Box-Office Bust: Movie Attendance Hits 16-Year Low
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Image Credit: Simon Varsano/Lionsgate
“Conan the Barbarian.” “Mars Needs Moms.” “Cowboys and Aliens.”
They were supposed to be the silver screen mega-hits of 2011. Instead, they are on the list of the year’s biggest flops. If you didn’t see them, you’re hardly alone.
Despite some big-name sequels, superstar lineups and multibillion-dollar investments from movie studios, 2011 was a tough year for Hollywood. Ticket sales are on pace to be a half a billion dollars behind last year. Attendance figures haven’t been this low since 1995.
“It’s a pretty tough year at the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office division of Hollywood.com. “We’re ending 2011 on a whimper, not really a bang.”
Critics say there were too many family movies on the marquee that pushed out the teens and young adults who usually pack the theaters. Movies such as “Mars Needs Moms” cost Disney $150 million to make, but only sold $39 million in tickets.
And the long lineup of dark and depressing films might also have kept moviegoers such as Jane Viar at home. “There were several months where there just weren’t any good choices,” the Sacramento, Calif., resident said.
But both moviegoers and analysts agree the biggest factor in declining attendance is cost. Ticket prices continue to rise; moviegoers now pay an average of $7.89 per ticket, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
“Obviously when ticket prices go up it makes it harder for families to go to the movies,” Dergarabedian said. “And that hurts particularly in the holiday seasons.”
The availability of movies online, analysts say, is also hurting the industry’s bottom line. “There’s so many different ways to get content for the audience. They’re pulled in a million different directions,” Dergarabedian said. “That makes it a very competitive environment. The films have to be that much better otherwise audiences are going to do something else.”
Despite the low year-end figures, moviegoers spent nearly $10 billion on tickets in 2011, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box office data.
Here’s a list of the biggest flops of 2011.
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Well of course attendance is low. The economy is bad and ticket prices are astronomical. DUH
Posted by: K | December 28, 2011, 8:29 am 8:29 am
Of course attendance is low. The cost to go is too high. To take a family of four the tickets are almost $30 around here and then if you buy any food its another $30 or $40. Too much!
Posted by: Amy | December 28, 2011, 8:55 am 8:55 am
Mmm $20 bucks for me and my fiance to go to the movies and that’s not including food or wait a few months pay a $1 at redbox and watch it on my flat screen tv and surround sound, tough choice there.
Posted by: Brian | December 28, 2011, 9:07 am 9:07 am
I NEVER and I mean I never go to the movies. I find they are either trying to force humor down your throat or overall are just lame but the main factor is the costs. In the northern VA area tickets run for about $10.50 not $7.50, add the $20 they want for a small popcorn and drink and I’m already out a weeks worth of groceries. I actually go home to Nicaragua of all places once every couple of years, ironically movies come out the same day they do here, they are air conditioned stadium theatres just like here and you get waiter service at your seat. Cost of the tickets is 25Cordobas or $2.20USD and for another $2.00 you can get a drink, popcorn, and a hot dog. Not sure why it’s ok to gauge us here so yeah, keep your movies.
Posted by: Teresa | December 28, 2011, 9:25 am 9:25 am
I’m not generally worried about the cost, but the crop of movies are terrible. You want my family to spend our hard earned money going to the movie theaters then quit giving us junk to watch. How about a plot and some dialogue. All movie executives should be forced to watch hollywood classic and learn what a good movie consists of. Hint, it is not about sequels and remakes.
Posted by: buyunionmade | December 28, 2011, 9:51 am 9:51 am
Movies are expensive, the food is expensive, and the movies themselves are terrible. Then you have jack-holes who can’t put their smart phone because they are so important, that every text and call must be answered, and it doesn’t make it worth it. Want to get movie attendance up? Put cell phone jammers in the theaters. If you are so worried about missing a call, stay home.
Posted by: Frank | December 28, 2011, 9:59 am 9:59 am
No, no – this has nothing to do with the anti-piracy methods being pushed by the movie industry on the movie viewing public – guilty or not.
Posted by: RocketJL | December 28, 2011, 10:12 am 10:12 am
movies are not what they used to be
Posted by: jay | December 28, 2011, 10:20 am 10:20 am
admission is way too high for the junk they are releasing.
