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2012 a Record $10.7 Billion Year for Hollywood
Piracy's Impact Dramatically Over-Stated

Despite claims that broadband and piracy have utterly devastated earnings, 2012 wound up being another record-breaking year for Hollywood income. 2012 resulted in North American theaters showing more movies than ever before, resulting in a record breaking domestic box office showing of $10.7 billion. As Torrent Freak notes, that's quite a different story from the narrative painted by the entertainment industry, who pushed for numerous new draconian laws last year (SOPA, PIPA) to battle a bogeyman they appear to be over-stating:

quote:
For the first time in history total ticket sales have exceeded $10.7 billion. According to the most recent numbers total revenue this year will be around $10.8 billion, with 6 percent coming from this year’s blockbuster The Avengers.

The new record was set without raising ticket prices, and even when adjusted for inflation there’s a significant bump compared to last year’s grosses. And if that’s not enough, the total number of movies premiered in 2012 also went up to a record breaking 655. The new record follows an even more stable international trend where box office revenues have been growing for several consecutive years. Over the past decade international grosses nearly tripled from $8.1 billion in 2001 to $22.4 billion in 2011.
The website also points two two different studies from last year that noted that box office earnings are not significantly harmed by piracy, and that the MegaUpload shutdown had little impact on box office earnings. As the site notes none of this is to suggest that piracy doesn't exist -- it certainly appears to be denting rental and DVD revenues. It does however suggest that Hollywood's finances are just fine despite piracy, and that piracy is something that's manageable without the kind of obnoxious SOPA-like efforts we saw from Hollywood in 2012.
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m3nphls
join:2012-10-02
Brooklyn, NY

m3nphls

Member

Simple...

That's because people who download them have no intention to even go to the movies and spend the money to begin with.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

1 edit

Snakeoil

Premium Member

Re: Simple...



1]Trailers can't be trusted. I've gone to so many movies, where the best part was the trailer. I feel if I'm going to invest 6 bucks for the money ticket and another 10 bucks for a drink and popcorn, I better like what I'm paying for.
2]I don't listen to critics, because they seldom agree with my opinion about a movie.

I used to go once a week, now it's like once every 3 or 4 months.
I think one reason why Hollywood made so much cash is because of the large number of movies being released that are 3d only. Though I wish they were filmed in 3d and not giving a 3d treatment before being released to the theater.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Piracy and Box Office Earnings

Oh, sure they made $10.7 billion in box office earnings this year, but:

1) Without piracy, they would have made $10.7 TRILLION! Or even $10.7 QUADRILLION!!! Won't someone think of the poor, starving artists who barely live from movie to movie and pass the MPAA's latest extreme-copyright enforcement proposal?

2) Thanks to some "creative accounting practices", no movie from 2012 actually made a profit so the MPAA is sad to report that anyone working on the movies for a cut of the profits won't get paid. (MPAA: "Sure, The Avengers was a box office smash, but these figures show conclusively that it actually lost millions. Such a shame that we won't be able to pay you.")

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

Re: Piracy and Box Office Earnings

quote:
Thanks to some "creative accounting practices", no movie from 2012 actually made a profit so the MPAA is sad to report that anyone working on the movies for a cut of the profits won't get paid. (MPAA: "Sure, The Avengers was a box office smash, but these figures show conclusively that it actually lost millions. Such a shame that we won't be able to pay you.")

Like John Carter. It bombed when it was first released, but it actually made it's money over it's theatrical run. Then it made even more when the DVD/Blue rays hit. But yet Disney tried writing it off as a loss.

I think studios try to make "bombs" so they, like any other business, can charge off the loss against any profit they made that year. To help reduce the tax bill.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Piracy and Box Office Earnings

That might explain those "what were they thinking" movies. They get green light only so they'll bomb and help to hide the profits from the successes. Sort of like a movie version of the plot in The Producers.

kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY

kamm

Member

Re: Piracy and Box Office Earnings

Hollywood's "creative accounting" ie tax fraud is well-known ever since Cukor invented the whole studio system. Scumbags, all of them.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

Given they do nothing to stop piracy within their own ranks.

F-Hollywood, stupid hypocrites.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

So because a few cops routinely find themselves opposite the law...

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Re: Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

Yeah and if the police never bothered with an entire division dedicated to those problems, IA, I would say the exact same thing about them.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

My implication wasn't clear. I was referring to our behavior, not our thoughts about Hollywood. I agree that they are hypocrites but that doesn't make stealing OK. Maybe I'm putting words in your mouth by thinking you support piracy simply because Hollywood is full of hypocrites.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

2 edits

skeechan

Premium Member

Re: Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

My implication wasn't clear...Hollywood claims that piracy is the end all be all evil of the universe when obviously it isn't. Piracy on the evil scale is somewhere between not declaring use tax and doing 67 in a 65.
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103

Member

Re: Piracy obviously isn't a problem...

Its a power and control trip - using 'blatant piracy' as the means.
Corporations want 100% control of media - period.

