggest YTD

Crunchyroll's 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle' is looking at at least a $70 million 3-day opening box office total, a record for an anime movie.
deadline.com deadline.com
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At least it isn't Chainsaw Man.

Saw that HHN. Not safe for the Disney faithful.
 
Disney Analyst

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
FrontierSpirit said:
I guess others know about this film. My girls can’t wait to see this. I have no idea what I’m about to watch.

deadline.com

‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ Huge With $70M Opening: A Record For Anime & Crunchyroll; 6th Best For September, Sony’s Biggest YTD

Crunchyroll's 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle' is looking at at least a $70 million 3-day opening box office total, a record for an anime movie.
deadline.com deadline.com
Click to expand...

We bought our Demon Slayer shirts from Uniqlo! Ready to see it next week.
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
Disney appears to have licensed out Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to Prime.

Curious, I guess they paid well.
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A spectacular film that feels like a new classic. My favorite of the new Apes films which honestly have gotten progressively better with each one. It completely changed my expectations for the live action Zelda.
 

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