How much of a film's revenue comes from its cinema release?

How much of a film's revenue comes from its cinema release? - Retro photo cameras arranged on table

Very often when a film's success is being judged, its opening few weeks takings are considered. However many films and franchises also generate revenue from DVD/BluRay sales and merchandise.

What proportion of a typical modern action film's income comes from its box office takings?



Best Answer

The Creative Skill Set website breaks it down in general for you:

Theatrical (ie. cinema) revenues only account for about 25% of the total revenues, with video (including DVD) taking about 40%; television accounting for 28% and ancillary revenues the final 7%.

The website goes on to say:

How Revenue Flows Through the Marketplace

The main revenue streams for filmed entertainment are:

  • Theatrical exhibition
  • Video/DVD rental
  • Video/DVD retail (or sell-through)
  • Pay per View Television
  • Subscription or Pay Television
  • Free Television

The industry has created windows of exploitation to maximise revenues at each stage of the value chain and avoid any clashes in the marketplace. These windows are starting to close up as the non-theatrical streams start to eclipse the original release in terms of revenue generation (although the cinematic shop window still remains the main driver of revenues throughout the chain in most cases) but are roughly as indicated below:

  • Theatric: 0 - 6 Months
  • Video/DVD: 6 - 15 Months
  • Pay Per View: 15 - 18
  • Months Pay TV: 18 - 30 Months
  • Free TV: 30 + Months

The website has a lot more information on how and who makes money from a film.




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How much of the box office goes to the movie theater?

film, movie theaters take 45 percent of the ticket sales and the studio that produced the film takes 55%. The amount gets divided up between the film's theatres when a movie ticket is $10 a show.

What percentage of ticket sales does the box office take for Stage theater?

An average Hollywood movie usually contains 55% studios behind it and 45% theaters who sell it. By this, it means that the average theater receiving $4 for a $10 movie ticket will get $10 to spend. Let's say Paramount receives $5 from the box office, which brings in 50 Cents.

How much of the box office does the studio get?

Traditionally, a larger chunk went to the studio during the opening weekend of a film. As the weeks went on, the theater operator's percentage rose. A studio might make about 60% of a film's ticket sales in the United States, and around 20% to 40% of that on overseas ticket sales.

How much revenue do movies generate?

The average movie in my dataset grossed $129.9 million domestically (i.e. the US and Canada) and $243.3 million internationally (i.e./ everywhere else), leading to a total box office gross of $373.2 million.



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Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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