PHJF wrote on Oct 13, 2011, 19:34:
If the theatrical 3D experience was so awesome, then why is it so wildly pirated?
Because people wanted to watch the movie again but didn't feel like shelling out $12 (again)? It's not rocket science.
That's not point I was making. I was responding to the proposal that the reason DVD sales for Avatar specifically were a small percentage of box office sales was because Avatar was a 3D film and really best suited for theater viewing. My point was, if that was the case, and the DVD home version was a paler experience compared to the theatrical release...then Avatar would have been
less pirated than most other films, not more pirated. Clearly, it's valued (or more accuraltey highly desired but undervalued) because of its success and popularity in the theaters...laregly because of the scope of the film...laregly tied to how much crazy money they spent making it.
I saw Avatar, once, in a theater. If it hadn't come out in theaters, I'd have seen it somewhere else.
No, you wouldn't have. Because if it hadn't come out in theaters it would have never been made. No studio would have financed it.
What you fail to realize is that if you remove the theater as a viewing option then other options will get more business
I think this is largely speculation. As a counter-point I'd offer the the direct-to-home film industry...who isn't exactly rolling in cash cranking out lower-budget movies that pale in comparison to nearly identical, bigger budget films in the exact same market who are just back for a second helping.
It's certainly possible that the future may bring a completely different venue and different business model for feature films, but my whole point is that it will also, without a doubt, also bring about changes in how movies are budgeted and made. Lemee know if you have an idea about what that might be, I'd love to chip in on the next media revolution.
You're conveniently leaving out rentals and streaming as revenue sources, and the fact that, whoops, the DVD sales are domestic only.
I'm not leaving them out to serve my point, I just don't have sources readily at hand. However, I don't think it's irresponsible to assume that there is, at best, a correlation between box office to DVD sales regardless of whether their domestic or foreign. That's without assuming that the US market may be more consumer driven and eager to buy and own their own copy of a film on DVD than the international market(pure speculation on my part). It's possible that the worldwide DVD sales for Avatar did exceed the cost to make and market the film, but how long did that take? Was the annual return on investment for this $300m film worthwile enough for people to invest in movies rather than hedge funds? Again, based on the direct-to-video business model, whose profit margins are much slimmer...I would guess probably not.
Oh my god, Avatar made two billion dollars internationally and only seven hundred million in America! The American theater industry is dying ahhhhhh!
People aren't pirating Avatar the theatrical release, largely responisble for the astronomical revenues this film enjoyed because that's pretty much impossible to do. Imagine the shambles the film industry might be in if there were some magical way for one person to buy a ticket, take it home, scan it, and somehow allow anyone who downloaded it for free to walk into their local theater and watch the movie. If they could, you'd better damn well believe that the movie industry would be desperating trying to find some way to 1) keep tickets from being scanned or 2) radically rebuild how movies are monitized so they're not relying solely on people buying tickets...because that's suddenly become a completley unreliable stream.
Tell me that doesn't sound familiar.