The worst month for gross domestic earnings at the box office for 2012 has been the month of April. Earnings during the month were a total of $721 million on 206 movies in release, a drop of nine percent over earnings the year before. The box office for April 2011 was $792.6 million in gross domestic earnings. The 2012 numbers were the lowest reported since 2009.
The April box office was as high as it was, due primarily to "The Hunger Games." The movie opened on March 23 and was still pulling in theatergoers through the month of April to the tune of $139.4 million. The Gary Ross-directed movie starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katness in a futuristic sci-fi story of a dystopian society that pits its children against one another in a brutal death match.
While earnings were down for "The Hunger Games" after its strong opening weekend of $152.5 million, they were still more than twice that of the second highest earner for the month. The second highest earner, January opener "Think Like a Man" brought in $61.7 million. Completing the top five earners for the month was "Titanic 3D" with earnings of $56.4 million, "Wrath of the Titans" with $55.6 million and "American Reunion," another January opener with $53.7 million.
There was a variety of reasons for April's poor box office performance. April has typically been one of the lower earners during the year. The winter releases prior to Christmas have generally been pulled from the market following their runs by March. Movie companies are also gearing up for the summer blockbuster movie season, which usually begins in May. During 2012, the first summer blockbuster to hit movie screens was "Marvel's the Avengers," which earned over $532 million for the month of May, followed by "Men in Black 3," which earned less than the anticipated $83 million.
Average earnings per movie in April were also low, causing an overall downturn in earnings despite having an extremely large number of films in release. Only March's 207 movies and May's 213 were higher. The earnings per movie amount were only $3.5 million, the lowest of all months preceding September. Some of the blame should rest with several single theater films, however. The lowest earning film for the month, for example, took in only $95. Only the top 15 films in release managed to break the $10 million earnings mark, compared with $17 in March.
Adding to April's low earnings was the lack of truly high performers. While it can't be said that April was a dumping month for Hollywood films, it wasn't a month for the release of expected high earners. None of the new releases earned a total domestic gross of over $100 million. The closest to that mark was "Think Like a Man," with domestic earnings of $91.5 million. The second highest total earner was "The Lucky One," with $60.4 million, followed by "Titanic 3D," which earned $57.8 million despite being a rerelease of an earlier film in 3D format.
There was also a lack of widely released films in April. While "The Hunger Games" was seen in 4,137 theaters, only 26 of the 206 films reporting earnings for the month were seen in over 1,000. The vast majority of films during the month were seen in 100 or fewer theaters. This low release number limited their possible earnings significantly. The results were that only 35 films earned more than $1 million in domestic gross during the month. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" pulled in at last place among million dollar earners.
Many looking at the earnings for April 2012 might be tempted to feel that the low amount was a large negative for the movie market as a whole. This couldn't be farther from the truth, however. Though the total earnings were lower than the earnings reported for 2011 and 2010, the amount was still significantly higher than that posted in 2009 and 2008. The $721 million total gross demonstrates the continuing increase in theater earnings from year to year, due primarily to higher ticket prices.
The question analysts should be asking themselves when looking at the earnings numbers is how they relate to the costs of producing and marketing the films being shown. Blockbuster releases can only go so far toward bringing a production company into the black. With more emphasis on higher costing films, however, even the rise in ticket costs may be unable to provide a truly profitable marketplace for costly new releases. With the worse month bringing in over $700 million in earnings, it doesn't appear that theaters are in any danger of shutting down wholesale anytime soon.
The April box office was as high as it was, due primarily to "The Hunger Games." The movie opened on March 23 and was still pulling in theatergoers through the month of April to the tune of $139.4 million. The Gary Ross-directed movie starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katness in a futuristic sci-fi story of a dystopian society that pits its children against one another in a brutal death match.
While earnings were down for "The Hunger Games" after its strong opening weekend of $152.5 million, they were still more than twice that of the second highest earner for the month. The second highest earner, January opener "Think Like a Man" brought in $61.7 million. Completing the top five earners for the month was "Titanic 3D" with earnings of $56.4 million, "Wrath of the Titans" with $55.6 million and "American Reunion," another January opener with $53.7 million.
There was a variety of reasons for April's poor box office performance. April has typically been one of the lower earners during the year. The winter releases prior to Christmas have generally been pulled from the market following their runs by March. Movie companies are also gearing up for the summer blockbuster movie season, which usually begins in May. During 2012, the first summer blockbuster to hit movie screens was "Marvel's the Avengers," which earned over $532 million for the month of May, followed by "Men in Black 3," which earned less than the anticipated $83 million.
Average earnings per movie in April were also low, causing an overall downturn in earnings despite having an extremely large number of films in release. Only March's 207 movies and May's 213 were higher. The earnings per movie amount were only $3.5 million, the lowest of all months preceding September. Some of the blame should rest with several single theater films, however. The lowest earning film for the month, for example, took in only $95. Only the top 15 films in release managed to break the $10 million earnings mark, compared with $17 in March.
Adding to April's low earnings was the lack of truly high performers. While it can't be said that April was a dumping month for Hollywood films, it wasn't a month for the release of expected high earners. None of the new releases earned a total domestic gross of over $100 million. The closest to that mark was "Think Like a Man," with domestic earnings of $91.5 million. The second highest total earner was "The Lucky One," with $60.4 million, followed by "Titanic 3D," which earned $57.8 million despite being a rerelease of an earlier film in 3D format.
There was also a lack of widely released films in April. While "The Hunger Games" was seen in 4,137 theaters, only 26 of the 206 films reporting earnings for the month were seen in over 1,000. The vast majority of films during the month were seen in 100 or fewer theaters. This low release number limited their possible earnings significantly. The results were that only 35 films earned more than $1 million in domestic gross during the month. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" pulled in at last place among million dollar earners.
Many looking at the earnings for April 2012 might be tempted to feel that the low amount was a large negative for the movie market as a whole. This couldn't be farther from the truth, however. Though the total earnings were lower than the earnings reported for 2011 and 2010, the amount was still significantly higher than that posted in 2009 and 2008. The $721 million total gross demonstrates the continuing increase in theater earnings from year to year, due primarily to higher ticket prices.
The question analysts should be asking themselves when looking at the earnings numbers is how they relate to the costs of producing and marketing the films being shown. Blockbuster releases can only go so far toward bringing a production company into the black. With more emphasis on higher costing films, however, even the rise in ticket costs may be unable to provide a truly profitable marketplace for costly new releases. With the worse month bringing in over $700 million in earnings, it doesn't appear that theaters are in any danger of shutting down wholesale anytime soon.
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