How Hollywood mega-hits spread the joy
It’s going to be another big weekend at the box office: “Ted 2,” “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” are each expected to pull in another $50 million or more.
It’s easy to understand how the monster success of “Jurassic World” is good for Universal. And how Pixar and its parent Disney must be feeling right now about “Inside Out.”
Joy.
It turns out, a blockbuster can also inspire joy in the theater next door.
“There are plenty of examples historically where a movie was so massive and the industry was afraid that other movies wouldn’t perform well, and the exact opposite happened,” says Phil Contrino, chief analyst for Boxoffice.com.
He says movies like “Avatar,” “Frozen” and now “Jurassic World” have all had a halo effect. “At the end of the day, movies are a product like anything else, and if customers walk away happy and satisfied with the experience, they are more prone to come back again.”
Tom Nunan thinks there’s another reason movie going begets movie going; he’s founder of Bull’s Eye Entertainment and a professor at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
“What happens, as you are probably aware as a consumer, is that sometimes your movie is sold out,” Nunan says. So, you check the time, check in with your partner and you go see something else.
“Big movies always create more box office all around,” Nunan says.
And smart marketers take advantage of that. “They’ll own the fact that there are other movies that you can see out there that are really fun, and big, and exciting, and will just have a sense of humor about it, and try to entice you to see us too.”
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