Hollywood is struggling with more than its ongoing effort to purge the industry of sexual abusers.
The Wrap on Wednesday reported on poor theater attendance, a general trend that’s plagued filmmakers since 2005. Apparently, fewer movie tickets sold in 2017 than in 1993.
The National Alliance of Theater Owners announced Wednesday that the national ticket average for 2017 rose 3.7 percent year-over-year to $8.93, up from $8.65 last year.
At that average, the estimated number of movie tickets sold last year is 1.23 billion. While that is only a rough estimate that does not account for the higher ticket prices for premium formats and theaters in more expensive cities like New York and Los Angeles, NATO’s estimate is the lowest since 1993, when “Jurassic Park” was the top grossing film of the year and an estimated 1.24 billion tickets were sold.
According to the trade group, lagging summer ticket sales — before the allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood in the fall — accounted for most of last year’s poor showing. Fourth quarter sales reportedly did not see a significant decline compared to 2016.
Given the fallout over #MeToo, which has implicated a vast network of industry insiders in enabling sexual misconduct, Hollywood’s task of rebounding from its shattered moral credibility and falling ticket sales looks monumental.
