Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: War effected attendance?

This is topic War effected attendance? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000760

Posted by Scott Balko (Member # 438) on 03-19-2003, 08:16 PM:

Has anyone else seen a major drop in attendance today with the whole war thing brewing? Mine was down considerably. [Frown]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-19-2003, 08:38 PM:

It's too soon to tell for us. I actually live in Oak Harbor, even though the pic profile says I am from Mount Vernon.

Oak Harbor is a sailor town, the home of NAS Whidbey Island and home of the EA6-B "Electric Pig" Prowler aircraft.

So far, we have not experienced a significant drop in attendance to my knopwledge. We, at Whidbey Island, are all in mass support of our troops and president. We just want the job done correctly and swiftly so we can get back to our lives.

I live in the FLMP bounce pattern. Jeeze.....that is hell in itself. [Big Grin]

Security is tight here, Very tight indeed. They were inspecting Deception Pass bridge today, and will be for the next several weeks. Traffic has been reduced to one lane across the bridge. Supposedly, they say it is to inspect the intergrety of the bridge, but I doubt that. [Big Grin]

If we are subject to terrorist attack, we are ready to defend ourselves. I have all my firearms armed and ready. [Smile]

I say agin...PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND OUR ALLIES WHO STAND BESIDE US.

ooooOOOOOoooooo....air raid sirens just went off in Baghdad, according to the TV news broadcast. Very interesting.....Don't know for sure, but the war might have just started.

It has begun. The President will address the nation at 2215 EST, according to the press secretary.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-19-2003, 09:05 PM:

The guys I have talked to in Dallas all say attendance is booming through the roof. Must be a Texas thing.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 03-19-2003, 09:14 PM:

Anyone who is sitting in a theatre, watching a movie...is a looser in life. [eyes]

They should just go out and end it all. They will not be missed.
[Eek!]

[ 03-20-2003, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: Bob Maar ]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-19-2003, 10:06 PM:

That's a little harsh, don't you think Bob? There are a lot of families out tonight. Perhaps they are trying to shield their kids from what is happening. Maybe they feel war will kick in full force and this may be the last chance they have to "get away from it all and get lost in a movie", or do one last fun thing with their kids before war breaks out. Then again, lots of people know that there is nothing they can say or do in their particular situations to change anything, so why sit by the tv all evening worrying about it?

There are probably a lot more reasons for people to get out of the house tonight. That doesn't make them losers.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-19-2003, 10:18 PM:

I would have went out to a movie if there was just something worth a shit to watch.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 03-19-2003, 10:30 PM:

Business will most likely be down the first couple of days. However people will soon tire of watching TV and come to the movies for a couple of hours for the distraction. I would actually expect to do pretty good business on Saturday (barring any kind of terrorist attack in the country).

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-19-2003, 10:51 PM:

No change in attendance here.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 03-19-2003, 10:55 PM:

I was off tonight but the attendance today was slow, or so they told me...

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 03-19-2003, 11:00 PM:

Our attandance is always slow, on weds nights. [Frown]

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 03-20-2003, 12:11 AM:

too early to tell... will have to see how our weekend ends up - but with as busy as we normally are on the weekend I dont think it will have a huge impact?

Posted by Andrew Duggan (Member # 1302) on 03-20-2003, 12:48 AM:

It was a ghost town in our lobby tonight. I think out of 16 shows, only 7 or 8 of them actually sold.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 03-20-2003, 01:04 AM:

Hello all. I saw Frida tonight and there was around 10 people in the auditorium. Our place seemed pretty dead as usual for a Wednesday night. I did notice on the drive home, the roads were pretty empty though.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-20-2003, 03:45 AM:

Before anyone asks the question, the reason this thread was not moved into the Political Arena is because it is dealing with theater attendance, not political or war issues. [Wink]

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 03-20-2003, 04:05 AM:

It has been a bit slow on 7 out of 8 shows today, -mainly i think, because of Iraq, but i'm afraid - many, and especially young people are watching The Bush/Iraq Reality Show, and not that tragic piece of history it really is. [Frown]

Beside, i don't think they will more likely hit Saddam on the first day, just because cinemagoers all over the world stays away from the cinema to follow the war on tv.

p.

