Theater Attendance Lowest In Two Decades

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How can this be? I thought people loved paying an arm and a leg for tickets and overpriced popcorn, candy and soda? Not to mention how much fun it is being crammed into a smelly theater with crying kids and people talking on their cell phones is great too! What's not to like? :D

According to preliminary estimates, roughly 1.26 billion consumers purchased cinema tickets between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31. That's the lowest number since 1.21 billion in 1995 and not that far ahead of 1994 (1.24 billion). The last time admissions fell below the 1.3 billion mark was in 2011, when only 1.28 billion people when to the movies.
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HDTV, Blu-Ray and high ticket prices. (It has nothing to do with concession prices those have always been high).

Also I think there is market saturation in full effect.
 
One unrealistic CGI packed reboot after another with no character/story development whatsoever. Battle of the Five Armies, want my money back, nuff said, wait, fuck hollywood!
 
theaters will price themselves out of business
$9 early matinee, $16 normal or $22 premium seats

I would rather wait a few months and buy the disc for $25 to watch in the comfort of home
 
I can just stream something to my laptop and watch it with a cup of hot cocoa from my couch without having to see all of the lower classes and their yucky children. Also there's the risk of getting sick by touching the same surfaces as those people. Lots and lots of them don't even wash their hands. Yuck!
 
To me it's just no longer necessary, much like video arcades. Why overspend for something I can do better at home? I never liked the theater experience and now I no longer have to bother.
 
Sort of a control issue for me I guess. Little things like not being able to pause the movie if I need to take a quick break for whatever reason. Not having control of the volume or being able to re-watch a particular scene if I want to. Not being allowed to bring my own food and drink so I can be sold their overpriced crap instead.
 
Although I enjoy the occasional event movie (cough cough The Hobbit cough cough), I enjoy watching most movies on my 120" projection screen at home ... with blu ray from Netflix I can watch more movies that way then I ever could in the theaters
 
Having to sit in an even moderately busy theater sucks these days. People are loud or on their phones, bring their damned kids/babies to the showing regardless of what time or what movie is playing, etc.

For the rare movies I'll go to the theater for, I'll go during the day on a non-holiday weekday; it is not uncommon to have the theater almost to myself.

Otherwise I'll just buy/rent the Blu-ray for movies where the video/audio fidelity matters, or steam the ones where the fidelity is less important.
 
I stopped going when you pay 2 times the cost of the tickets for a soda and popcorn. For my taste that's half the enjoyment of going to the theater and putting up with other rude people. Make it more enjoyable, not more expensive.
 
I still like seeing a movie at the theatre. Interstellar on IMAX was a religious experience :D.

That being said, the majority of movies in 2014 were stinkers. I usually see around 20-25 movies in the theatre a year. I think I didn't even break a dozen last year. Maybe if Hollywood released better movies instead of regurgitated visual vomit more people would be going to see their movies. It seems like the length of the credits is indirectly proportional to the quality of the movie...

Just a thought.
 
PeaKr said:
One unrealistic CGI packed reboot after another with no character/story development whatsoever. Battle of the Five Armies, want my money back, nuff said, wait, fuck hollywood!
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The quality of the content is less of a factor than the miserable theater experience in general.

Outrages prices
Rude and inconsiderate people
Advertisements
Trailers

Add into the equation

Inexpensive home theater systems or just HDTV, your favorite recliner, your own beer. Kick anybody out that gives you crap.
 
I really enjoy going to the theater. Even more so that my oldest son, 7, is into the same stuff I am. But the quality of movies is definitely going down. We haven't went since summer, just because their isn't anything worth paying for. I was just looking last night hoping to find something that looked worthy, but there just isn't anything.

Plus, I really like having subtitles on when watching a movie. I hate when they mutter or something is covered up by sound effects. Can't tell you the amount of times a line is spoken, and I'm like "What?". Dark Knight Rises is a good example. Then I have to hope it wasn't something that was important to the plot. I also hate being crowded, and I wish their was an option for a private box or something. We always get there early go get good seats in the center of the screen, about half way up. At Guardians of the Galaxy we were surrounded on all sides. So annoying.

