2017 ticket sales lowest in 25 years???

I still go , and sometimes quite often. However I have the benefit of being able to catch a matinee during the week when I get out of work. I also visit the theater on the fringe of town and not the big multiplex a the mall.

Catching a matinee makes it cheaper ( around $7) and less crowds. I usually skip snacks although I occasionally treat myself (popcorn is one of my favorites).

IN 2017, I saw Dunkirk, BR 2049, Guardians 2 (twice), Spiderman HC (3 times), Thor (twice), and TLJ (twice). Like others have stated, I only hit the big movies that I am interested in, other stuff I watch at home.

I can envision a time when theaters become more of a novelty/nostalgia thing. I don't think they will ever go away completely though.

Cephus said:

Let's see, how many movies did I see in a theater this year? 0
How many in 2016: 0
2015: 0
2014: 0
2013: 0

In fact, the last movie I saw in a theater was the original Transformers movie in 2007. I buy tons of Blurays but I will never walk into a theater again.

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Exact same position as you. I think the last movie I saw in theaters was Sin City and my only reason for going to the theater wasn't for the 'Theater Experience' but rather because I was already a fan of the Sin City comic and wanted to see the movie as soon as possible. But I realized if Blade Runner 2049 can't get me back into a theater, there is no film past, present or future that will ever do it again. I usually pre-order the blu rays of movies I want to see now.

Pretty much the only reason I ever go to a theater is because it's something I simply don't want to wait on. If the blu-ray came out the same day the movie was released I would just rather watch that.

I saw Guardians, Wonder Woman, Thor, Justice League and TLJ. I think I saw a few more ealry 2017 but can't quite remember. I think when you can't remember movies you watched in theaters less than a year ago and your mentally healthy, somethings wrong with the movies.

I was bored from Guardians 2 and humilated by TLJ. I liked Wonder Woman, which was a less feminist movie as TLJ and that should bother all of us.
I was fine with Justice League, not disappointed but not overwhelmed. Thor was, well, it just didn't matter.

My biggest problem with theaters started a few years ago. 3D. There was, besides Avatar, not a single movie that had any 3D effects that justified the use of it. I try to avoid 3D and it wasn't a problem to do so until the second half of 2017. We have two big theaters around and they really showed 2D screenings every day. I wanted to see TLJ in 2D because I knew before hand that the effects would suck and I was right about it. So I tried to book some tickets. 2D screenings were better booked than 3D and it was kinda hard to get tickets in the first 2 Weeks. So I decided I go after christmas. They cancelled the 2D screenings because of low sales. I knew that they're lying because every screening was sold out over the last 2 weeks and even then it was hard to get 10 tickets in a row or find a screening with 10 seats left. They replaced it with 3D screenings. Just to force people to pay 13,- € instead of 7,- €.

The other problem is that some trailers get you hyped, mostly because there is a "hype happening" going on as soon as a trailer hits the internet. But I just saw too many bad movies with great/good trailers.

A few years ago you also could get an objective non-spoiler review which often hit the mark and your own opinion wasn't far away from the critics. Nowadays you go to a movie with bad critics and enjoy it or you watch the best received movie of the decade and realise that somethings wrong because this movie is simply garbage.

Nth said:

Exact same position as you. I think the last movie I saw in theaters was Sin City and my only reason for going to the theater wasn't for the 'Theater Experience' but rather because I was already a fan of the Sin City comic and wanted to see the movie as soon as possible. But I realized if Blade Runner 2049 can't get me back into a theater, there is no film past, present or future that will ever do it again. I usually pre-order the blu rays of movies I want to see now.

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I actively dislike the "theater experience". I've got a big screen TV and I can pause, restart and rewatch the movie as much as I want. I don't have idiots kicking the back of my chair, I don't have morons talking on their phones or people throwing things. If I want to go to the bathroom, I put the movie on pause. I am not in any hurry to see any movie, I can wait the couple of months to see it and even then, I usually don't rush to order it. I see a movie when I see it and not before.

Screw theaters.