"Let the generals fight and give the soldiers a week off"

[ 03-20-2003, 09:17 AM: Message edited by: Per Hauberg ]

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 03-20-2003, 08:48 AM:

Brad..you are right. I forgot to post the smilies to show I was kidding. They are there now.

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 03-20-2003, 09:46 AM:

Yahoo! News has posted a Variety article about the war's potential effect on box office: War Likely To Dampen Box Office Business .

It's mostly pointing out what everybody already knows, but it's there for the looking.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-20-2003, 10:12 AM:

According to WWW.boxofficemojo.com from 1986 to the present the only two years that the box office growth was in a negative figure was in 1990 and 1991.

Posted by Fred Georges (Member # 505) on 03-20-2003, 12:21 PM:

I'm projecting for a Film Fest currently in Chicago. A program that in years past produced SRO crowds managed to only draw 7 people over two shows last night. People are sticking close to their TV's (and rightly so). [Eek!]

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-20-2003, 03:29 PM:

As a professional photographer, I have found my business gone from bad to worse since January. The first month was not too bad but February was very bad and so far, March is even worse. My income for the month of February was down more than 60% and the way March is shaping up, the loss will be about 70%. Because of the lack of business and limited income, I have cut back drastically on going to the movies. I now spend the time watching movies from my laserdisc and DVD collection and rent the new movies when they are released to home video for less than two dollars with my senior citizen membership at Tower Video. My business is not the only one hurting. All of my fellow professional photographers are all telling me that they too are hurting.

-Claude

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 03-20-2003, 07:55 PM:

While purusing Yahoo! News again this evening, I found an article on the Reuters wire pointing out a war-related release date change. In this case, it's the Meg Ryan boxing film ( [puke]

) "Against The Ropes". It was originally scheduled for April 25 but has been put on hold indefinitely because Paramount is unsure as to whether they would be able to buy TV commerical time or not to promote it:

quote:
She [A Parmount spokeswoman] said the studio was at the point when it had to start buying advertising time on television and given the war coverage and uncertainty over when TV shows might or might not air, the studio decided to push back the film's release.

"The issue is the advertising gets preempted, and you end up losing your message," said spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick.

Full article here: Paramount Delays Film, Studios Brace For War Impact.

War is never a good thing, but I can't say that I'll be crying over not getting to see Meg Ryan attempt to box. I wonder how many other release dates in April will get pushed back if this lasts longer than a couple of weeks. Might make release schedules even busier than normal in May and June.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-21-2003, 02:20 AM:

Interesting but a poor excuse to hold a release. Put more trailers on the screens. Advertise on espn and other networks that are not covering the war. I don't think Meg actually boxes in the movie she more less trains her own fighter. I think the movie looks good and I like Charles S. Dutton who also directs.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 03-21-2003, 08:21 AM:

quote:
I would have went out to a movie if there was just something worth a shit to watch.

Here, here! That's exactly what I was thinking when I was building this week's prints: "I wonder, if no one shows up for Boat Trip or View From The Top, if they're going to blame the war." [Roll Eyes]

=TMP=

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 03-21-2003, 09:15 AM:

We will have to see how bad the war has effected our attendance with the new movies starting tonight.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 03-21-2003, 01:26 PM:

Whats funny about "View From the Top" release. Was that Miramax
held on to that picture because of 9/11. Now the War in Iraq, that picture can't win. I was handling Post screening on that
picture back July/Aug of 2001. Looks like the business, here
in Manhattan/Times Square is doing fine. The Broadway shows
are looking full and a lot of people are going into the Loew's
E-Walk and AMC Empire Theatres here.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-21-2003, 02:54 PM:

Its going to be hard to tell if the war will affect attendance this weekend or not. There is something of a glut of product (four new movies) and they all look fairly weak. This combined with the fact that it is March indicates that attendance likely woulod have been down anyway.

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 03-21-2003, 02:55 PM:

This is true, good point.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-21-2003, 06:35 PM:

What you have is March Madness, War and crap releases rolled into one. It all spells Slow business.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 03-21-2003, 09:10 PM:

Tonight (Friday, March 21, 2003), when I drove past a couple of the theatres here, there seemed to be a lot of cars in the parking lot. I wouldn't say business is down here in Huntsville.

Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 03-21-2003, 09:20 PM:

Well, hell, I've already pointed out two other articles. Here's a third. (I do more than surf the internet for lame news articles, but not much more.) This comes via IMDb's Movie/TV Studio Briefing:

quote:
Will the Homefront Stay at Home?