We will still go to any of the big movies and we have a lot to look forward to, but I can't help but feel that the movie theater experience is going to have to evolve if they want non-movie buffs to keep going.
 
pcjunkie said:
I stopped going when you pay 2 times the cost of the tickets for a soda and popcorn. For my taste that's half the enjoyment of going to the theater and putting up with other rude people. Make it more enjoyable, not more expensive.
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Unless we return to the old days of studio owned theaters the refreshment prices are unlikely to change anytime soon ... the studios take almost all the revenues from the new releases, leaving the theaters only the refreshments as revenue sources (which is what has driven up the prices) ... personally I think one of the more adventurous studios (or more desperate ones, like Sony) should look into direct streaming a few movies (like they did with the Interview but in a more organized fashion) ... if they were to use one of the high quality streaming services (VUDU perhaps) they could offer the home users a very nice experience visually and auditorially and still be able to charge $10-20 for a 24 hour viewing perhaps
 
Other than the very large screen and in some cases good sound system. Not much of a reason to bother going to the theater.
 
Lower the price of the damn concessions and maybe people will start going to the theater again.
 
I used to go to the movies around once a month when I could get a ticket for < $6 and concessions for around another $8. I stopped going when it became > $10 for the ticket and ~ $15 for a drink and popcorn. When it was cheap enough it was worth rolling the dice as to whether or not there were going to be obnoxious people in the theater, but at $25 a pop it's no longer worth it to me. I'll start going again when ticket prices drop and theaters step up enforcement of movie theater etiquette, so probably never.
 
zacrobmer said:
Having to sit in an even moderately busy theater sucks these days. People are loud or on their phones, bring their damned kids/babies to the showing regardless of what time or what movie is playing, etc.

For the rare movies I'll go to the theater for, I'll go during the day on a non-holiday weekday; it is not uncommon to have the theater almost to myself.

Otherwise I'll just buy/rent the Blu-ray for movies where the video/audio fidelity matters, or steam the ones where the fidelity is less important.
Click to expand...

I find this less true at theaters that demand a higher price tag. I visit the cinemark theater in los angeles (formerly the rave, formerly the bridge cinema deluxe), and when I see a screening on the large format XD screen it's quiet as a mouse when the movie comes on, unless something humorous comes up. That coupled to the flat rate 3 dollar parking fee seems to keep the riff raff away. It's when you see a movie on the discount day that people are loud and rowdy.

tl:dr

don't see a movie with the peasants
 
I find this hilarious, as all I hear every week is how good movies did at the box offices, and who trumphs who. Were there many blockbusters this year? Not really, which is probably why.

Also, the window between the movie being in theater and then being available to buy\rent is so small its like why bother to goto the movies with the over priced concessions, and tickets?

The damn production companies are so worried about making their quota, its a real damn shame that going to the movies ain't what it used to be. It would be nice if they focused on enhancing experience then jacking up the prices. I bet they would be perfectly fine if they paid the big actors 2 million less, and lowered the price by $3-4, and would get the same turnout most likely.
 
Expensive soda and popcorn have been par for the course my whole life, so I don't think that's a new thing. I don't necessarily believe movies are that much worse, either. I think that's a little bit of a "This generation's music is crap!" kind of statement.
I just see it as being no longer necessary. Online/disk are the same quality, we're no longer stuck waiting years for movies to come home, and technology has spoiled us. We have nearly everything you can want at your fingertips...but you're going to go into a crowded room and pay an inflated price to watch a 90-minute movie with a hundred strangers and overpriced junk food?

Places like the Alamo drafthouse are doing okay because they've put a focus on larger seats, good food, drinks, quiet, a variety of movies, etc. If you're going to follow the theater model, you have to do something different to get people to go out of their way for something they can do at home.
 
I do not find the high ticket prices to be the reason. If anything, you can get lower prices by just going during the off times of showing. However, I think it is more the crap movies that have mostly come out in the last 10 years that have done it.
 
