wolpert@hpisla.UUCP (wolpert) (08/15/84)
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maybe a better measure of how "big" a movie is would be
the number of people that saw it...
movie tickets have gone up in price faster in the past
few years than would be accounted for by "mere"
inflation. In 1939, it cost my mother 10 cents to go
to a movie (a double feature, with cartoons, newsreel,
serial, etc) (at least, that's what she said. Actually,
it was "a quarter for the trip: two bus fares, a movie,
and a Coke (r)").
So maybe rather than adjusting for inflation, we should
be dividing by the average admission price (whatever
that is...)
d.wolpert
loveland, COjvs@ihu1e.UUCP (John V. Smith) (08/22/84)
<no-blank> The following article is re-printed (with out permission) from the July 16, 1984 issue of FORBES magazine. It's related to a subject that comes up on the net once in awhile regarding the most popular movie of all time. Before anyone starts flameing, note that the figures given are for U.S. and Canadian rentals. "The box office dollar" Boffo movie figures don't always mean what they say. Variety's 1984 list of movie winners, for instance, puts "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" in the top spot with almost $210 million in U.S. and Canadian rentals, followed by 1977's "Star Wars", with $193.5 million, and its 1983 sequel, "Return of the Jedi", $165.5 million. Factor in inflation, however, and the picture is far different. Laventhol & Horwath, the accounting firm, found that under those conditions the 1939 classic "Gone With The Wind (15th on the Variety list) was number one, with $322 million in constant dollars. Runners-up were 1977's "Star Wars", with $272 million, 1975's "Jaws" ($214 million) and 1965's "The Sound of Music" ($209 million). Only one new movie, in fact, made Laventhol's constant-dollar list -- "Return of the Jedi", which got $165.5 million in rentals last year, ranked number eight in constant dollars, with $159 million. Laventhol partner Saul Leonard figured that the 1982 dollar was worth 48.2 cents in relation to 1972 (the last time a dollar was worth 100 cents, according to economists). Back in 1939, when Clark Gable was king of Hollywood, the dollar was worth more than eight times what it was in 1982. John V. Smith
presley@mhuxn.UUCP (Joe Presley) (09/03/84)
> maybe a better measure of how "big" a movie is would be > the number of people that saw it... ... and the population has remained the same since 1939 ... Don't forget to also factor in: number of theaters; the difference in discretionary income; the ease of getting to a theater (where I went to HS in Arkansas, the closest theater besides the drive-in is 50 miles -- not a simple Saturday afternoon trek); amount of leisure time; and a few others I wouldn't mention. -- /s/ Joe Presley (ihnp4!j.presley)