Posted by: irv | December 28, 2011, 10:27 am 10:27 am
I hate going to the movies, however, I would be willing to pay movie prices for 4 people if movies were released instantly to my home theater where I could enjoy the movie at home, in private, with my own food. I’d likely be willing to pay more than movies prices for the comfort of my own home.
Posted by: lamemovies | December 28, 2011, 10:31 am 10:31 am
Why is anyone surprised? For the past 16 years, the only audience that Hollywood corporations have been interested in catering to are the much-coveted young male demographic, whom they believe are only interested in crude, unfunny “comedies” based on cruelty, depicting slobs whose ultimate goal is overindulging in beer and getting gorgeous babes into bed with them. If the entire population of the United States were made up of that narrow focus demographic, they might have fared better. Alas, there are others out there who do NOT fit that category and also have money. But I guess that money isn’t worth anything in Hollywood, somehow…
Posted by: Bizarro7 | December 28, 2011, 10:38 am 10:38 am
Gotta agree; unless Movie Theaters start installing phone jammers and enforcing a policy of no babies, the experience is only going to continue to deteriorate. Inconsiderate parents and cell phone users are destroying the moviegoing experience for everyone.
Posted by: Bizarro7 | December 28, 2011, 10:41 am 10:41 am
2 tickets to a 3D movie 11am on a Sunday. 1 Medium soda, small popcorn and a kids pack. $40! I was shocked. I understand the cost of the 3D movie is more to produce, but we will not be going back. I can give him and a friend $20 worth of coins and they will have a blast at chuckie cheese playing games. It is sad that it is so expensive. I used to take his teen sisters all the time when they were his age.
Posted by: Lisa | December 28, 2011, 10:43 am 10:43 am
Adding on to previous post – this was in the midwest. Not one of the coasts where things are a bit more expensive.
Posted by: Lisa | December 28, 2011, 10:47 am 10:47 am
I have stopped going to the movies because I refuse to support an actor that sticks his/her nose into politics. I think a lot of people are doing the same.
Oprah lost a big chunk of her viewing audience when she decided to back Obama. She interviewed him on her show, but refused McCain or Palin interviews. That is when I stopped watching her.
Entertainers should stict to entertaining, and keep their political opinions to themselves.
Posted by: wheresmymoney | December 28, 2011, 10:53 am 10:53 am
It’s pretty obvious why…ticket prices are exorbiant (recently saw $13 IMAX tickets), outrageous prices for food and drinks, etc. It’s cheaper, easier and more relaxing to go rent a movie or do Netflix and stay at home. Seems like the movie execs and suppliers are getting rich while consumers are getting poorer. Movie theaters are a dying dinosaur.
Posted by: Ashley | December 28, 2011, 11:13 am 11:13 am
My wife and I used to go to see a movie about once a week. Now we only go every couple of months. The prices are the main reason. We used to have Netflix, but since they split and went to pot, we don’t even do that any more. For the same price as 2 tickets, popcorn, and a drink, we can just buy the movie when it comes out on Blu-ray, then watch in the comfort and privacy of our home whenever we wish without fighting for parking, being annoyed by phone addicts and crying babies, or being stuck with crappy seats. And the best part: we can hit the “pause” button if we need a bathroom break!
Posted by: Arf40 | December 28, 2011, 11:19 am 11:19 am
Oh yeah, the only things we use theaters for these days are 3D movies…at least until we get a 3D TV and Blu-ray player.
Posted by: Arf40 | December 28, 2011, 11:20 am 11:20 am
I haven’t been to a movie in something like 10 years. I refuse to be ripped off.
Posted by: newcountryman | December 28, 2011, 11:27 am 11:27 am
And on the 3-D thing–Its kind of hard to watch a 3-D movie with just one eye….
Posted by: Bruce | December 28, 2011, 11:41 am 11:41 am
When they start making movies like Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and start black listing people with cell phones, maybe people will start showing up. Until then, we are stuck with Steven Spielberg and his over-the-top, gaudy special effects.
Posted by: Bruce | December 28, 2011, 11:51 am 11:51 am
I haven’t been to the movies in over 10 years. I sit at home on my comfy couch watching movies on my 52 inch HDTV and surround sound. I got tired of forking over my money to listen to cell phones and crying babies.
Posted by: allen | December 28, 2011, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
The vast majority of movies released today are for someone with the intellect of a 12 year old. Its all just complete trash! It’s shocking. I refuse to see a movie unless it gets unlimited praise from all sectors. Even then it’s suspect.