I think the question needs to be "Why were there so few movies worth seeing this year?" along with "Why were there so many crappy movies that were just a waste of money this year?"
 
tybert7 said:
I find this less true at theaters that demand a higher price tag. I visit the cinemark theater in los angeles (formerly the rave, formerly the bridge cinema deluxe), and when I see a screening on the large format XD screen it's quiet as a mouse when the movie comes on, unless something humorous comes up. That coupled to the flat rate 3 dollar parking fee seems to keep the riff raff away. It's when you see a movie on the discount day that people are loud and rowdy.

tl:dr

don't see a movie with the peasants
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I wish we had that option around here. If pay more for a more personalized experience. Give me a buffer zone from others, a waiter to get our free refills and orders, and let me drink beer. I'd gladly pay for a premium experience.

Quality of experience > cost every time for me. In life as well, not just theaters.
 
It's been over a year since I went to the theater. High ticket prices, expensive popcorn, volume too loud, rude people, no thanks.
I'd rather watch movies at home, where I can control the volume, pop my own popcorn, and pause/rewind the movie if I need to.
 
Unless it's like Interstellar in IMAX or something like Avatar, no way I'll go out to the theater.

I have to re-watch them when they come out anyway since I miss things running to go take a piss.
 
Coincidentally, I recently have been going to see movies in theaters and prior to that I went 10+ years without going to a theater.

Student ID gets me $2 off the ticket price (can use that thing until I'm 35). So something like $7 total which isn't that bad. Gotta have the popcorn and soda which brings the total bill up to $12 or $13.

I also show up to last showings which are usually 11PM start times. Never more than 10 people in the theater.
 
Unless it's like Interstellar in IMAX or something like Avatar, no way I'll go out to the theater.
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Let me make a little correction...
Unless it's like Interstellar in IMAX, no way I'll go out to the theater.
 
I saw the 3rd Hobbit Movie a few days ago. I got there 15 minutes early, then they ran half an hour of commercials even before the previews. Why am I paying $12 to watch 30 minutes of commercials before the movie. They didn't even start running the previews at the time the movie was supposed to start!

I maybe go to the movies 3 times a year now and it's always for social reasons.
 
I feel bad for those so young that have never been to a theater with reasonable concession prices. Yes, at one time it was true.
 
bloodypulp said:
theaters will price themselves out of business
$9 early matinee, $16 normal or $22 premium seats

I would rather wait a few months and buy the disc for $25 to watch in the comfort of home
Click to expand...

Damn those prices suck. The theater I go to is $5 before noon $6 before 7pm and $10 afterwards.
 
Going to the upgraded Cinerma in Seattle watching the last hobbit in laser 3d was justifiable enough for $15 tickets for me and the girl
 
tybert7 said:
I find this less true at theaters that demand a higher price tag. I visit the cinemark theater in los angeles (formerly the rave, formerly the bridge cinema deluxe), and when I see a screening on the large format XD screen it's quiet as a mouse when the movie comes on, unless something humorous comes up. That coupled to the flat rate 3 dollar parking fee seems to keep the riff raff away. It's when you see a movie on the discount day that people are loud and rowdy.

tl:dr

don't see a movie with the peasants
Click to expand...

I'd be all over that if it were available in my area.
 
Low quality releases, smelly noisy theaters, expensive tickets and snacks.

vs

Warm and comfortable at home, cheap large screen TVs, can watch the movie at your own pace and convenience, have your own snacks.

Yeah I wonder why. RIAA/MPAA will blame piracy, I blame progress.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I can just stream something to my laptop and watch it with a cup of hot cocoa from my couch without having to see all of the lower classes and their yucky children. Also there's the risk of getting sick by touching the same surfaces as those people. Lots and lots of them don't even wash their hands. Yuck!
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Like this!

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The majority of that downfall was probably because of few good movies outside of Disney/Marvel this year. One movie studio can't carry the whole industry.
 
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