Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

The technicality? It should be obvious. Children's ticket prices versus adult ticket prices. That's why I used the dreaded ALL CAPS for the word, "tickets".

How are the two distinguished in that list? As in not counted? A ticket is a ticket, but in the interest of viewer draw, children aren't always making their own decisions to see a movie. One or both parents decide to take the kids to see a kid's movie, numerous tickets sold. I think Star Wars pulled them in like no other. Kids movies are definitely good business and more modern ones which appeal greatly to adults as well are becoming more successful.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

The technicality? It should be obvious. Children's ticket prices versus adult ticket prices. That's why I used the dreaded ALL CAPS for the word, "tickets". Snow White -- well, at some point before the world population went bazinga -- had sold more TICKETS than any movie in history, bolstered by re-releases naturally.

The movie hasn't been re-released since 1993, but pretty sure it would still have a leg up on Gone With the Wind in terms of actual tickets sold.

It's true, you can't really account for population growth to determine, say, percentage of viewers of the total population, or the population that has access to theaters. That list was for total tickets sold world-wide, so then the discussion becomes how much of the world's population should be considered in discussions of total tickets sold. The Chinese market is huge now, but was never part of the discussion for GwtW or Star Wars. Avatar and the new Star Wars trilogy, yes. That's why James Cameron is making China a part of the creation process for the new Avatar movies. He expects to increase the draw in probably the fastest growing movie market in the world.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by djakrse

How are the two distinguished in that list? As in not counted? A ticket is a ticket, but in the interest of viewer draw, children aren't always making their own decisions to see a movie. One or both parents decide to take the kids to see a kid's movie, numerous tickets sold. I think Star Wars pulled them in like no other. Kids movies are definitely good business and more modern ones which appeal greatly to adults as well are becoming more successful.

Snow White was a smash with adults, and Walt Disney refused to call it a film made for children.

Box Office Mojo doesn't count tickets, it counts grosses. That's the problem with trying to scale family films -- ticket prices for kids are lower than prices for adults, but these websites and the studios are fixated on the money grossed, not tickets sold.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Snow White was a smash with adults, and Walt Disney refused to call it a film made for children.

Box Office Mojo doesn't count tickets, it counts grosses. That's the problem with trying to scale family films -- ticket prices for kids are lower than prices for adults, but these websites and the studios are fixated on the money grossed, not tickets sold.

That particular list was tickets sold, not box office. Here's another one.

http://mrob.com/pub/film-video/topadj.html

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by manunited1

If we look at tickets sold then Gone with the Wind blows everything out of the water. I don't know what that info has to do with anything but there it is.

Back on subject: Star Wars rules and the new one will be kickass.

As well it should. It has more widespread appeal than Star Wars.
Dollar amounts can be misleading due to, as I said, inflation. So I would rather know how many people are going to see a film, not how many dollars were spent.

[Kryptonic]

Newspaper reports from the time counter the adjusted for inflation gross of Gone with the Wind. Star Wars is likely the all time champion.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

The technicality? It should be obvious. Children's ticket prices versus adult ticket prices. That's why I used the dreaded ALL CAPS for the word, "tickets". Snow White -- well, at some point before the world population went bazinga -- had sold more TICKETS than any movie in history, bolstered by re-releases naturally.

The movie hasn't been re-released since 1993, but pretty sure it would still have a leg up on Gone With the Wind in terms of actual tickets sold.

Children usually go to matinee's where the ticket price is the same for everyone.

Originally Posted by djakrse

That particular list was tickets sold, not box office. Here's another one.

http://mrob.com/pub/film-video/topadj.html

Interesting that Phantom Menace is the only film from the last 20 years to make it into the top 20.

There's also no way that Beauty and the Beast number is accurate. It grossed less than half of Jurassic Park during its release, yet only sold 10 million less tickets? That doesn't add up at all. I know there are re-releases, but those have been in the last 12 years and add up to only $72M in grosses.

[Strevlac]

Originally Posted by djakrse

Nothing against you sir, for your astute remark, but I get sick of hearing this statistic because it had no competition. It's a lot like talking tennis before and after the open era, except a much larger discrepancy. The movie was literally in theaters for decades (I think I read that? And re-released numerous times) because there was little else to show.

It's true that the popularity of a movie should be measured in asses in seats versus gross box office, because inflation takes the numbers out of context. Tickets sold alone, Gone with the wind may take first prize (ignoring world-wide sales--the internationally expanding markets is impossible to correct for), but if you take into account competition and the rate tickets were sold during it's run in theaters, I don't think anything stands up to Star Wars. Include the immeasurable personal home viewings, and I can't imagine anything ever topping it. Of course, I've presented no facts and I'm no expert.

Edit: When I say competition, I'm thinking simply the limited runs films have in theaters to make way for other new releases. Truth be told, I have no idea what else was playing in the theater at the same time as Star Wars, but in that context, is there any more competitive time than now and the games played between Marvel and other releases? That tends to make The Avenger' run more impressive, but I imagine the next few years will produce incredible turnout in theaters.

Yeah, a little known fact:

Gone With The Wind was the only movie released for the entire year of 1939.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Children usually go to matinee's where the ticket price is the same for everyone.



Interesting that Phantom Menace is the only film from the last 20 years to make it into the top 20.

