"Xbox Factor" Transforming the Movie Industry

[wrshamilton]

I prefer the Escapist when it projects an editorial voice with some kind of gravitas. This reads as if written by someone who has never met a woman or seen a romantic comedy. But then your sources are the Telegraph and the Daily Beast, so I guess you can't be entirely blamed for the lack of information that results.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I prefer the Escapist when it projects an editorial voice with some kind of gravitas. This reads as if written by someone who has never met a woman or seen a romantic comedy. But then your sources are the Telegraph and the Daily Beast, so I guess you can't be entirely blamed for the lack of information that results.

9 out of 10 romantic comedies are insipid. That isn't a lack of information, it's EVERYWHERE. One needs only took look at the existence of movies like Valentine's Day to realize that many, many of these movies offer sappy and idealistic portrayals of relationships.

 

[RatRace123]

So this article is saying that if things continue onward in this fashion, movies will be made exclusively for young women and thirteen year old boys... DEAR GOD! Put down the controllers now, move move move. Get your asses to the theatre.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

*Sighs* Well, a decade of geek movies wasn't bad. Would be nice if it lasted a little longer though.

 

[hamster mk 4]

I don't think this is a bad thing. I thaught movies were a waste of time next to video games 10 years ago. This article confirms enough people in my demographic are thinking allong the same lines that is getting less and less profitable to make movies for us. If the movie industry decends into a chick flick wasteland I shall not shed a tear. I will be too busy giving orders to space marines.

 

[Cryo84R]

I haven't been to a theater in like, 3 years. I don't miss it.

 

[Lullabye]

"......while the female audience has remained robust."

I can't decide if there's a sex joke in there somewhere or if it's just my imagination.
Whatever.

OT: Hmm, why don't they just call it the videogame factor? or Net factor? or something not promoting Microsoft factor? Huh, well, I suppose people will have to start taking games more seriously now, since they're effectively destroying the movie industry.

 

[tkioz]

I think they've got it wrong, it's not games taking people away from the movies, it's the movies putting out horrible drek like Twilight driving people away from the movies.

 

[The Big Eye]

I sense a bad moon rising.

 

[SaintWaldo]

If I were a Mandalay executive, I'd call it the "PlayStation factor".

Interesting that the demographic split is large enough for someone to try to name it anything. Then again, trend-spotting is all guesswork, so this "factor" is probably more of a fourth-order force.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Oh my god...

The teenage girls are taking over! Run for the hills! Bring the games!

EDIT: For something more substantial, consider this:

Are there more chick flicks because men are playing more games, or are men playing more games because there are more chick flicks?

Think about it...

Dude...

You just blew my mind.

 

[SilentHunter7]

And this is why I fear the day emotional, young, female teens take over the movie industry...

On the bright side, after 10-15 years of being interested in movies, that demographic should become somewhat better informed about cinema, and they'll start demanding better stuff than that excellent example of shit writing, pacing, and acting we all know as the Twilight movies.

Hopefully.

 

[rsvp42]

So the reasoning is: video games are popular, more guys than girls like video games, some recent crappy chick flicks have done well, therefore we must no longer market to men and focus our attention on making shit for women.

What half-assed analyst came up with this conclusion? I thought dwindling sales in a demographic meant you had to shift gears to bring them back, not ignore them. And besides, there will always be filmmakers looking to make adrenaline-filled, cg-heavy summer blockbusters and execs will say okay because those make money hand over fist. All this means is that studios might (might!) greenlight an extra chick flick or two per year. Whatever, I ignore 'em anyway.

Also, "women" refers to a lot of people, not all of which enjoy crappy date movies. Both genders enjoy good dramas, thrillers, and action flicks. Way to over-generalize, movie execs.

 

[HentMas]

mmm... now all i can think of is hooking up my PS3 or my XBOX in a movie theatre...

oh the big big screen

 

[wildpeaks]

said Nicole Laporte of The Daily Beast.

Why did I read "the Daily Breast" *facepalm*

 

[UtopiaV1]

"...it's girls who rule the entertainment industry."

HA, trying saying that when the Warhammer 40,000 movie Ultramarines comes out!!!

http://ultramarinesthemovie.com/

 

[brunothepig]

Well that's a bit of a generalisation. My girlfriend is so awesome that she watches horror movies. Plenty of girls hate chick flicks. Girls have a taste as varied as guys. What the hell are they talking about? And there's a lot more girls becoming gamers.

 

[Undercover]

"The movies may be alternately cheesy and sappy, and the scripts laughable, but teen and tween girls don't care."

Actually that should be rewritten as "Teen and tween girls wouldn't know a good story if it bit them in the ass, and are generally too clueless to know the difference anyway after being told what to watch, what to wear, what to listen to and what to read their entire lives as the good little consumer sheep that they are."

Sadly though, the same could be said for Teen & Tween boys for the most part, too. Thanks, Hollywood.

EDIT Ok, that was a bit of a general statement I just made, and I'm not that callous a guy so let me amend it to say MOST teen and tween girls (and boys) yadda yadda yadda...