This week Neil Calloway looks at box office statistics from around the world…
Earlier this week Flickering Myth reported on the Motion Picture Association of America Theatrical Market Statistics with the headline “Transformers: Age of Extinction officially better than The LEGO Movie…” it was true of, course, in terms of audience appeal; Michael Bay’s film having the more ethnically diverse audience in terms of people who saw it in the US.
The report is a survey of what people watched at US cinemas, and the global box office in 2014, and well worth a read if like me you’re into figures about the gender share of top grossing films and how many cinema-goers own a smartphone.
The first thing worth noting is that US box office includes money made at cinemas in Canada, just as the UK box office includes the Irish box office figures; something I dare say I wouldn’t be happy about if I was Irish or Canadian. Though the US box office was down by 5% on 2013, the global box office was up slightly, the total takings for all films worldwide being $36.4 billion against 2013’s $35.9 billion.
Of the regions the report covers – only one other region was down on 2013 – Europe, the Middle East and Africa, suffering a 3% drop. Now that’s a big region – covering everything from Reykjavik to Raqqa, Tromsø to Table Mountain, so it’s unclear as to where exactly the decline is, but the Asia Pacific region – again, taking in everything from Brisbane to Beijing – grew by 12% in the same period, and the Latin American box office was up by 2%. Just as some European politicians fear the US will look more towards Asia as their economies grow in the coming decades, we can expect Hollywood to do the same; the bad guys will still probably be played by British actors who got their starts doing Shakespeare on the stage, though.
The rise to the top by the Asian box office is partially explained by the fact that they have the highest amount of cinema screens; coupled with a population with a growing disposable income, and it’s easy to see why they are now leading the way in film receipts.
The 25-39 year old age bracket remains the biggest group of cinema-goers in the US, beating the 18-24 year old market by 0.1 million. However, it is the 18-24 year olds who see more 3D movies (in 2013 it was 12-17 year olds). This is partly down to the sort of films that get released in 3D; sadly – SPOILER ALERT – we’re never going to see Rosamund Pike slash Neil Patrick Harris’ throat in three glorious dimensions, and Birdman would not be improved if Michael Keaton walking through Times Square in his underwear happened right in front of us instead of on a flat screen. For good or ill, 3D currently remains a medium for kids films and comic book movies.
The one caveat I would make is that the report is a survey; nobody is checking ages when you buy your cinema ticket, they don’t ask for your ethnicity when you’re getting your popcorn, therefore it’s not exactly 100% reliable; they phoned up around 4000 people and asked questions like “Think back to January 2014 — about a year ago. During the 12 month period from January through December 2014, about how many times did you go to the movies at theaters?” If I was asked that on the phone I’d struggle. They’d probably hang up on me as I’d ask them more questions than they asked me. “Wait. January 2014? When was American Hustle released? I don’t remember. Was 12 Years a Slave last year or the year before?”
It is, however, probably the best look at box office demographics we’ll get, and films will be made because of it; more films for the Asian market, more films for men (who make up a bigger share of the cinema going public than women). Hollywood will be reading, so you should too.
Neil Calloway is a pub quiz extraordinaire and Top Gun obsessive. Check back here every Sunday for future installments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=ONsp_bmDYXc&feature=player_embedded
Originally published March 15, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