There's also no way that Beauty and the Beast number is accurate. It grossed less than half of Jurassic Park during its release, yet only sold 10 million less tickets? That doesn't add up at all. I know there are re-releases, but those have been in the last 12 years and add up to only $72M in grosses.

It's curious, Beauty and the Beast is much lower on the BoxOfficeMojo list. 121st with only 45 million tickets, while JP is 16th with over 90 million.

There's some side notes about multiple releases. Maybe the first list has a more accurate count of re-release records. The discrepancy in gross versus ticket numbers should be ticket prices, perhaps children prices.

I'm not surprised at the ticket numbers of tPM. I'd expect something similar for Ep7. This movie should draw huge crowds, and I'd think hold big numbers if it's really good. I'd expect it to surpass The Avengers due to a much larger appeal.

Edit: the BoxOfficeMojo list includes worldwide ticket sales I think. Hence why Avatar is in the top 20 there, but not on the other list. This probably explains Beauty and the Beast as well, or in combination with multiple releases.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by djakrse

That particular list was tickets sold, not box office. Here's another one.

No it isn't...if you're talking about Box Office Mojo's list, it's adjusted box office, not tickets sold. That's why the dollar sign is there on the number. It's an adjusted grosses list, not tickets sold. As for the other site, "Mr. Rob" clearly states his data is incomplete for films made before 1960. Snow White was released in 1937.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Col. Zombie

I'm not saying the CG isn't good. I agree with all that the performances are very strong. The performance might even be so good that you may choose to "overlook" (interesting choice of words) the "few shots sticking out."

But for someone who has fairly good vision to come out and say that each shot is flawless, as if to say you can't tell the difference between the CG ape and a real one, regardless of how close in appearance they may appear to be. Well, you can attempt to deceive yourself, and attempt deceive others, but you can't deceive your brain (it knows better ).

If I may say so, I reckon I've got a higher tolerance for CG than most folks on here it seems (I love the mo-capped Orcs in the Hobbit movies for example, I think they look a-may-zing), so I'll thank you not to tell me what my brain should be perceiving.

[huskersports]

Originally Posted by srinivas1015

Why does everyone assume Boyega is a storm trooper? Maybe he's wearing the uniform to sneak in somewhere, kinda like Han and Luke in ANH.

Am I the only one who, when seeing a black guy in a stormtrooper outfit, thought "We ain't found sh*t!"

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by huskersports

Am I the only one who, when seeing a black guy in a stormtrooper outfit, thought "We ain't found sh*t!"

Probably.

[djakrse]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

No it isn't...if you're talking about Box Office Mojo's list, it's adjusted box office, not tickets sold.

Yes, it is. Look at the column header, "Est. Tickets."

Look at the chart notes,

Adjusted to the estimated number of tickets sold. Inflation-adjustment is mostly done by multiplying estimated admissions by the latest average ticket price. Where admissions are unavailable, adjustment is based on the average ticket price for when each movie was released (taking in to account re-releases where applicable).

The chart is confusing, because of the title, but there is no adjusted gross column. The chart notes explain that value should be found by multiplying estimated admissions (tickets sold) by current, average ticket prices. Those numbers are obviously not represented.

Edit: this is the same list, but with gross adjusted for inflation, instead of tickets sold.

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by djakrse

Yes, it is. Look at the column header, "Est. Tickets."

Look at the chart notes,

The chart is confusing, because of the title, but there is no adjusted gross column. The chart notes explain that value should be found by multiplying estimated admissions (tickets sold) by current, average ticket prices. Those numbers are obviously not represented.

Edit: this is the same list, but with gross adjusted for inflation, instead of tickets sold.

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

I must be living in some alternate universe because Box Office Mojo is giving an adjusted ranking based on ticket price inflation, but does not have the data to differentiate 1937 admissions from adult admissions or children's admission, it only has the gross receipts. So they scale based on the money earned, not the tickets sold -- nowhere on that chart does it list tickets sold. Nobody has that demographic data. If they did, this would be a routine math problem, and both your list sites would match each other in terms of rankings. But they don't. One flat out admits it doesn't have data for films prior to 1960, the other says it estimates admissions by averaging the ticket price against the gross.

[poke smot]

If we were able to compare tickets sold, modern day movies wouldn't stand a chance. I'm sure movies made before 1980 sold way more tickets than the movies we're seeing today.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by huskersports

am i the only one who, when seeing a black guy in a stormtrooper outfit, thought "we ain't found sh*t!"

PDVD_080.jpg

[chip75]

Originally Posted by poke smot

If we were able to compare tickets sold, modern day movies wouldn't stand a chance. I'm sure movies made before 1980 sold way more tickets than the movies we're seeing today.

I can't remember but weren't there family-tickets sold, where adults could take a few kids in under one ticket?

There really should have been a bums-on-seats total registered for years, it's a shame that money is the be all and end all of a film's success.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by chip75

Attachment 103439

Comb the desert! (digital quality) - YouTube

That scene nevers get old lol.

[Tronald Dump]

Originally Posted by poke smot

If we were able to compare tickets sold, modern day movies wouldn't stand a chance. I'm sure movies made before 1980 sold way more tickets than the movies we're seeing today.

Absolutely. Theaters used to be the only place you could see movies, so people went to theaters a lot more often.

Heck, I remember when people started getting VCRs it still took years before you could get movies for the things.