Cephus said:

I actively dislike the "theater experience". I've got a big screen TV and I can pause, restart and rewatch the movie as much as I want. I don't have idiots kicking the back of my chair, I don't have morons talking on their phones or people throwing things. If I want to go to the bathroom, I put the movie on pause. I am not in any hurry to see any movie, I can wait the couple of months to see it and even then, I usually don't rush to order it. I see a movie when I see it and not before.

Screw theaters.

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I agree, and Im not wealthy enough to afford 4 tickets in a fancy recliner theater. It had been a few years since a theater experience, and I remember walking out the same way.

Bloated from popcorn..getting kicked in the back...stupid cell phone 2 rows in front..and crying over how much money I just spent.:cry

Too many people act in the theater, the same way they drive.... like they own the road.

I'll even confess, the reason why I go to theaters...Is so I can talk about the movie with others who went and not felt left out..lol

Not for the experience anymore

DarthLee said:

I agree, and Im not wealthy enough to afford 4 tickets in a fancy recliner theater. It had been a few years since a theater experience, and I remember walking out the same way.

Bloated from popcorn..getting kicked in the back...stupid cell phone 2 rows in front..and crying over how much money I just spent.:cry

Too many people act in the theater, the same way they drive.... like they own the road.

I'll even confess, the reason why I go to theaters...Is so I can talk about the movie with others who went and not felt left out..lol

Not for the experience anymore

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I can afford it, I just don't care. I don't talk to anyone about movies anymore.

Other people have ruined the theater experience I loved in the 90s/00s. Phones are a major part of that, but in general people just have such short attention spans. Also the reserved seating system almost everyone uses know has ruined a lot of it for me. No longer can you be early and get a good seat, any a-hole who got their ticket online can walk in 20 minutes after the movie starts, make you get up, and sit in the perfect spot.

Kylash said:

Other people have ruined the theater experience I loved in the 90s/00s. Phones are a major part of that, but in general people just have such short attention spans. Also the reserved seating system almost everyone uses know has ruined a lot of it for me. No longer can you be early and get a good seat, any a-hole who got their ticket online can walk in 20 minutes after the movie starts, make you get up, and sit in the perfect spot.

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Tickets become available at the local box offices the same day as online. Buy your tickets in advance in person. Avoid online fees.

Now that I think about it, I almost got in an altercation at The Mummy when I whacked a guy in the back of the head for texting through the entire movie. Yeah, not my smartest move. I am really not "that guy" but I was going to a movie by myself to blow off steam and it was a bad movie. He was that guy which made me that guy
Some movies are totally made for a home version of MST3000.

I actually would love to go to a horror movie in a ------ neighborhood. "Ooohhhh NNNooooo, get out the house!!!!!" "BEHIND YOU --------!!!, ARE YOU BLIND???"

I have tiers. For general "don't want to wait until it's out on home-video" interest, I go to my local Regal. If people cough or get up and leave or whatever, I'm not that bothered. If it's something that I've been looking forward to, I'll go to one of my local Giant Screen/FauxMAX theaters. If it's something really special or that I feel deserves the scope, I go to Cinerama or the true IMAX theater at Pacific Science Center. Those last couple are definitely pricier, but that also tends to cut down on the riff-raff. These are people who care enough to pay that much and they tend to be more serious cinemaphiles than Joe Q. Public and his three bratty kids who shouldn't even be seeing this movie...

In 2017, I saw (in theaters, at least once each):

• The Lego Batman Movie
• The Great Wall
• Logan
• Kong: Skull Island
• Beauty and the Beast
• Ghost in the Shell
• Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
• Wonder Woman
• Despicable Me 3
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• It
• Kingsman: The Golden Circle
• Blade Runner 2049
• Thor: Ragnarok
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Some of these were on half-price Tuesday at my local. Some were matinees. There were more I wanted to see in the theater, but wasn't able to make happen, and I snagged them on home-video on Thanksgiving (my exercise between First Thanksgiving Dinner and Second Thanksgiving Dinner). Plus a special screening of Tron at Cinerama in March.

--Jonah