7 ms·

IF I may assume, majority of the people commenting here are 25+. I am sorry but movie theaters are not targeting you as primary audience. Why? You are an adult,

IF I may assume, majority of the people commenting here are 25+. I am sorry but movie theaters are not targeting you as primary audience. Why? You are an adult, you are likely to enjoy somewhere with alcohol/adult-food, in adult-only setting and somewhere you can get better value for your 'hard earned' money. Sure, you MAY catch that marvel flick but how many times do you really anticipate really watching a movie at cinema during the year? See, with marvel and superhero movies and with chick flicks and raunchy over-the-top comedies, who are they targeting? You? Give me a break! They are targeting the youth! The ones 16-22, you know the ones who are mostly students and have awkward social lives to begin with and the ones who are likely to religiously follow the movies, later buy the related merchandise and talk about it for long time in their gatherings. And for kids below 16, there is a healthy stream of cartoon movies that Pixar, Disney and the like keep doling out to the masses -- case in point, the next Toy Story or Pets movie. Because for that age group (22 and under), cinema is the biggest bang for the buck AND the cheapest night-out with friends (spend around 10 dollars for movie ticket followed by cheap pizza slice and can of cold drink before heading home).

0xffff2 7y ago
If this is true, why does virtually every theater I've been to in the last 5 years serve craft beer and cocktails?
- m23khan 7y ago
  did you go to cineplex or iMAX? Those are the ones I am talking about. Otherwise, I dunno, maybe the locality/jurisdiction/state you live may have laws allowing for alcohol in cinemas.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - Larrikin 7y ago
    Every theater I've been to in Chicago has had alcohol, often times full bars. The cheap student targeted ones with the lumpy seats and the fancy off Michigan Avenue ones as well.
- madrox 7y ago
  In an attempt to get those audiences, especially in major cities like SF that don't have a huge underage population. However, that's far and away not the norm when you think about the world overall.
  - realityking 7y ago
    > when you think about the world overall I’d wager this is a US specific thing due to the heavy regulation of servings alcohol. One Europe even McDonalds and Disneyland serve alcoholic drinks, you’d be hard pressed to find a movie theater that doesn’t.
- UncleMeat 7y ago
  Because you live in a hip city and seek out those theaters? Of the six or so theaters in driving distance from my (including indie ones), none serve alcohol.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    I don’t think I’ve ever been to a cinema that didn’t serve alcohol - those concessions are how they make most of their money apparently.
    - dagw 7y ago
      Do you mean that there is a bar attached to the cinema where you can grab a beer before/after the movie, or that you can buy a beer to actually bring into the theatre a drink while watching the movie?
taurath 7y ago
I don't think thats really the case. Its used as an activity by parents, but its not really cheap esp for kids. According to MPAA stats, the most frequent moviegoers are 18-39. https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2016_Final-1.pdf https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MPAA-Theatri... Some of that is the population, but 24% of tickets sold went to the 25-39 demo, compared to 16% of 18-24. 40% of tickets are sold to people 24 and under, and 60% of tickets of is >24.
- m23khan 7y ago
  yeah, when I wrote my comment, I intentionally left out the parents because in many cases, parents are forced to go to cinemas because they need to accompany their kids.
mywittyname 7y ago
> you are likely to enjoy somewhere with alcohol/adult-food, in adult-only setting You're right on this, I usually go to the 'adult only' theater near me where I can order a beer and a really good hamburger to eat while I enjoy a movie in a cushy lounging chair. These things have been popping up all over the country and I bet it's helped bring adults back to movie theaters. I do enjoy Pixar movies though. It seems those are always packed for the 21-over crowd too.
z3t4 7y ago
When thinking about saving up for a home theater system I calculated that for the same money I could go to a movie theater once a week for the rest of my life. So it's not that expensive if you have a theater in your area with good gear and good acoustics.
- mwfunk 7y ago
  This is a fair observation, but surely you can get a reasonable home theater system (nice new TV, receiver, speakers) for $3k, or less if you're not super picky. Assuming it costs at least $10 to go to a movie, that $3k home theater system is 300 tickets, or less than 6 years of going to movies every week. But, regardless of efficiency from a cost perspective, that's not why people get home theater systems. They get home theater systems because they don't like watching movies in movie theaters, and so they can have better experiences watching stuff at home. If you're not intensely annoyed by experience of seeing movies in (typical) movie theaters, then the #1 reason a lot of people get home theater systems isn't applicable to you. When I was a student, seeing movies in crowded theaters never bothered me, but they seem to get more annoying every year. That's probably not the theaters getting worse (they seem to be getting better even?), rather that's just me getting older and my annoyance getting amplified as a result. You experience the same annoyances 1000x, sometimes they cease to be annoyances, or sometimes they become even more annoying each time. Eventually it adds up and you're suddenly a grumpy old person like me who hates crowded movie theaters.
nitwit005 7y ago
A movie targeted at kids and teenagers needs to appeal to parents to do well. They're the ones paying, and often have to watch it themselves. My parents (apparently) refused to take me to the Care Bares movie because they knew it'd be terrible. They were perfectly happy to go see Toy Story. The more modern superhero or cartoony 3D movies are often designed to appeal to a fairly broad audience.