Posted by: PeteEpic | December 28, 2011, 12:21 pm 12:21 pm
I stopped going to the movies on a regular basis over 30 years ago. I will NOT pay to see the crap that they call art. IF they become hits and are GOOD, then I’ll rent them and see them on my 52″ flat screen. No need to WASTE my good money. $8.00 I can’t believe that. Two years ago I took my grandkids to a child movie and I spent over $45.00. For THAT kind of money I could have bought them something they would STILL be using!!! Of course, I’m elderly and I come from a time when movies cost $1.50 to see in their BEST days when things weren’t all computer tricks instead of acting. Enjoy everyone but it’s NOT for me!!!
Posted by: demNme5 | December 28, 2011, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
The liberal slop they push and the media being in love with hollywood try to tell everyone how great the movies are. When you apease 1 half the country maybe this is what you get.
Posted by: daniel | December 28, 2011, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
I don’t do movies at the theater anymore either. I wait until they hit cable and when they do I am glad I didn’t go and pay the money. Most are remakes and after you read about the overpaid snobby actors, it just puts a bad taste in your mouth.
Posted by: LW | December 28, 2011, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
And maybe SOME aren’t going to movies right now because they’re SLIGHTLY mad about Hollywood’s little PET PROJECT … the one they’re trying to PAY congress to pass for them… the one that’s going to BREAK THE INTERNET FOR EVERYONE ELSE. You know, that little thing called SOPA. That thing ABC won’t write about because they SUPPORT it!
Posted by: Ivan&Al | December 28, 2011, 5:56 pm 5:56 pm
People are boycotting Hollywood over SOPA and Protect IP. Think it’s bad now? WAIT!
Posted by: Dave | December 29, 2011, 5:47 am 5:47 am
Well at one time theaters could charge more for ticket prices and popcorn when all these high quality movies started coming out. I would say these started coming out in the early 1990′s. Mostly because of technology. Better camera moves, music scores, sound effects, and so on. In the eighties they came out only a few each year, in the 90′s they where much more common, now all the time. They were neat then, now we are used to them because so many come out, so the neat has worn off, so it is not so important to see them on the big screen , at home is good enough anymore.
Posted by: Tony Robertson | December 30, 2011, 6:24 pm 6:24 pm
It’s not the cost that keeps me away…it’s the people in the theater. Talking to the person next to them, texting (I hate this the most), cell phone use, etc…. Cell phone jammers is the place to start…. If a person wanted to talk on their phone, they should stay home or in their car.
Posted by: Ed | January 2, 2012, 2:17 pm 2:17 pm
Why has movie attendance hit 16 year low? Hmm let’s analyze this a bit. First of all ticket prices have increased faster than inflation over the last several years. Where I am they are between $10-$12. When you combine this with the fact that movies these days absolutely suck, and are not even worth $5 admission, you’ve got a recipe for low attendance. It’s all remakes, sequels, prequels, comic book films, and adaptations of tv shows or video games. Nothing but crap. The comedies aren’t funny, the horror movies aren’t scary, the thrillers aren’t thrilling, etc. Then of course you have all the morons in the theater on their phones with that bright light shining in your face. And when they’re not on their phones their talking and giggling like little school girls to their friends next to them. The whole movie going experience has been tarnished.
Note to Hollywood: make better (i.e. original) films, lower the ticket prices (perhaps by not paying the talentless actors millions of dollars a picture), and enough with the lame morality lessons you inject in all of your movies. Then work with the theater business to minimize noise/disruptions during the screenings.
Posted by: Me | January 16, 2012, 1:46 am 1:46 am
Going to the movies used to be a magical and sometimes life changing experience where a large screen and huge sound delivered a masterpiece of Hollywood craftsmanship resulting in an unforgettable EXPERIENCE. Not anymore. The last time I went to a show a few years ago it had been a while since I went and I was seriously annoyed to see a slew of TV like commercials playing beforehand and the screen was quite small with a picture that looked like some low-res digital projector networked to a router streaming video from some corporate server. Is that what movies today have been reduced to? How is this different than just watching TV or Netflix? Not to mention the the movie itself was horrible- formulaic story, cheap computer animation, mainstream drivel dialogue. But I’m not giving up completely, and will always try again from time to time in hopes that those corporate investors have finally realized that the quality, not quantity, of movies must improve if theaters expect to see bustling sales of the past.
Posted by: PChesney | March 5, 2012, 11:55 am 11:55 am