Small Bites

Gratefully, the pendulum of a fluctuating box office is swinging in a positive direction. At best, the box office performance can be erratic. If you look at the numbers being produced at the box orifice and think about them carefully, you see that the studios are not really diversifying but maintaining the two bookends of box office revenue;  a spectacle in the form of "Wicked" and family animation with "Moana 2". That tells you that demand exists, and the studios are occasionally meeting the demand, but massive audience segments need to be served.

The old adage "feast or famine " readily applies.

"Wicked" has earned a three-day gross of $80.6 million and a five-day gross of $118 million over Thanksgiving weekend at the domestic box office. This will bring its domestic box office total to roughly $263 million, blowing 1978's "Grease" out of the water. The budget for "Wicked stands by today's standard at a reasonable $145 million. "Mona 2" has a similar $150 million budget. "Wicked" opens on 3800 screens, "Moana 2" on 4200.

The movie economy was deeply changed after the release of Spielberg's opus 'JAWS', which was released on 600 screens and then expanded to 900. At a budget of $9 million ( originally budgeted at $4 million), 'Jaws' eventually made $260 million in 1975 at the box office. This significant event in the history of the film industry, driven by human nature and the pursuit of profit, set the stage for the future. The release of 'Star Wars' firmly cast the lot of exhibition as being a business that became focused on tent poles and boffo box office.

Movies are constantly changing, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was released in 1960 to about 500 screens. It was made for $806,947 and saw $32 million at the box office. The film was released on June 16, 1960, in theaters in Manhattan. It was the first movie promoted in the USA that no one would be admitted to the cinema after the movie started playing. At first, exhibitors pushed back, thinking they would lose ticket sales. However, after the initial release, the exhibitors started witnessing long lines of people waiting to see "Psycho." The movie played in Manhattan and, after nine weeks, played both the Broadway movie theaters and the suburban theaters.

The above is just to provide an example that things change, budgets rise, release patterns shift, but each time you make a change like this, a certain part of your audience goes away. As an industry, we have built a business that is skewed towards the large blockbuster market and ignoring the low and middle budget picture. The structure and overhead of the studios do not allow them now, with their alliances with the major agencies, to be flexible enough to deal with smaller pictures, they just don't. However, this is not a fixed state of affairs. The potential for change in the film industry is always present, and with the right strategies, we can cater to a wider range of audience demands, bringing hope and optimism for the future of cinema.

The Legend of Boggy Creek is a 1972 American semi-horror movie about the swamp monster/ Bigfoot, which had sightings in rural Arkansas. The movie presents staged interviews with local residents who have supposedly witnessed the monster first. They also present reenactments of engagement with the creature. Made by former ad executive Charles B. Pierce, who secured investment from a local trucking firm and used local high school students to help crew the movie. The movie was made on a budget of $160,000 and was released theatrically on August 8, 1972. Pierce later claimed that the movie made $25 million at the box office; Variety reported the box office as $4.8 million. The movie played in secondary markets and significantly impacted the South through the auspices of the famed Southern Drive-in Circuit.

When the word 'diversity' is mentioned in the theatrical marketplace, it often sparks a political debate. However, as industry professionals and cinema enthusiasts, we should not be swayed by these distractions. We have a responsibility to fill the gaping holes in the demographics that the studios are not capable of filling. This presents a profound opportunity for us to engage and be involved in the necessary diversification of the film industry.

After a high of 41,000 screens, there are 38,000 theater screens in the USA. So, the top five movies this week took up 17,000 screens, leaving 21,000 to play with. There is a business here that can reestablish a proper ecosystem for cinema and enhance and enrich streaming viewership. This business, if grown with thoughtful and measured leadership, can breathe life back into the idea of going to the movies.

It's time to look at smaller releases with a fresh perspective. The potential of these releases to reshape the film industry is immense. Let's be inspired and motivated by this potential. Let's not be afraid to embrace change and explore new ideas. The time for smaller releases is now.