Movies Have Worst Summer Since 1997

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Movies had the worst summer since 1997. That's funny because you can jumble that sentence around to say "worst summer movies since 1997" and it would still be accurate. Refreshing twist to this article? Piracy wasn't even mentioned. :)

The film industry had its worst summer in North America, still the world’s No. 1 movie market, since at least 1997, after adjusting for inflation. Between the first weekend in May through the end of August, ticket sales in the United States and Canada are expected to total roughly $3.9 billion, a 15 percent decline from the same stretch last year, according to Rentrak, a box office data company.
 
I'm not surprised. I'm tired of cash grab superhero movies. I didn't see anything in the theater this summer other than Edge of Tomorrow, which was an awesome film that unfortunately didn't do well in the US because people were too busy watching said cash grab superhero movies.
 
The only movie that I've been excited to see has been Guardians of the Galaxy. I've seen it in theaters twice now (something I almost never do). It's that good. Other than that I've seen nothing. Movies have tended to suck lately.
 
summer_movie_tickets_sales_chart.jpg


Ticket sales have been decreasing for a while!!

Despite stellar reviews, “Edge of Tomorrow” took in $99.9 million at North American theaters, a major disappointment for Warner Bros., which spent at least $250 million on production and domestic marketing.

When a movie has to make quarter of a BILLION dollars just to break even, something is wrong!!

Studios released 12 sequels this summer and 8 did worst than it's predecessor. Not having as much originality can't help the situation either!!

And then there are games.. this graph looks legit to me!!

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I was so disgusted when the first new Star Wars movie came out, I haven't been back to the theatre since.
 
The last movie I saw in a theater was District 9 back in 2009. I watch maybe 3 hours a week of TV and I don't watch movies.
 
I'm not surprised, seeing that Guardians of the Galaxy was the only movie to come out this summer.

I stand by that, NOTHING ELSE came out.
 
The only ones I enjoyed were Godzilla and Guardians of the Galaxy. I've always been a fan of the Big G and while I thought the movie could have devoted more time to him and less to the human actors,it was far superior to the '98 disaster. Guardians was a pleasant surprise,it was one of the few Marvel titles I didn't follow and the previews made it seem like a corny comedy,but the humor was well balanced with the action and not overdone. I'd like to say I enjoyed Winter Soldier,Cap is one of my favorite characters and I loved the first movie,but the heavy handed political paranoia plot ruined it for me. TMNT was typical Michael Bay drek,lots of explosions,chaotic,unfollowable action,and no plot. As for Spiderman,I wasn't a fan of the first "reboot" and didn't waste my time with the sequel,I found the characters unlikeable,especially the lead actor who comes off as a punk instead of a hero.
 
The only movie I have seen in the theater since probably 2005 was last year when I took my Dad to see Lone Survivor. Between the old man falling repeatedly asleep in front of me...snoring...only to have his wife wake him up and my Dad smacking for nearly 2hours on what seemingly was a bottomless small popcorn...I had my fill of the theater experience for another 10 years or so.
 
Went to the theater and saw The Lego Movie once, GotG twice, TMNT once, Hercules (with The ROCK) once, and Expendables 3 once.
Every one a matinee, the cheapest ticket $10.
GotG was the only movie I was thrilled seeing, the Lego Movie was good, but the rest are Walmart $5 bin quality.
Read All You Need is Kill and when I heard how different Edge of Tomorrow was from the book decided to pass, especially after Tom Cruise running his mouth about how his job was as hard or harder than fighting in Afghanistan. Won't be going to see any of his movies anymore.
Really piss poor movies this year.
 
Movies in general have sucked this Summer. It will probably be better next year (I hope).

Games on the other hand seem to be doing great :D
 
I think I went to the movies 10 years ago. I can't exactly remember the last time I went.
 
I can say I personally didn't see a movie this summer. I just didn't have time. Plus, it didn't seem like there was much coming out that I just HAD to see. There were a couple decent movies, but it looks like I just have to watch them when they come out on blu-ray.
 
I'm not surprised, seeing that Guardians of the Galaxy was the only movie to come out this summer.

I stand by that, NOTHING ELSE came out.

Wtf...Captain America: WS has got to be one of my all time favorite movies and was so much better than GoTG and it came out this summer. Seriously Captain America was really well done especially for a comic book movie.
 
