Box-Office Growth Is a Good Economic Sign Despite the many entertainment options for Americans, going to the movies is a favorite choice, as 2016 was the second consecutive year that total US/Canadian box office grosses exceeded $11 billion, or a total of $11.372 billion, a 2.3% increase over 2015. Total 2016 US/Canadian admissions were 1.314 billion, decreasing very slightly from 2015’s 1.32 billion. The average ticket price increased 3%, to $8.65; however, adjusting for inflation, the price would have been $8.98 based on 1976’s average price of $2.13. Although there were 12 fewer US cinema sites during 2016 (5,821) compared to 2015 (5,883), the total number of screens increased 172 from 2015’s 40,006 to 2016’s 40,174 – and all of the increase was at indoor sites.

Working for More Repeats in the Seats The cinema industry has been adding many features to enhance the movie-going experience, such as digital projection and sound, premium large-format screens and, more recently, luxury power recliners. Theater owners have also been attracting customers with a much larger menu of food items, resulting in consumers’ foodservice visits to movie theaters increasing 8% for the year ending June 2016. AMC Theatres, the large US/Canadian circuit, with 659 sites, as of the first of 2017, operates 19 Dine-In Theatres with complete restaurant offerings and seat-side or delivery service. They generated 11% of all AMC’s 2016 food and beverage revenue.

Picture Patron Insights A metric of great interest to theater owners and the industry is the frequency of movie attendance, or the rate of repeat customers. For 2016, the number of frequent moviegoers (once a month or more) increased 2.1 million. Although large percentages of persons 2–17 are moviegoers and purchase tickets, adults 25–39 had the largest percentages during 2016, at 23% and 24%, respectively. Hispanic Americans over-index slightly as moviegoers (20%) and tickets sold (21%), compared to their share of the US population (18%). Caucasian Americans have a much larger gap between share of the US population (62%) and tickets sold (51%).

A Most Complementary Ad Medium According to a March 2017 press release from the Cinema Advertising Council, total 2016 ad revenues exceeded $750 million for the first time, a 5.8% increase over 2015. Cinema advertising added 276 new national or regional brands to the screens during 2016, a 28.3% increase from the 215 new brands for 2015. Total on-screen revenues were $706.8 million, a 5.4% increase over 2015, and total off-screen revenues were $51.5 million, an 11.8% increase over 2015.

Competitively Well Positioned According to a January 2017 interview of two industry analysts, they do not view virtual reality (VR) content and delivery systems as movie theater competitors. Both also agreed the VR experience is difficult to sustain for the time of a feature-length movie. Streaming video services, such as Netflix, Hulu, etc., were forecast to be the death knell of movie theaters; however, as movie theater attendance has remain stable since 2004, 2016’s top-rated TV shows had 27% fewer viewers than 2004. The Media Audit’s fall 2016 survey for the Chicago, IL GMA indicates 40.8% of the base population used Netflix has their streaming media service provider while 25.5% of the base population attended a movie theater during the past 4 weeks.

A Blockbuster Year As of the writing of this Profiler, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 grossed $146.51 million for its first weekend of release (May 5/6/7), and served as the official beginning of the summer movie blockbuster season. Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious and The Boss Baby have all topped $100 million box office grosses, with Beauty and the Beast at the top, at $487.7 million (as of 5/8/17). Some of the most-anticipated movies include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (5/26/17), Dunkirk (7/2/17), Spider- Man: Homecoming (7/7/17), Blade Runner 2049 (10/6/17) and Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (12/15/17).

Advertising Strategies Recommend that theaters serving complete restaurant menus use TV to brand their unique foodservice options to a broad audience and use social media to share photos of dishes and videos of chef explaining local food sources and healthy preparation. To maximize repeat business, theater owners should promote a half-off ticket for the patron’s next visit when they bring a family member or friend at full price. That person then qualifies for the half-off ticket promotion. Serve as a catalyst for a theater owner and a restaurant, bar and/or gaming casino owner to pool their resources for an entertainment bundle at a special price, such as dinner and a movie, or an early movie and a late-night nightclub or casino visit.

New Media Strategies Conduct a social media poll when the third or additional sequel of a movie is released (Fast and Furious, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, etc.) and ask people which episode is their favorite, and why. Ask social media visitors to share photos and/or videos of local places/landscapes that they think could have been a location for a current top movie. Name the movie and explain why. Conduct a contest on social media to identify a movie from just a small portion of a single frame. Including a drawing of all participants with the right answer for a grand prize.