Wed 21 Jun 2006
So this is why we have to watch 15 minutes of ads before they show the movie.
Revenue from advertising shown on movie-theater screens rose 20.6 percent to $527.8 million in 2005, the Cinema Advertising Council said Monday.
Pre-Trailer Ads in Movies Producing Big Revenue for Theaters
And that’s not all. Theaters also report approximately $75 million in revenue for other ads.
I still can’t figure out why tickets cost so much they seem to be generating profit from all sides. They’re definitely not paying all of that money to the counter workers.
Let’s put this in perspective. In 2006 the number 2 and 3 grossing films (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia) made a combined $580 million domestically. This about equals the revenue generated from the ads shown prior to all movies in 2005. In 2006 Sin City made $75 million in domestic box office this about equals the profits from other ad sources.
June 21st, 2006 at 10:30 am
Mostly the dollars pulled in at the box office go back to the studios. If I remember right, caus it’s been a while since I worked in the movie theater, the first six weeks basically went back to the studio. After that, the theater got a percentage. Since most movies take in most of their box office earnings in the first six weeks, that doesn’t leave as much for the theaters. They make it up in advertising and selling people buckets of pop and candy…that’s why everything costs so much. That’s also why passes and discounts aren’t good for 4 to 6 weeks depending on the movie; bigger movies often have better contracts with the theater, but also make more money in the long run. The re-release of Star Wars in the 90’s for instance had something like 8 weeks going to the studio, with a special pre-release showing of one week going to charity.
Anyway, that’s the run down on that.