Going to the movies

Recently, the movie theater business is in a slump. Theaters really haven't been trying to do anything different, but they acknowledge that significantly less people are going to the movies. In a article I read earlier today, it was reported that young males especially haven't been going to theaters. Young males are considered a key demographic in the entertainment industry. Here are my thoughts and theories about that report.

Less young males (the key demographic here) leads to less young females and small children too. If less young single men enjoy the movie going experience, they are likely to stay away from it as a "date" option. Going to the movies on a date is so cliche anyway and it doesn't leave room to talk and get to know each other (**slap**...sorry that was repressed female side taking over, although it is true). On the other side of the coin, young males with families are less likely to take their children to the theater. Since young children typically belong to younger parents, their fathers would be the ones falling in this demographic and causing them to miss the theater experience.

This leaves young women and old people, which together don't make a good movie audience mix. Young women are the ones you see answering their phones at the theater. Also, in groups young women can be quite annoying, because you know they can't keep their mouths shut for and hour and a half straight. All of these qualities are sure to upset the older couples who just want to sit their and enjoy the movie like they have in the past.

With the decline in ticket sales, movie theaters do need to push the movie-going experience. I've seen some places try it. I've seen theaters with cheap admission and elaborate menus, making their primary profit off of the dinner experience rather than charging $10 for a tub of popcorn. I've also seen movie theaters adapt a bar atmosphere, their primary profit is based off of the drinks rather than the ticket price. The problem I've seen with these types of places is that they are forced to show movies that are older. Most have never had a movie the first week it was released, actually most had never shown a movie that was still in (movie-only)theaters.
I don't know the little things about the theater business, but I can imagine that it comes from the Production companies. I imagine that the production companies wants the theater to charge a certain price per ticket when new films come out. Either that or the cost to have new movies at a theater is too expensive for these places who primary source of profit doesn't come from ticket sales. These theories lead me to think that the responsibility lies with the production companies. If they are going to require such high amounts to show a movie then they have to make movies that people want to see.

A good example of that is Project Greenlight. I watched it when it first appeared on basic cable earlier this year. I didn't make it past the first episode where the picked the script. The impressions I got from everyone involved is that it was between 2 scripts one was a good story and the other one was more profitable. Though everyone got to give their input, the production company got the final say in which movie got made, because they were paying for production costs. I haven't heard anything about the movie since. I have heard that other project greenlight movies failed....I wonder why?