2015: Year Of The Cinema?
Cinema has been facing declining numbers since the digital boom and rise of quality television dramas. With illegal download and video links strewn all over the internet it is becoming easier than ever for people to access new releases from the comfort of their home, at little or no cost. Film and TV packages such as Netflix and LoveFilm let audiences catch up on the world of cinema too, without paying the price of a cinema ticket each time.
(via Allocine)
It seems that cinema is definitely changing and directors and film crew are making desperate efforts to pull in those audiences. But 2015 may well be the year of the cinema thanks to a number of blockbuster and franchise releases, including the latest Star Wars, James Bond and Jurassic Park instalments, as well as the final part of the profitable The Hunger Games quadrilogy.
Industry experts expect cinema audiences to reach record numbers as a result of these, and many other, major releases. With predictions that the British box office sales will hit highs not seen since the early 1970s, there really is some pressure for the films of 2015 to uphold. 1971 still stands as the best year for cinema with 176 million tickets sold in Britain.
In order for cinema to surpass these figures and break a 44 year old record though, films need to deliver to fans and exceed expectations. As cinema tickets aren’t getting any cheaper and Orange have scrapped their 2-for-1 tickets under the Orange Wednesdays scheme, extra effort needs to go into making people want to part with their pennies.
(via Orange)
Better trailers and wider publicity campaigns full of quality promotions seem to be the way forward. Cinema can no long guarantee large audiences based on a film being a sequel or adaptation anymore either, as many films have tried and failed in this department.
Film makers are going to need to do everything in their power to market their films, regardless of previous success. From reaching younger audiences through toys and die-hard fans with collectibles, to the wise promotional move of competitions, there are plenty of ways to gather fans. Social media has proved to be a useful tool for businesses to market themselves and cinema is just the same.
The big films of 2015 are distributed throughout the year so that cinema can hopefully see highs in all months. From Taken 3 in January and Fifty Shades of Grey in February, cinema should continue to pull in sales figures across spring and into the summer when cinema really kicks off, to closing the year with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (part 2) and Spectre.
Returning to the epic Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible franchises with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Mission: Impossible 5 respectively, after a number of years’ break, anticipation should be high. Although cinema can’t guarantee people to go, these high budget films and even bigger names should pull in vast crowds.
(via The Telegraph)
Whether or not cinema achieves its goal though there is definitely a buzz about cinema in 2015...but if the films aren’t good themselves can 2015 really be the year of the cinema? We hope this isn’t the case!