There is probably a near fixed outlay of dollars for movies per summer for most goers. The studios know if they all suck together they won't lose out too many dollars this summer. Next summer they'll have good movies lined up so people don't break the habit of movie going. But going forward there will be summers that suck because people will go anyway.
 
Starship Troopers was released in 1997. One of the last times I walked out excited and satisfied. I regret skipping the new Robocop. Would love a proper sci-fi movie in 60 fps. There must be a market.
 
There is probably a near fixed outlay of dollars for movies per summer for most goers. The studios know if they all suck together they won't lose out too many dollars this summer. Next summer they'll have good movies lined up so people don't break the habit of movie going. But going forward there will be summers that suck because people will go anyway.
I dunno, I think the economy's still going down for the average person and there are way more cheaper entertainment options than ever nowadays.
 
Wtf...Captain America: WS has got to be one of my all time favorite movies and was so much better than GoTG and it came out this summer. Seriously Captain America was really well done especially for a comic book movie.

Captain America 2 sucked. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that was so action packed and yet so boring.
 
I saw Transformers, it was bad, XMEN(was it summer or spring) and Guardians of the Galaxy, VERY GOOD. Also I saw the TMNT reboot, also bad.

I would like to see Lucy and Hercules but haven't managed to make it.
 
Not having as much originality can't help the situation either!!

Walk down your local store's aisle for gaming and tell me how many of those games don't have a number on the end of the title. Seems like we're missing something here if movies are more susceptible to sequel-itis than games.
 
Funny cause the only good movie to come out this summer was Guardians of the Galaxy, and the rest was dog crap.

And X-men days of future past and Captain America winter soldiers were even better movies than it was

This was just a stinker of a summer, I hope this is enough incentive for hollywood to pull its head out of its ass but I doubt it
 
Same old shit, not worth the money, not enough time. Maybe I'm just getting old and sick of movies.
 
A better way of saying this would be.

Movies so bad, nobody even bothered to pirate them.

This. Movies are getting terrible these days. I mostly play games anyway now, or watch shows. Not many great movies lately.
 
Eh, there are very few movies I actually give a shit about to want to see in the theaters. Many movies I see I see via connections with promotional screenings, and most of those I probably wouldn't pay to watch. Wait for them to come to HBO during a free preview weekend or something is good enough for me. Bottom line is that if the allure of watching it in the theaters due to the larger than life screen is the only reason to watch it, then there really isn't any reason to watch it.
 
now that I have my own dedicated home theater in my house I find myself going to the theater much less...only special movies in IMAX or 48 fps are worth it...only movie I really want to see in theaters is the new Star Wars: Episode 7...everything else can wait for Blu-ray...reference video/audio in the home is amazing
 
I'm not surprised. I'm tired of cash grab superhero movies. I didn't see anything in the theater this summer other than Edge of Tomorrow, which was an awesome film that unfortunately didn't do well in the US because people were too busy watching said cash grab superhero movies.

I'm not sure why people passed on Edge of Tomorrow. It was a excellent and it was worth seeing in theaters.

I think Guardians of the Galaxy was also worth a trip. I didn't see Lucy, so it'll have to wait till it's released on video (it's only on small screens now, so I might as well just watch at home).
 
This is an interesting article with the movie and financial statistics. I've only been to see a couple movies this summer. My personal reasons for not going to the movies so much as in the past are:

1) General availability of entertainment at home. Streaming movies, TV series, Cable, Gaming, etc. I lost the "I need to see this when its in theaters" mindset largely because most of my social circles have done the same. Its much better quality to watch movies at someone's place comfortably than at theaters.

2) Its the Summer. People are outside doing things. I'm not really wanting to go inside a building and watch movies as much.

3) There are too many movies. There are and the general quality has been going downhill. There are some gems in between but business (and the movie business) don't seem to understand in general that revenue and profit cannot unilaterally be expected to increase EVERY YEAR. Of course their goal is to get every person in every country to go see every movie at every release - but that's no longer realistic. They can hope everyone pays a service to watch some movies, or rents the movie at best.

4) Price. At theaters this keeps going up, while watching at home (the better experience) keeps going down.

I suspect the general public may share some of these same opinions or enlightenments about this topic.
 
