According to the L.A. Times, Hollywood studios are hosting fewer lavish premiere parties, curtailing newspaper advertisements and restricting the number of agencies that produce trailers in effort to get more bang for their marketing buck in an increasingly competitive entertainment marketplace.
One bit of good news is that the depressed economy has apparently not stopped people from going to movie theaters. Ticket sales are up 17.3% this year from a year earlier, and attendance is up 15.6%, according to box office tracking firm Media by Numbers.
As the studios have flooded theaters in recent years with an increased number of releases, they have been forced to spend more on marketing as they jostle for the attention of moviegoers. Although studios have begun to reduce the numbers of films they make and squeeze the fees they pay talent, marketing costs have largely escaped the scythe.
In fact, a dozen big-budget pictures are set to crowd into theaters over the short 16-week summer season, many with worldwide marketing budgets that will top $100 million each. Because the summer movie season can account for as much as 40% of the year’s box-office revenue, capturing as much of it as possible is crucial for the studios.