[Movies] Why does the success of a movie matter to the public?

[Arrowstormen]

As the title says, why does the success of a movie, box office or Oscars, matter to the public? If we like the movie, should we care about the money it makes or the awards it's given? I thought about this, but I couldn't find a solid answer, and I couldn't find an article or blog that reflected on the question either. So why does it matter to us?

[Hunterpower]

Generally, a movie needs to do well, for a sequel to be made.
as well as show that the public likes the movie and would like more things like it.

[Stormcall]

Generally, a movie needs to do well, for a sequel to be made.
as well as show that the public likes the movie and would like more things like it.

This basically covers it. If you like the movie and want to potentially see a sequel, the movie needs to be at least somewhat profitable. If the movie doesn't make money or just barely recoups it's cost, studios aren't likely to risk money making a sequel for it...whereas if it rakes in boatloads of cash, a sequel is very likely. And same thing, if you're a fan of westerns, or giant monsters, or old school action movies, for example the success or failure of movies like The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, or The Expendables can aid in telling studios "hey, there's a market for this sort of stuff, maybe we should do other movies in this genre". If one of them bombs(Lone Ranger for example), the studios HAVE been known to chalk some of the blame up to "there's not a market for westerns" rather than just place the blame on "people didn't think it looked good" or "people didn't want to see Johnny Depp playing a goofy Indian with a crow on his head".

[vizzle]

I don't have time to screen the dozens of movies that come out each month. If the public likes it then I'll look at it, and if it isn't a popcorn blockbuster Transformer remake, I'll consider. And yea, I'm sure I miss out on a lot of good movies that never got much attention for an assortment of reasons, but oh well.

Why should I care about those stats after I watch the movie? *Shrug* People like knowing that other people like what they like.

[Deleted]

I prefer a movie to not do well. Why? Because most of the time sequels are bad, especially the ones without the original crew. Then there's the whole "lets beat it until it's dead" business model that most movie studios seem to have, like we've seen with zombie movies over the past few years.

[Feral Camel]

Its simple, a film is like any other product. If it sells well, they'll make more like it. Sometimes we get lucky and they improve on what had previously been done.

The personal reason I want to see a film I enjoy do well, is if a director shows talent, its great to see them given more opportunities.
Take Reservoir Dogs for example. If it wasn't such a big success, would we have seen other Tarantino film?

[Realsykes]

Honestly, sometimes you just see so much effort being thrown into a a movie only for it to be struck down, because it has unusual perspectives or people can't appreciate it's story, and that's honestly why I feel many think it is necessary for a movie to do well with the general public.

[Stormcall]

Inbetween are movies like Avengers 2, Iron Man 3 or Transformers 3 where nobody really seems to have an opinion on

Nobody has an opinion on Avengers 2 because it's not been made yet.

[Mormolyce]

It shouldn't, and on a related note: the number of subs/boxes sold etc a game has shouldn't matter to players *cough*.

Some of my favourite movies ever died at the box office. But others made bazillions at the box office. It just indicates how broad the popular appeal was, and how good the marketing was.

[Arrowstormen]

A movie may score in the first weekend purely on good marketing, but they don't score top dollar without reviewers, scores, or the all-powerful word of mouth behind it. Box office hits are usually the crowd-pleasing blockbusters.

But what about awards? Hollywood releases all it's "Oscar worthy" films in the last months or so, based on the idea that it will be more fresh in the memory of voters and therefore be more likely to get awards. As far as I know, nominees and Oscar winners usually has more longevity than BO hits, being seen and remembered and loved way past it's release.

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It shouldn't, and on a related note: the number of subs/boxes sold etc a game has shouldn't matter to players *cough*.

Some of my favourite movies ever died at the box office. But others made bazillions at the box office. It just indicates how broad the popular appeal was, and how good the marketing was.

Since games are an interactive media, if they are online, the subs and boxes sold does matter somewhat for the player.

[Feral Camel]

But what about awards? Hollywood releases all it's "Oscar worthy" films in the last months or so, based on the idea that it will be more fresh in the memory of voters and therefore be more likely to get awards. As far as I know, nominees and Oscar winners usually has more longevity than BO hits, being seen and remembered and loved way past it's release.

This may just be an Australia thing but an Oscar nominated film also can have a second run at the box office just based on the nomination (win) and buzz. How many time do we hear "Nominated for..." at the start of a trailer in the early part of the year.

[Stormcall]

[QUOTE=quikbunny;22777337]I prefer a movie to not do well. Why? Because most of the time sequels are bad, especially the ones without the original crew.