I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy. I only went because I had free tickets. With that said, I will be purchasing these two and Lucy when they come out.

Two factors affecting theater sales. Annoying people and prices.

I can buy two movies on release day for less than a trip to the theater and I don't have to deal with idiots.
 
Wtf...Captain America: WS has got to be one of my all time favorite movies and was so much better than GoTG and it came out this summer. Seriously Captain America was really well done especially for a comic book movie.

Same here. I had to go see it (as it tied in very well with Agents of SHIELD). Was very surprised. Love that movie, and I hope to get it on Blu-ray in the coming weeks.

I actually went to a few movies this summer. TMNT, Godzilla, Edge of Tomorrow... Good movies (except TMNT... It was missing something... Good, but not great). So, I went more than usual, which is 1 or 2. Just nothing really exciting to get me to the theater to pay $60 for the family to go. I'd rather rent or buy a Blu and watch it at home with popcorn, candy, soda and the ability to "Xbox Pause" and take a leak without missing anything.

It's a combination of sub-par (decent, but not theater going good) movies and higher prices that stops me from going. I have taken up bowling, though. I still suck, but it's cheaper and funner than most movies. :)
 
Same here. I had to go see it (as it tied in very well with Agents of SHIELD). Was very surprised. Love that movie, and I hope to get it on Blu-ray in the coming weeks.

I actually went to a few movies this summer. TMNT, Godzilla, Edge of Tomorrow... Good movies (except TMNT... It was missing something... Good, but not great). So, I went more than usual, which is 1 or 2. Just nothing really exciting to get me to the theater to pay $60 for the family to go. I'd rather rent or buy a Blu and watch it at home with popcorn, candy, soda and the ability to "Xbox Pause" and take a leak without missing anything.

It's a combination of sub-par (decent, but not theater going good) movies and higher prices that stops me from going. I have taken up bowling, though. I still suck, but it's cheaper and funner than most movies. :)

I think it is the cost that is preventing a lot of people from going. I went to more movies this summer than years past, want to know why? Because my office is located right next to one and before 5pm, it's $5 a person. That's not a bad deal at all. If you can live without popcorn / soda / snacks, it is cheap. Otherwise, I know of a few managers who said they'll let me in as long as I buy popcorn (one of high margin items).

I'm surprised the cleaning staff hasn't been replaced with roombas and the concession staff hasn't been replaced by vending.
 
I think it is the cost that is preventing a lot of people from going. I went to more movies this summer than years past, want to know why? Because my office is located right next to one and before 5pm, it's $5 a person. That's not a bad deal at all. If you can live without popcorn / soda / snacks, it is cheap. Otherwise, I know of a few managers who said they'll let me in as long as I buy popcorn (one of high margin items).

I'm surprised the cleaning staff hasn't been replaced with roombas and the concession staff hasn't been replaced by vending.

I saw Captain America by myself. I didn't get snacks or anything. It was a quick $9.00 movie. Well worth it. I wouldn't have even gone (and missed a great movie) if it was the whole family.

I'd love to go more. I can afford it, but I'm finding it hard to justify the cost vs. enjoyment.
 
1. More in-home entertainment services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBOGo, RedBox, etc) = less people going to the movies.

2. Less people going to the movies = increase in movie ticket prices.

3. Increase in movie ticket prices = even less people going to the movies.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 every year.

Combine all of that with a less than stellar summer line-up.
 
Captain America 2 sucked. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that was so action packed and yet so boring.

I have to agree. I liked the first one,and I think Chris Evans was a good choice to play Cap,but the whole conspiracy plot was overdone. They would have been better off following the storyline from the comic. To tell the truth,with the exception of Guardians I think all of the Marvel related movies have been going downhill since The Avengers,it's like they ran out of steam after building up to that epic and just didn't know how to outdo it.
 
I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy. I only went because I had free tickets. With that said, I will be purchasing these two and Lucy when they come out.

Two factors affecting theater sales. Annoying people and prices.

I can buy two movies on release day for less than a trip to the theater and I don't have to deal with idiots.

Quit going to church and catch the first showing on Sunday. There are no annoying people. This isn't me trashing people that go to church, it's just that the theaters are virtually empty, so the odds of being near an annoying person are slim and none.

this strategy doesn't work as well in areas with lots of agnostics and atheists ;)
 
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