There are several reasons why blockbusters in the last several years have became so big, but the most important one would be that we talk and hear about movies more than ever before.
The word-of-mouth about movies
In 2008, Universal McCann published one of the most important researches on word of mouth, examining 17,000 respondents in 29 countries. The research name was: “when did we start trusting strangers?” and we will elaborate on it later on.
One of the findings of this research was that movies are the most “reviewed” type of products, brands or services on the web. Almost 60% of the respondent said they had reviewed films online.
The word of mouth about movies work both ways – it turns some movies into mega hits and at the same ease and speed it ruins others.
The word of mouth about movies works both ways – it turns some movies into mega hits and at the same ease and speed it ruins others.
“Friday is the new weekend”
Brüno, the Sacha Baron Cohen mockumentary comedy, was released on the weekend of July 10, 2009. The numbers on Friday were pretty good, reaching 14.4 million dollars, but 24 hours later, on Saturday night, it collapsed by 40%. All the other top movies that were playing that weekend presented an increase from Friday to Saturday.
So what happened to Bruno?
The TIME said:
“In the old days — like, until yesterday — movie studios judged the success of their big pictures by how much they grossed on the opening weekend. But in the age of Twitter, electronic word-of-mouth is immediate, as early moviegoers tweet their opinions on a film to millions of “followers.” Instant-messaging can make or break a film within 24 hours. Friday is the new weekend….
Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect.”
Ironically, last week, we got another sharp reminder of the 2 sides of this coin – While Jurassic park broke all times weekend earnings record, another movie broke the record for lowest opening ever with earnings of 918$. I am talking about FIFA’s “United Passions” starring Tim Roth.
Next on “the short head of movies”:
We don’t need another hero – One Batman is enough
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