Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier?

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Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 10:26:13 AM

Timon

Posts: 14545
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Bristol

So traditionally I always thought the Summer Blockbuster season started in May. Then, you generally had the first 'big' releases coming out like Star Trek in 2009, Iron Man 2 in 2010 and Thor last year.

However it seems 'big releases' are being released earlier and earlier. It's the first week of March and this weekend sees the release of John Carter - a film that is definitely summer blockbuster material. Then in early April, we have Battleship - a film that could be a Transformers movie in everything but name.

Now is this year the exception due to the sheer number of movies coming out? Are studios worried that the summer is too packed and with guaranteed hits like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises sure to dominate, they want to release riskier projects earlier to secure an audience? Or is this a growing trend and blockbusters will soon be coming out almost every month...

Except for January. No big films are ever released in January. Generally.

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Post #: 1

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 10:31:55 AM

MartinBlank76

Posts: 1303
Joined: 7/10/2005

January is usually when the oscar type shows come out isnt it? I love January, always full of great films in the cinema.

I also love summer blockbuster season and always get excited when it approaches, earlier and earlier each year.

Did Thor not come out in April last year?

I think years ago it was May in America and July over here for the start of blockbuster season wasnt it? Maybe they just have more potential blockbusters than ever before and if they spread it out over a longer period there wont be as much stepping on everyones toes.

Its hard to tell how John Carter will do but I think it was a wise move releasing it early as people might just go to see it due to lack of similar films out at the time. Whereas if it had came out a couple of months later it may suffered in the face of competition from films that already have a fanbase.

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 10:37:43 AM

JIm R

Posts: 9185
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Surrey

The amount of 'big summer' films' has increased thus there is more of a bun fight for dates in the traditional summer months of old (June / July / August) and they will go to the bigger studio's outlay and other films that previously would have stood side by side (Avengers this year's example) are coming out earlier to avoid a head to head genre clash which this year, everyone will come come second best to Batman in the comic book films stakes. One reason why Man of Steel was moved to next year to avoid a)both DC big players out in same year leaving them with nothing next year and b) Summer then followed by Winter for Superman might see a drop off with non fan boy potential box office.

There are simply more 'summer' blockbuster films to be released, in my youth there used to be 2 or 3 big summer films a year maximum, now it's 6 or 7.

< Message edited by JIm R -- 7/3/2012 10:38:11 AM >

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Post #: 3

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 11:00:19 AM

spark1

Posts: 5789
Joined: 18/11/2006

the release of 'the mummy' in '99 in the spring, to avoid clash with TPM, was a game changer and over the years since other blockbusters have been released before the may/june summer start to similar success.

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Post #: 4

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 11:02:02 AM

porntrooper

Posts: 2497
Joined: 6/9/2006
From: Sheffield

Wasn't the performance of 300 in March one of the big reasons why bigger budget films were being moved up to this kind of release slot? I seem to recall there being a lot of talk about how traditionally March was a quieter time for releases before the Summer kicked off in April/May, but 300 kinda bucked the trend by hitting big, with studios realising that there were audiences there with big wads of cash to spend, so big releases started moving up into March.

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 11:15:00 AM

Sutty

Posts: 3541
Joined: 6/6/2006
From: the front row

I think the elongated hollywood movie summer has been getting bigger and bigger for some time now. Possibly because there are more "tentpole" movies now than ever before and they wanna fit them all in without clashing. Seems to have come to the fore around the same time as movies being released on a wednesday/thursday night rather than a friday just so that those extra two days can be counted in the first weekend grosses. All number crunching in an effort to make more cash.

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 7/3/2012 8:59:22 PM

Cool Breeze

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Joined: 9/11/2011
From: The Internet

I dont see why John Carter can be classified as a '' summer blockbuster '' just because its an fx heavy sci fi epic.In fact,i think i its a good thing that films like this arnt all released in summer.Wasnt the original Matrix movie released in early april or something in 1999? Clash Of The Titans was a march release and its sequel is due this month as well.

I know studios see summer as the most potentially lucrative cos school is out and kids have more time to go to the flicks but blockbuster hits are released all year.We should have more action/sci fi/fantasy spread throughout the year and it gives these movies more breathing space to find an audience rather than being all packed into the summer season.

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Post #: 7

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 8/3/2012 7:28:03 PM

rich

Posts: 4137
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Neo Kobe

They are just being spaced out avoid the box office takings being lost to something else. Sometimes the same studio, were both Thor and Captain America released last year at different times?

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 9/3/2012 11:20:34 AM

spark1

Posts: 5789
Joined: 18/11/2006

usatoday on early US releases-

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/story/2012-03-06/summer-blockbusters-in-march/53402154/1

'"Summer's become too crowded," says Jeff Bock of industry tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. "A movie that comes out in summer lasts maybe one month in the theaters. This gives a movie two months, a little more room to breathe."'

< Message edited by spark1 -- 9/3/2012 12:55:33 PM >

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Post #: 9

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 1:56:17 AM

boaby

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From: Aberdeenshire

Are Summer Blockbusters coming earlier?

Global warming innit.

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Post #: 10

RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 10:41:34 AM

jonson

Posts: 8070
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: boaby

Are Summer Blockbusters coming earlier?

Global warming innit.

I think the problem is there are too many summer blockbusters. I'm pretty sure when I was a youth (and believe it or not that was after the original summer blockbuster of 1975

) there were 3 or perhaps 4 summer "event" films. This year you could count perhaps a dozen or more films, big-budgeted and aiming at the holidaying kids.
A decade and more ago, kids relied on their parents to take them in the summer holidays as a treat, but now the market players, the ones with the disposable income are the "tweenagers", cash-savvy 12-16 year olds, capable of going to the flicks in groups, hence the continued success of the Twilight and more recently, films such as The Woman In Black (I would imagine every 12 year old in the country has seen it)
The filmmakers know this, and have subsequently moved the goalposts again. The glutton of 12A "horror" and fantasy films will only get bigger as the kids slowly take over the market, and Hollywood will continue to go where the money is.

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 11:35:24 AM

Rgirvan44

Posts: 18902
Joined: 10/3/2006
From: Punishment Park

A bit unfair on The Woman in Black there - just because something is a 12 doesn't mean it didn't scare the crap out of older people.

And this year in particular is so crowded (I keep forgetting Spiderman is out this summer), plus all the sporting events, that big tentpole movies did not really have much of a choice.

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 11:50:18 AM

horribleives

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Joined: 12/6/2009
From: The North

Is Superman out at christmas or next summer?

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 11:54:37 AM

Snake-Eyes

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Why has it become such a fad to start a thread / post with the word 'So'....?

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RE: Are Summer Blockbusters Coming Earlier? - 10/3/2012 12:01:06 PM

Rgirvan44

Posts: 18902
Joined: 10/3/2006
From: Punishment Park

quote:

ORIGINAL: horribleives

Is Superman out at christmas or next summer?

Next summer - at one point they thought about this year, but then commonsense won the day.

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Post #: 15