Moviegoing Hits a Two-Decade Low in 2014
What the hell is going on? According to a report from THR, movie attendance has hit its lowest level in North America in the last 20 years! This is kind of sad, especially since 2014 was a pretty damn good year for movies!
The report offers preliminary estimates that reveal "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."
I can only image that the rising ticket prices at the movie theaters are keeping people at home. It's getting pretty damn expensive out there, especially with the additional costs of 3D, IMAX, and other specialized movie theater experiences. The last time I took my family to a movie in California, I paid about $75 for tickets. On top of that we can add an additional $40 for popcorn, soda, and candy. That's an expensive movie night! It would have been a lot cheaper to pop in a Blu-ray at home, and maybe that's what people are opting to do — wait for movie to come out on Blu-ray/DVD or even pirate them.
The report goes on to reveal that "overall revenue for the North American box office in 2014 is expected to finish at roughly $10.36 billion, down 5 percent over 2013 and marking the biggest year-over-year decline in nine years." The international box office is thriving though, so there is some good news.
I freakin' love going to the movies, and I hit up my local theaters at least once a week. I'd much rather watch a movie on the big screen than at home. I just enjoy the movie theater going experience so much more. I'll never stop going to the movies, it's just one of my favorite things to do.
Have you cut down on the number of times you go to the movies in theaters? If so, I'm curious to know what your reasons are. What do you think should be done to get people to go back to the movies and raise attendance?