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Box Office Movies: Pure Entertainment or Cascade?

Let’s face it: Almost everyone enjoys going to the movies with friends and family, especially during the weekends. Watching movies at the theaters is a fun, easy activity that almost everyone can enjoy together. But, what exactly makes one actually want to see a specific movie? Is it the movie’s promising plot-line, stunning actors/actresses, heart-pumping action, touching romance, and/or uplifting comedy? Or is it due to the information cascade and network effects created from movie reviews, like those easily found on http://www.rottentomatoes.com?

The most recent box office hit ‘Skyfall’ made $87.8 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend. This latest Bond movie made a franchise-record by passing its predecessor ‘Quantum of Solace’ earnings of $67.5 million in 2008. What has allowed ‘Skyfall’ to successfully attract so many viewers? Interestingly enough, this particular movie can be analyzed through what can be described as a “double cascade.”

The first cascade consists of the previous viewers, either soft-core watchers or die-hard fans, of Bond films that immediately make their decisions to see the next movie as soon as they see its release date during the trailer. In addition to the strategic anticipation from the trailer, this group of movie goers has private information of previous enjoyment from watching older Bond movies. Therefore, they conclude that the new Bond movie will continue the trend and likely provide an equally enjoyable experience. They pass their information as a “high signal” onto friends and families to convince others to join them in watching the new movie, hence attracting more viewers through a cascade.

The second cascade is created by the widely accessible reviews in newspapers and the internet provided by expert movie critics. These reviews are especially influential on those who are unsure about whether seeing the movie is worth the cost and effort. These people are usually intrigued by the mystery and anticipation created by the movie’s trailer, but are still “on-the-fence” about attending.  Thus, the reviews like “Sam Mendes brings Bond surging back with a smart, sexy, riveting action thriller that qualifies as one of the best 007 films to date” from top critics provide these unsure movie goers with a “high signal” that the movie is entertaining. Alternatively, if a movie has a majority of bad reviews, these same movie goers receive enough “low signals” to convince them not watch. Consequently, cascades can be created from the majority signal from these top movie reviews.

Essentially, a viewer can decide to go watch a new box office movie as a result of his/her previous experiences/predispositions towards the movie or as a result of a cascade. Additionally, cascades can create an “all-or-flop” network effect, usually by the end of opening weekend. Let’s say you did not decide to watch a movie on its opening weekend because you read bad reviews from critics (who are not right 100% of the time) and want to collect more information. You could hear from some friends that went on opening night that “It was awesome! You HAVE to watch!” and therefore you want to go because you now value the movie more than its cost and the effort it takes to get to the theater. Or you could hear “It was terrible! Don’t waste your time” and thus your opportunity cost to go is less than the movie’s value and thus do not watch it in theaters. Eventually, the movie reaches its stable equilibrium fraction of the movie-going population.

Information cascades and network effects can help explain why the movies that receive > 75% on Rotten Tomatoes like ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Wreck-it Ralph’ generally attract a lot more viewers and revenue than less positively-rated movies like ‘Taken 2’ (21%). Next time you are at the movies, be sure to enjoy your time! However, try to take a moment to think about why you are actually watching the movie. You might be surprised at how you are also influenced by these cascades and network effects without realizing it at first.

 

Relevant: http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-11/skyfall-has-87-dot-8-million-in-sales-record-for-james-bond-film

-AznSensation

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One Response to “ Box Office Movies: Pure Entertainment or Cascade? ”

  • Film Movies Program

    Of course, a film school that is able to loan films to its students is also going to benefit the students and their studies. With the movie management software, the students can easily check to see what movies are available or when new movies will be available. It will also help teachers to see whether students are being proactive in their learning as this system will also be accessible to them as well. Seeing that a student has been borrowing a certain director’s films will also help a teacher perhaps suggest other films for them to look at as well in their independent study.

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