Question about box office
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — I Need To Know
machintosh2-1 — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 10:53 AM)
I never understood box office terms
- Flop - I understood that movie would flop the box office when it earns less than it's budget
- Success or hit - when the box office is bigger than it's budget.
But isn't a movie a box office success even then when it earns less than predicted but still more then it's budget?
And how big box office success movie needs to be to get a sequel?
Example: I looked about Grown Ups 2 (2013) - The budget was 80 million USD and box office was 247 million USD. Isn't that box office success?
I am a fan of TV crossovers. It connects different shows and puts them into same universe
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MaximumMadness — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 11:03 AM)
Typical wisdom is that a movie has to earn back at least a little over twice it's production budget to break even. Mainly to factor in the amount of money kept by theaters, the money spent on advertising, etc. But this isn't always the case.
There's a lot of variables. A lot of it has to do with the budget level. The more a film costs, the more it has to make to break even. A $20 million movie can be considered successful by making a little over double it's budget in theaters because it's less risky and is guaranteed to profit elsewhere, but a $200 million movie has to make a lot more due to the higher costs of advertising, etc. It's why a lot of massive-budget tentpole movies these days (Ex.
Batman V Superman
) are considered financial disappointments if they don't earn a billion worldwide.
So if a film costs $150 million but only makes $180 million, it's pretty much a big flop.
And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point? -
kevcoe — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 01:51 PM)
The studio lose an awful lot of money to the cinemas that actually show the film (perhaps someone can post an actual percentage?) but, to the best of my knowledge, they still have to pay the immense publicity costs hence films that seem to be hugely IN profit actually lose a lot of money
I'm happy to be corrected on this. -
MaximumMadness — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 06:50 PM)
The studio lose an awful lot of money to the cinemas that actually show the film (perhaps someone can post an actual percentage?) but, to the best of my knowledge, they still have to pay the immense publicity costs hence films that seem to be hugely IN profit actually lose a lot of money
I actually currently work at a movie theater (not going into specifics for job security reasons) and while I don't have exact figures, the way it works out (for most movies) is essentially this (based on conversations with managers, studio representatives who I've chatted with here and there when they come to do inspections, etc.)
-Opening weekend, studios keep
up to
100% of the profits, depending on the studio and the leverage they have. Ex. Disney has gotten 100% from us a few times. But usually it's the vast majority of the money made on tickets.
-The first week or so, we basically make next to nothing, sometimes pennies on the dollar, but it incrementally goes up as time passes. (Hence, popcorn costs a small fortune since we need to make profit elsewhere.)
-It isn't until at least a month or so later that we get to keep the mythical "50%" that people seem to think theaters get. So for a long-burn movie like, say,
Frozen
or
Avatar
, we make a lot on tickets. But for "Average Joe Movie" that makes 90% of its profit during the first two or three weeks, we see basically next-to-nothing.
-And something you don't hear about too often once or twice we've actually had the studios tell us to give them a portion of our concession profits for the opening weekend if a film is expected to be a huge hit! Aaannnddd we have to because otherwise they won't give it to us. Yup, that happens.
-I often don't hear a lot about the rental fees and other things theaters pay to studios and distributors. That I know less about because it's more info that's handled on a manager/regional/corporate level so far as I can tell, but there are indeed other fees and whatnot behind-the-scenes beyond the money that is paid from ticket sales.
Now foreign box office is a different beast that I admittedly know less about, but that's how the theater where I work in the US functions. Kinda funny that I work at a theater and have first-hand knowledge, but I've had people tell me I'm wrong/lying/a "studio plant spreading misinformation" because people are so hell-bent on labeling everything a flop anymore.
And FURTHERMORE, this is my signature! SERIOUSLY! Did you think I was still talking about my point? -
machintosh2-1 — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 02:04 AM)
Great answers but still didn't get an answer to that question:
And how big box office success movie needs to be to get a sequel?
I am a fan of TV crossovers. It connects different shows and puts them into same universe -
Scooby52 — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 06:56 AM)
Actually it has
But isn't a movie a box office success even then when it earns less than predicted but still more then it's budget?
Someone replied twice it's budget, which is abour right.
And how big box office success movie needs to be to get a sequel? ]
It's not just about Box Office, it's profit, DVD sales, marketing profits (eg. Frozen) Some films get sequels approved by studios well before the initial film has even been released.
I'm writing this signature in bold so people know it's a signature -
machintosh2-1 — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 12:06 PM)
Just an example: For Grown Ups 2, is $247 million ($80 million budget) good thing or not? And then why I haven't heard about sequel? I liked this movie and Adam Sandler's second sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 gets third movie. The problem is where? Same budget, a bit more successful ($473 million).
I am a fan of TV crossovers. It connects different shows and puts them into same universe -
Snaggelpuss — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 04:32 PM)
Flop - I understood that movie would flop the box office when it earns less than it's budget
It often is also called a flop if it doesnt earn much above the budget, also it can be called a flop if it does cover budget but doesnt earn the massive box office income that was predicted. (So no set term)
And how big box office success movie needs to be to get a sequel?
Depends on whos doing it, and remember just because it doesnt cover budget doesnt mean the people organising it dont make a tone of cash in the process!