J Alert
Mayhem til the AM
Premium Member
join:2003-03-15
Tuckahoe, NY

J Alert to skeechan

Premium Member

to skeechan
Basically clean up your own backyard before you come knocking on your neighbor's door.

It's like Mayor of NYC Bloomberg who likes to institute a lot of laws/bans, but doesn't like to follow them himself.
J Alert

J Alert

Premium Member

Hollywood's Likely Response:

said by HOLLYWOOD CEOs :

"Just imagine how much we would have made without piracy. It was a 10.7 billion dollar year with piracy. It would have been a 30 billion dollar year without it."


AnonFTW
@reliablehosting.com

AnonFTW

Anon

Biased

Torrent Freak is biased as hell. The studies they link to clearly state that revenues are decreased by piracy and Megaupload. They claim they are "not statistically significant," however, that's a far cry from helping to increase revenues.

The second study notes that international piracy has a "lower bound" of 7% which increases to a whopping 40% as the delay between the US and international release grows.
Expand your moderator at work
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Not in favor of stupid laws but...

Don't we all look at our paychecks and wonder what we could do with the money that's removed to pay for government? Isn't it human nature for Hollywood to look at the $10.7B and wonder if it would be $10.8B without piracy?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Not in favor of stupid laws but...

said by rradina:

Don't we all look at our paychecks and wonder what we could do with the money that's removed to pay for government? Isn't it human nature for Hollywood to look at the $10.7B and wonder if it would be $10.8B without piracy?

And the numbers quoted here are for THEATER showings & not the DVD and streaming sales and cable VOD that make up most of the revenue for the studios. It is that revenue that covers costs and makes a movie profitable - not theater income.

Metatron2008
You're it
Premium Member
join:2008-09-02
united state

Metatron2008

Premium Member

So when people make a lot it's okay for you to steal?

Is this what you people believe is fair? If a company makes money it's okay for you to take whatever you want?

If you get your rightfully deserved karma one day, you will find it to be the worst day of your life.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: So when people make a lot it's okay for you to steal?

The recent congressional scramble reveals we are a nation of envy that despises success. The majority of us voted people into office who will now act accordingly.

Of course the successful do have a knack for fermenting these attitudes by also being devoid of the same ethics and morals about which you speak. They hide behind what's legal, not what's ethical, moral or even just.
Trencher
join:2007-02-12
Etobicoke, ON

Trencher to Metatron2008

Member

to Metatron2008
Umm, its not stealing its copying... and secondly hows the air up there on your high horse? Studies have shown that pirating movies actually can increase profit due to word of mouth buzz. Also the biggest pirate's are usually the biggest tech/movie/music spenders... so figure that one out.
Expand your moderator at work

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

hmm

not sure about others but when I download a movie and like it I buy it when the price is right. %90 of my BR's I got after downloading the movie first and liking it. If they think I'm spending $20 bucks or more to take a look at a movie that I may not like they're out of their damn minds.

I'll just do without and not risk paying for something I won't like.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: hmm

That statistic doesn't tell us enough. All that says is you downloaded and viewed X movies and of the Y you liked, you purchased .9Y. There's no relation between X and Y and that's what interests Hollywood. Whether you like it or not, they want you to pay for X views.

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

Re: hmm

well in their great wisdom they think if I can't download a movie I'll buy it hmm no I'll just skip the movie.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: hmm

All you get is a trailer. That's the way it worked before technology allowed acquisition before payment.

They expect us to pay for viewing a movie and if we like it, we can buy it. If we didn't like it enough to later buy it, well, that's just like going to a restaurant and getting an edible but not great meal.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: hmm

said by rradina:

All you get is a trailer. That's the way it worked before technology allowed acquisition before payment.

..and I know of a handful of movies that the trailer doesn't even come close to.

So, is that false advertising when the movie actually sucks?
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: hmm

Does the trailer offer anything that can be interpreted as a guarantee of performance suitability? Performance is subjective to each customer and it would be impossible to prove the trailer was misleading when trailers are often deliberately thin to protect the nature of the performance. I suppose you could ask the theater or studio for a refund. Good luck with that.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: hmm

said by rradina:

I suppose you could ask the theater or studio for a refund. Good luck with that.

There's been a couple that came close. Good thing I didn't pay full price (Bargain Matinee) or I'd been pissed.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco to TOPDAWG

Premium Member

to TOPDAWG
And if you didn't like... you didn't buy it. That doesn't make movies any cheaper to produce, nor does it justify piracy.

A quick google search can tell you every detail of every movie ever released or to be released. Pirating a movie to see if you like it is just lazy.
Trencher
join:2007-02-12
Etobicoke, ON

Trencher

Member

Re: hmm

If a tree falls in the forest and no ones around to see it, did it fall?

If a movie is released and no one watches it, was the movie ever made?

Rajmarie
@ustdata.net

Rajmarie to TOPDAWG

Anon

to TOPDAWG
Why dont you rent the movie rather then DL it using piracy. Renting is what I do...& its like a dollar a night (redbox). If I like it...then I do the same as you do...buy it on BR.

