What a night at the movies costs
An article in the New York Times today discusses the true cost of a night out at the movies: money and time. The article attributes some of the box office slump to the schlep, meaning, the theater experience itself. Getting tickets online, getting to the theater, getting food, getting seats, sitting through ads, then sitting through a juggernaut-sized film.
Speaking of a time investment, there’s a great infographic in the article that lists movie times against other varying activities, including the international space station orbiting the Earth and a one way flight from New York to Miami. The longest item on the list is the running time of King Kong.
The loss of spontaneity is also mourned:
In the age of Fandango, premovie advertising and sellouts every weekend, it has become increasingly difficult to simply “catch” a movie. Going to see a film has become an exercise in elaborate planning and, particularly this holiday season - when many big films like “Munich,” “The New World” and most famously “King Kong,” are clocking in at two and a half to three hours - a major time commitment.
“It’s basically impossible to see a movie spontaneously,” said Scott Solish, 26, an urban planning student who sees movies three times a month with strategic plans to avoid crowds. For the latest “Harry Potter” installment, he went at 11 p.m. on a Monday or Tuesday several weeks after the film opened, when the theater was comfortably underpopulated. “It’s better to have it empty than full of screaming people,” he said.
I’m sure the folks over at Fandango.com are plenty pleased to hear today referred to as “the age of Fandango.” Sort of reminds me of the dawning of the age of Aquarius, only with more talking paper bags.
Check out the article here.