Midweek movie attendance dropped about 25 percent following the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq Wednesday as moviegoers stayed home to watch TV coverage from the war front. Four studios have films debuting this weekend -- all of which could be hurt by stay-at-homers. Steve Rothenberg, president of Artisan Releasing, which has the comedy Boat Trip opening this weekend, told the Los Angeles Daily News: "We are hoping that if people are glued to their television Friday and Saturday during the day, they will at least want to relieve the stress by going out and seeing a romantic comedy." Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian appeared more confident, telling the newspaper, "Most young moviegoers are not going to sit in the house all weekend and watch war coverage."

Is Boat Trip a romantic comedy? [Confused]

I seemed to miss that in the trailers.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-22-2003, 01:07 AM:

Our business went down for the 7's and up for the 9's--and it was a much younger crowd then normal.

Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 03-22-2003, 02:01 AM:

He also says that "most young people will want...", implying teenagers. But isn't Boat Trip rated R? Most "young people" aren't even permitted to see it without parents buying tickets for them (or theatre staff that doesn't care).

BTW, our matinee shows today were pretty hectic, well, all except for Boat Trip.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-22-2003, 02:07 AM:

Who is he?

BTW, most of our 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock movies were discount..ie Catch me if you can, Gangs of NY...blah blah

Posted by Brad Haven (Member # 954) on 03-22-2003, 06:48 AM:

The attendance at our cinema has dropped a little over the last few days. I get the feeling that people are already seeking a distraction from the war, the only problem for us is that we are screening THE PIANIST, which isn't the best if your looking for light relief.
We have been having quite a few people running out of the cinema in tears over the last few days (the pianist), not sure if it's just the film or the added emotions from the current events in Iraq. We are also screening ABOUT SCHMIDT and soon to screen PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE which are patrons will surely appreciate.
Brad [Smile]

Posted by Patrick McDonough (Member # 1363) on 03-22-2003, 08:13 AM:

We had a slight drop in buisness last night. The 9:00 shows were a bit more profitable.

Posted by John Carpenter (Member # 1488) on 03-22-2003, 09:27 AM:

Its hard to tell for sure - but we were a bit slow last night (Friday)... Course it could have been the NCAA tournament that UF was in last night???

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 03-22-2003, 11:41 PM:

My business was bad last night, but even wose tonight. We have the Pee Dee Street Rodders 'Run to the Sun' classic car show in town this weekend, along with a rather large Cheerleading competition at the convention center (two blocks away) but alas, no business. Of course, the only films opening this weekend would gag a maggot.
Maybe folks are beginning to wisen up on their movie going practices... [Smile]

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 03-23-2003, 01:56 AM:

Our business was normal, slightly down from last weekend but that can be written off to the basketball tournaments and poor product.

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-23-2003, 02:03 AM:

We actually did very good...up from last weekend alot! YEAH [Smile]

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-23-2003, 09:59 AM:

The Princeton Garden Theatre has a local exclusive on Spider and got ~50 for the 5 PM matinee yesterday -- half older adults, half David Cronenberg aficionados, a lot of stragglers.

Posted by Ray Bernardi (Member # 1615) on 03-24-2003, 02:36 PM:

I have actually experienced the opposite. My attendance has been up since all this began. (Small town NH) It's almost like people are remembering 9/11. They remember not wanting to see movies or even laugh. This time around they are making a statement by getting out and doing the things they stopped before. I have actually heard people saying that the world climate is not going to stop them from enjoying life and having some fun.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-30-2003, 12:09 PM:

Neither war nor heavy rain nor the NCAA tournament affected the AMC Hamilton on 3/29. Bringing Down the House sold out 1 matinee and at least 1 evening show. The Core sold out at least 1 evening show. Dreamcatcher sold out its early-evening show. The Pianist -- which returned to Hamilton after the Oscar wins -- sold out its 6:45 show.

On my way home I drove past Reading in Manville and saw its lot was only 3/4 full. Maybe it's because Reading booked Laurel Canyon (too arty for Manville) instead of The Pianist or even Spirited Away.

Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 04-01-2003, 01:09 PM:

this is traditionally a slow time of year, anyway, so it's probably hard to tell. On the first couple of nights there was likely a CNN effect