This way you stay on the good side of the LAW & nobody can tell you anything...plus...you help in a way of keeping the industry going along.

••••

TOPDAWG
Premium Member
join:2005-04-27
Calgary, AB

TOPDAWG

Premium Member

well I can just make up reason why I pirate but the truth is I don't give a crap. I like a movie I'll buy it I don't oh well they lost nothing. I won't spend anything for one movie unless I really want it.

Hollywood makes good money off me I'm near 200 BR's now and in the last month and this mouth I'll go to the movies 4 times.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Cost of going to the movies

When grandma (born 1932) was a kid, it was 11 cents to go to the movies and popcorn was 5 cents and soda was 5 cents. Now you need to mortgage the house to get into the movies and popcorn and soda will send you into bankruptcy.

If I go to the movies (during the day on a weekday) and buy popcorn and soda, it costs a good part of $20 if I buy popcorn and soda (that is for one person). Grandma had two sisters and one brother (she is the only one left as of 2013), imagine them going to the movies on today's costs. And they had very little money when they were young as it was the Great Depression.

•••••••

diablo18926
R.I.P. Donald Lee Wise
join:2011-04-21
Friendly, WV

diablo18926

Member

I ain't going ever again.

I am never again going to the theaters, after what happen last time me and my brothers were there.. Kids throwing pop corn, people talking over top of the movie nearly the entire time, can't hear a word sometimes what the characters in the movie are saying, kids jumping all in front of you and stuff. Sitting in front would help but I like to sit back a little ways to help enjoy the movie, but how can i when theres kids jumping all around me screaming, throwing pop corn and stuff?? You expect me to waist $12 on a movie theater and enjoy it? I try other theaters but no luck so guess what? I go out and get a rental copy from say the red box and watch at my place... movie theaters? You can *SUCK IT*

Another reason why I quit going is Because of what happen this past year, with the joker coming into the place and shooting up everyone.. Thats no fun at all!

•••

jester121
Premium Member
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

jester121

Premium Member

Fortunately...

... their allies in the Democrat party ensured they continue receiving tax breaks (obscene corporate welfare, isn't that what you guys call it?) in the "deal" that was just passed by the spineless Congress.

»www.businessinsider.com/ ··· l-2013-1

crazediamond
Maybe you shouldn't be so proud?
Premium Member
join:2002-01-19
Brooklyn, NY

crazediamond

Premium Member

Re: Fortunately...

Hey look, its someone who says "democrat party". Lets all point and laugh.
Kamus
join:2011-01-27
El Paso, TX

Kamus

Member

Your move...

Your move shills.
zod5000
join:2003-10-21
Victoria, BC

zod5000

Member

Piracy is impacting bluray/dvd/online rental sales....

It is a bit odd. Before DVD home video collections weren't hat big. VHS tapes were big bulk and of low quality. Then all of a sudden the movie industry make huge in roads with dvds. That avenue of revenue is the one shrinking (media sales continue to decline).

Piracy hasn't impacted theatrical runs because most people don't want to watch a copy sourced from a video camera. That still gives movies the first run advantage in theatres.

The movie companies blame the declining dvd sales, but now it's like it was 20 years ago when media sales weren't that big either.

•••••••••••

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Just think of the overall revenues if the MPAA

got off their lazy, fat asses and stopped paying the insane lawyer fees for the insane lawsuits that they file.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Re: Just think of the overall revenues if the MPAA

said by Bill Neilson:

got off their lazy, fat asses and stopped paying the insane lawyer fees for the insane lawsuits that they file.

Amen!!

And then learn how to use the current technology to their advantage instead of fighting against it, might help?
dra6o0n
join:2011-08-15
Mississauga, ON

dra6o0n

Member

The world should have ended...

Now we gotta deal with this crap for who knows how many years until the next 'prophesied' apocalypse.

ARGONAUT
Have a nice day.
Premium Member
join:2006-01-24
New Albany, IN

ARGONAUT

Premium Member

One RingyDingy..Two RingyDingy

The copywrong system is broken.

Everybody has seen how Apple has abused it to suppress competition.
dogram
join:2011-03-22

dogram

Member

Re: One RingyDingy..Two RingyDingy

Piracy is so grossly blown out of proportion I don't even know how to describe it. It's like a textbook publisher suing kids who let other kids use their textbook.

reallydude
@cvgs.net

reallydude

Anon

Argh...

I don't believe there is a ethical or justified reason for piracy it is what it is; someone getting something for free that they should have paid for. But here's the thing does anyone really care except for a few self-righteous people and the movie studios, I think not, its not like you become a deviant just for downloading things, I've probably downloaded every file on my computer with out paying for it, but I'll also go broke and tired trying to help those around me when I really need to help myself, and I haven't done a harmful to hardly any other living thing other than the fact that I pirate. So if piracy makes me a bad person in the eyes of a few jerks and MPAA/RIAA then so be it. I do what I want to do to save a buck or two.