I am not a film maker in any way. So then why do so many news sites tell me about how much money the film has taken in during its first weekend, week, etc…?
As a film fan / viewer, why should I care?
Any sort of historical explanation would be very appreciated.
More money means more people saw it. That’s it, whether you care is up to you
Money is all that matters. Is a movie good? Well, let’s look a the box office. Same in all facets of life. It’s pretty gross and bugged me for years and years. I have spent so long developing a habit of ignoring those types of numbers in news. It’s almost automatic at this point. Just in one ear and out the other.
That and doesn’t Disney still own ABC? I remember ABC used to always cover Disney movies like it was newsworthy. Conspiracy hat on, all these companies are in bed together and their number one goal is to take your money. And mine. Americans love a front-runner. I was raised to believe we rooted for the underdog, but that’s bullshit. If the news can hype a movie, people will think Other people are spending money on it. I better as well. If nothing else, then just for social situation bullshit. So the numbers go up. The movie studio loves it. They make more money, spend more on ads. The TV studios love it, they make more money. People love it, they’re all part of a club now, if only marginally poorer. And now it’s just a race to the bottom. Highest $$ wins. Less Kubrick, more Bay.
tl;dr You shouldn’t give a shit. I don’t.
I hate it because income feels like a number that the studios really care about, but what about number of tickets sold? A movie released this year has a huge head start on box office income when compared to a movie from 20 years ago, since ticket prices have easily doubled. Plus, theatres often have different prices for students, children, seniors, matinees, and even IMAX/3D. So wouldn’t it be more apples to apples over time to compare number of tickets sold, rather than total income?
High box office revenue can indicate potential for sequels, job offers for the directors/stars, merchandizing.
If Iron Man had bombed at the box office, we wouldn’t be in MCU phase 6.
Keep in mind that there’s such a thing as “Hollywood Accounting”. Studios will claim big box office, and then turn around and tell the IRS and stakeholders that their pictures never made money.