Sure, a lot of sequels are bad, but there's plenty of good sequels as well:
Hellraiser 2
Wes Craven's New Nightmare(the best Nightmare on Elm Street movie since the original is this one, number 7 in the series). NoES 3 was pretty good, too.
The best movies in the Fast & Furious series are 5 and 6, both are kickass action flicks, which we would not have if the first was a total failure
Expendables 2
Lord of the Rings 2-3
Dawn of the Dead
Best movies in the Star Trek series are 2, 4, 6, and First Contact. All are superior to the original IMO. I'm not a Star Wars fan but their sequels(at least the original trilogy) are pretty well liked too.
A Better Tomorrow 2
Aliens(a lot of people prefer this one to the original)
Terminator 2(same with this one)
Blade 2(best of the trilogy IMO)
Predators(Predator 2 was okay as well)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Evil Dead 2(even though it's really more like a remake than a sequel) and Army of Darkness
Spiderman 2(sure, 3 did kinda suck, but 2 was better than 1 IMO)
X-Men 2(same as my Spiderman comment)
The Devil's Rejects(I prefer this one to House of 1000 Corpses)

Sure, it's all up to personal taste, but there's some really good movies on that above list IMO, and they are movies we probably wouldn't have if the first movies were total failures.

So for me, if a sequel is made and it sucks, well, it sucks, but, a sequel isn't guaranteed to suck either. So if I like a movie, I'd rather risk the chance of a bad sequel than be guaranteed no sequel, cause by taking the risk of a bad sequel, there's ALSO the chance it will be a good, or even great one. At worst, the sequel sucks and I'm out whatever I paid to see it...I'm willing to risk the $10 ticket price for the chance of a sequel that doesn't suck.

[Arrowstormen]

It can't just be about sequels.

[vizzle]

Since games are an interactive media, if they are online, the subs and boxes sold does matter somewhat for the player.

While I agree that subs are important, the reason you point out is ridiculous. You would never really interact with more than a few thousand players.

[Hyve]

It is all marketing and advertising.

By default we like to be in groups, to all have things in common with our peers. Knowing that a movie has a really good response, and is being seen by millions is a small subconscious nudge to make us want to go and see it.

Also I just like to know how well it has done.

[Arrowstormen]

While I agree that subs are important, the reason you point out is ridiculous. You would never really interact with more than a few thousand players.

Maybe, but they won't be on the same time. So you will have a hard time getting queues in games like LoL, SC2, WoW, CoD, etc.

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It is all marketing and advertising.

By default we like to be in groups, to all have things in common with our peers. Knowing that a movie has a really good response, and is being seen by millions is a small subconscious nudge to make us want to go and see it.

Also I just like to know how well it has done.

But why do we care after we've seen them?

[Belisarius565]

As the title says, why does the success of a movie, box office or Oscars, matter to the public? If we like the movie, should we care about the money it makes or the awards it's given? I thought about this, but I couldn't find a solid answer, and I couldn't find an article or blog that reflected on the question either. So why does it matter to us?

Many reasons, the main reason is a relationship between people who want movies they like to be praised, and for others to acknowledge this is a good movie! When you see anything you have an urge, if it is good to share to others, and for 2 things, A) to have them enjoy it too, and B) that others agree that it is good as well. A lot of times if you like something a lot, then other people say, well it is really not that good, your enjoyment level can go down. I am sure there is many people in the movie business at all levels that just think of it as a job, that they will do X to receive a proper profit in return, then there are others that actually love this art form and want to make it good.

We are a social people, and for really anything, movies included, other peoples opinions can reinforce, or change to a lot of degrees peoples views regarding mediums, and people like to use movies/games/news as brain exercises as well (so many movies have actual ideas that make people think about them and discuss them), as a hobby, following certain movies/games/genres.

If you like a movie, then keep liking it, even if others say that it is bad. There are movies I don't like but accept that it was very well made movie that I don't like the content, others I really like the content, but hate how it was put together, and others that I like how it was put together, and I like the content= my favorite movies.

[Deleted]

I really do not care if the movie is a huge success or not, aslong as I like it. Sure it might be a bigger chance of me watching it if it is a big hit but that is about it.

[Arrowstormen]

I really do not care if the movie is a huge success or not, aslong as I like it. Sure it might be a bigger chance of me watching it if it is a big hit but that is about it.

So you never batter an eyelash at the Oscars?

[Zippoflames]

I don't really understand the Oscars and Emmys and shit, I know lets have a big award ceremony to pat ourselves on the back lol...Where is the annual nursing awards etc? you know the real important people.