Box Office Rules

Over the past few weeks there has been HUGE buzz over the box office totals. First The Hunger Games and then The Avengers (mostly The Avengers) have taken the box office by storm.
The Avengers has completely blown away all former box office records. I doubt it will be in the running for many Academy Awards (except, of course, Special Effects, there it has a shot) but sales like this are unheard of.

One thing many of the articles I have read have brought up, is that these two movies are killing ticket sales for any other movies that are out. Normally when one movie does really well, it gets people out to the theaters, and as a result ticket sales are up across the board. So while coming out the same week as a Harry Potter or a Twilight might mean you never hit #1 for the week, it will bolster ticket sales... perhaps increasing the income of a lower performer. This is not happening now. The Avengers and, to a lesser extent, the Hunger Games are blowing the competition away. Ticket sales on most of the other movies out right now are ridiculously low. Critics are blaming these two blockbusters.... but I don't think they are to blame.

The economy is still such that, while people are more willing to spend, we are careful where our money goes. I know that I, for one, have had it in my budget for months to see those two movies in theaters... I may spring for one more this summer, but that will be it. I can't justify spending between $6 and $15 (depending on geography and the theater) on a single ticket for a one time viewing, when I can wait 6-10 months, buy it on DVD for $17 to $20 (Blu-ray for $25-$35) and watch it all I want with all my friends. Very few movies have the drawing power to get me out and to the movie theater. I think many Americans, and Earthlings for that matter, feel the same way I do.
I also think that if either of these movies came out against another anticipated movie it wouldn't be as drastic. Put them up against each other, a Harry Potter, a Twilight movie, even a new animated Disney movie, and there would not be as big a gap. But with movies based on board games (I'm looking at you Battleship), Sacha Baron Cohen playing the same role yet again (The Dictator), and a movie based on a fairly unknown 1960s TV shows (Dark Shadows), and what do we really expect? (And yes, those are #s 2, 3, and 4 this week in box office.)

Within the next few weeks movies are coming out that I think will easily turn the box office tide. While none will measure up to The Avengers in overall ticket sales, one of them should be able to knock it out of the #1 spot for the week. Men in Black III (Will Smith) comes out this next week, and will be followed in the next few weeks by both Snow White and the Huntsman (Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth of Thor and The Avengers) and Prometheus (Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce). Given the movies for the rest of the summer, I think we will still see dominance by a few movies more than a spread in sales.