0xffff2 7y ago

If this is true, why does virtually every theater I've been to in the last 5 years serve craft beer and cocktails?

m23khan 7y ago
did you go to cineplex or iMAX? Those are the ones I am talking about. Otherwise, I dunno, maybe the locality/jurisdiction/state you live may have laws allowing for alcohol in cinemas.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- Larrikin 7y ago
  Every theater I've been to in Chicago has had alcohol, often times full bars. The cheap student targeted ones with the lumpy seats and the fancy off Michigan Avenue ones as well.
madrox 7y ago
In an attempt to get those audiences, especially in major cities like SF that don't have a huge underage population. However, that's far and away not the norm when you think about the world overall.
- realityking 7y ago
  > when you think about the world overall I’d wager this is a US specific thing due to the heavy regulation of servings alcohol. One Europe even McDonalds and Disneyland serve alcoholic drinks, you’d be hard pressed to find a movie theater that doesn’t.
UncleMeat 7y ago
Because you live in a hip city and seek out those theaters? Of the six or so theaters in driving distance from my (including indie ones), none serve alcohol.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  I don’t think I’ve ever been to a cinema that didn’t serve alcohol - those concessions are how they make most of their money apparently.
  - dagw 7y ago
    Do you mean that there is a bar attached to the cinema where you can grab a beer before/after the movie, or that you can buy a beer to actually bring into the theatre a drink while watching the movie?

taurath 7y ago

I don't think thats really the case. Its used as an activity by parents, but its not really cheap esp for kids. According to MPAA stats, the most frequent moviegoers are 18-39. https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2016_Final-1.pdf https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MPAA-Theatri... Some of that is the population, but 24% of tickets sold went to the 25-39 demo, compared to 16% of 18-24. 40% of tickets are sold to people 24 and under, and 60% of tickets of is >24.

m23khan 7y ago
yeah, when I wrote my comment, I intentionally left out the parents because in many cases, parents are forced to go to cinemas because they need to accompany their kids.

mywittyname 7y ago

> you are likely to enjoy somewhere with alcohol/adult-food, in adult-only setting You're right on this, I usually go to the 'adult only' theater near me where I can order a beer and a really good hamburger to eat while I enjoy a movie in a cushy lounging chair. These things have been popping up all over the country and I bet it's helped bring adults back to movie theaters. I do enjoy Pixar movies though. It seems those are always packed for the 21-over crowd too.

z3t4 7y ago

When thinking about saving up for a home theater system I calculated that for the same money I could go to a movie theater once a week for the rest of my life. So it's not that expensive if you have a theater in your area with good gear and good acoustics.

mwfunk 7y ago
This is a fair observation, but surely you can get a reasonable home theater system (nice new TV, receiver, speakers) for $3k, or less if you're not super picky. Assuming it costs at least $10 to go to a movie, that $3k home theater system is 300 tickets, or less than 6 years of going to movies every week. But, regardless of efficiency from a cost perspective, that's not why people get home theater systems. They get home theater systems because they don't like watching movies in movie theaters, and so they can have better experiences watching stuff at home. If you're not intensely annoyed by experience of seeing movies in (typical) movie theaters, then the #1 reason a lot of people get home theater systems isn't applicable to you. When I was a student, seeing movies in crowded theaters never bothered me, but they seem to get more annoying every year. That's probably not the theaters getting worse (they seem to be getting better even?), rather that's just me getting older and my annoyance getting amplified as a result. You experience the same annoyances 1000x, sometimes they cease to be annoyances, or sometimes they become even more annoying each time. Eventually it adds up and you're suddenly a grumpy old person like me who hates crowded movie theaters.

nitwit005 7y ago

A movie targeted at kids and teenagers needs to appeal to parents to do well. They're the ones paying, and often have to watch it themselves. My parents (apparently) refused to take me to the Care Bares movie because they knew it'd be terrible. They were perfectly happy to go see Toy Story. The more modern superhero or cartoony 3D movies are often designed to appeal to a fairly broad audience.