The theory that movie ticket sales go up during economic hard times is almost as reliable as the knowledge that the latest James Bond flick will boast high-tech gadgets, sleek sports cars and impossibly sexy women. Now that we have been pushed, kicking and screaming, into a Bank of Canada-certified recession, that theory will once again be put to the test. So far, it looks like it will hold water.
Patricia Marshall, spokesperson for Cineplex Entertainment, confirms a recent uptick for movie ticket sales. “The Canadian industry is up 4.6% on a year-to-date basis as of Nov. 28,” she says. “That’s a calendar year versus 2007, and that’s very good. And 2007, especially the summer, was a record box office year… so that’s huge.”
Salah Bachir, president of Cineplex Media, was also optimistic about the outlook for the remainder of the year and into 2009. “I think November/December’s [ticket sales] are going to [end up] much higher than last year’s. That seems to be the weekend-over-weekend reports from Variety and other sources,” he says. “There have been some great films that have come out this year, and next year’s slate of films looks quite impressive.”
So why, at a time when consumers are foregoing retail therapy, clipping coupons and trolling restaurants for happy-hour specials, are more people going to the movies? The answer may be that it’s in our genes. When times are tough, human beings seek refuge in fantasy. During the Great Depression—when there literally wasn’t enough to eat for some—filmgoers scraped together extra nickels and dimes to escape into darkened theatres and watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance their way, cheek to cheek, to happiness in 1935’s Top Hat or spoiled heiress Claudette Colbert and newspaperman Clark Gable go on the lam in the 1934 screwball comedy It Happened One Night.
In fact, during five of the last seven economic downturns in the U.S., box office grosses rose. Marshall believes movie ticket sales triumph because consumers give up costlier diversions such as sporting events and concerts first. “People will traditionally downgrade their more expensive entertainment offerings,” she says. “But they still need to go out, so a $10 movie ticket is very affordable and nothing provides better escapism than two hours in a movie theatre when you’re having to deal with all kinds of things in difficult recessionary times.”
She likens the trend to people having food in their refrigerators, but still dining out in restaurants. “People have the ability to watch movies in their own home, but there are movies that have to be seen on the giant screen to really be enjoyed, and there are times when we absolutely have to get out of the house.”
Bachir adds that “Certain movies and alternative programs [such as screenings of Metropolitan Opera and National Ballet performances] are meant to be seen by a crowd, where you can laugh together and enjoy stuff together.”
Max Valiquette, president of Toronto-based youth marketing agency The Y Syndicate, thinks ticket sales rise in part because of nostalgia. “People gravitate to the familiar and the escapist, and movies provide both of these things,” he explains. “Just going to a movie theatre is a habitual, regular experience we’ve all had since we were three, four, five years old. Even if you can’t remember, you know that you saw some Disney movie or some cartoon at an early age and that started your movie-going habit.”
Cineplex is taking steps to entice filmgoers, says Bachir, including the relaunch of half-price Tuesdays across the country in the new year. And Marshall says the company is being sensitive to local conditions, reducing ticket prices in some markets where the economy is dominated by a single industry.
Cineplex also strives to appeal to the palettes of filmgoers who crave something other than popcorn and soda, offering “top-tier brands” at its concession stands and even in-auditorium alcohol at two of its VIP cinemas in Toronto and Oakville, Ont. These eclectic offerings could be why Cineplex Entertainment experienced two record quarters (Q2 and Q3) in terms of concessions-per-patron numbers in 2008.
Perhaps it all comes down to how much filmgoers want to see a movie. No matter how tough the times, folks will always find a way to see the latest blockbuster, particularly if it’s a franchise they’ve followed for years, like the James Bond series (which, as of mid-December, had seen Quantum of Solace gross more than $500 million worldwide).
All of this makes it a good time to buy in-theatre ads, according to Valiquette, who points out that good movies, as far as advertising properties go, are released every month of the year now, not just in summer. Valiquette points to the success of such recent films as Twilight, Quantum of Solace, Madagascar 2, Bolt and Four Christmases (with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marley & Me, Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories, Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie and Jim Carrey’s Yes Man all enjoying strong attendance at press time).
“We were [also] supposed to get a Harry Potter movie and a Star Trek movie for Christmas. So what’s amazing in all of this is that two incredibly high-profile, tent pole-type movies [weren’t] actually released in theatres this holiday season, and it [was] still a good time to buy advertising in movies… If those two movies had actually made their release dates [both are due in 2009 — see above], it would have been insane. That’s amazing to me.”
