The Cinema Foundation and film research firm The Quorum, has released the results of a study showing high interest in cinema incorporating programming that goes beyond movies.
The study surveyed 5,940 people nationally back in late July/early August and identified ten experiences beyond movies that could be played in cinemas, including live or pre-premiere television shows, streamed live concerts, in-theater cooking events and E-sports.
It revealed a significant appetite for all ten events among both active and non-active theatergoers. In addition, many respondents expressed willingness to pay a premium beyond the price of a movie ticket for these experiences.
Of the ten it was special television episodes, live concerts, and cooking experiences scored the highest interest. There was also strong interest, from both moviegoers and non-moviegoers alike, for re-releases of film classics from across the 20th century.
There was also interest in a wider variety of product including documentaries, anime, short films and Indian cinema. David Herrin, founder of The Quorum, says in a statement:
“While a lot of attention has been focused on a lack of films being a drag on attendance, there has been less attention on what to do about it other than ‘more films’. The survey results show that there is a wide range of opportunities for exhibitors and distributors to capitalize on consumers’ love of the theatre-going experience with ‘more of everything’.”
Theaters have done some experiments in this with international theater screenings for select episodes of series with large fanbases, including “Game of Thrones” and “Doctor Who”.
However when this year’s cinema screenings of the third season premiere episodes of the faith-based series “The Chosen” pulled in more than $8 million at the box office for that weekend, it definitely got some people’s attention.
Source: Box-Office Pro
