Institution research (BFC)

Market Analysis (Thriller Genre)2015

By Chris Wotton

Market Analysis of the Thriller genre in 2015

How many thriller films were released in this period?

Over the 2015 period 52 films were released that are of the thriller genre.In this period of time the thriller genre only made up 6.9% of the box offices sales. The gross profit made

by thriller films in 2015 was £37.1 million; which is significantly less than other genres such as action producing a staggering £393.9 million.

Out of all the thriller films produced in 2015, the best performing title was “Taken 3” this film is both an action and thriller film, and this means it is aimed at a much broader audience, which could therefore

explain the huge change in earnings.

So from these statistics I can see that the 52 thriller films produced made a considerable amount of revenue, but in comparison to the revenue made by other genres in 2015 it is actually a fair amount less. There are many reasons why genres such as action are more profitable, one of them being that there is more interest in that genre than any others, so production companies tend to focus more so on them as

they are more profitable for the firm.

This table shows the Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2015 (ranked by gross box office)

Table 2 Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2015 (ranked by average widest point of release)


How many thriller films were released in this period?

How profitable the genre is?The thriller genre is profitable, but in comparison to other genres in 2015 it is not the most demanded.

The thriller genre can be very profitable as shown by successful titles such as JAWS (1975). This film gathered $470,653,000 in gross revenue.

This film was successful for many reasons such as an engaging narrative, over the top SFX that made the film compelling to the TA.

An example of why this film was successful is shown here on rotten tomatoes “Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg's Jaws has remained a benchmark in

the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.”

The thriller genre is a profitable category of film production, but it seems that only a few titles ever make it successfully as a blockbuster film. It generally comes down to the plot and how many people would be interested in the film, the more people the more revenue, as its aimed at a diverse range of audiences. However this generally involves the need for a larger production company as they can make sure it still

appeals to each individual audience and that the film would be a success; and this is where many amateur film-makers films flop as they are trying to make it appeal to everybody without the budget to do so.

Source - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jaws.htm

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jaws.htm





Independent releases - UK

Independent releases are the films produced by much smaller production companies, that have a considerably

lower budget and different TA to other larger institutions. The best performing independent title for the thriller genre

was Spooks: The Greater Good. There were 18 thriller releases in total which is 9.9% of the total releases,

however it only made up 2.8% of the total box office.

Table 5 UK independent films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2015 (ranked by gross box office)


The most successful thriller film In 2015 – Taken 3

The most successful thriller film in 2015 was “Taken 3”. This film was a large success producing over £37.1m in the UK and worldwide a staggering $326,479,141. This entire genre though only made up 2.9%

of all the total box office, and this clearly shows me that once again the other genre are much more appealing to the UK public (& republic of Ireland).

The reason why this film was still a large success worldwide was because of the large initial budget of $48 million, this allows the institution to effectively distribute the film to generate more revenue for the firm.

This large budget also catered for top of the range directors such as “Olivier Megaton” and well known actors such as “Liam Neeson” this also entices the audience and can be used effectively in advertising

campaigns to make the film stand out the best it possibly can.

This table shows the Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2015 (ranked by gross box office)

Source - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taken3.htm

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taken3.htm





Audience characteristics – Age (Taken 3)

Source - http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-audiences-2015-2016-08-25.pdf

The data gathered to represent the age of the viewers of “Taken 3” may not be strictly accurate as it refers to a generalisation of an audience based of a particular genre, therefore I chose to show taken 3 as this

made up the largest market share of the thriller film genre. The chart below shows me that a large majority 40% in fact of the viewers are of an age between 15-24; therefore I can infer that a fairly large proportion of the films target audience are young people. And when I compare this data to other films

such as the Avengers (Age of Ultron) which is more likely to have more young people watching it, well in fact 37% of people watched this who were between 15-24. So from this data gathered I can infer that a

large proportion of the TA were young people, but I have also got to remember that it’s based of quite un-accurate data.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-audiences-2015-2016-08-25.pdf









Audience characteristics – Age (Fast & Furious 7)


This film has a higher volume of viewers between 15-24 of 44% while “Taken 3” has 40% of its viewers in this range. The genre of this film is action but it also can be classified as crime & thriller as it contains the

elements needed to produce these types of films such as entitizing scenes that leaves the audience with a sense of enigma on what’s happening. The reason why this film appeals to the younger audience very well

is because it contains the different elements of a variety of genres; therefore making it more profitable.










Audience characteristics – Social Class(Taken 3)


From the data below I can see that Taken 3 had 29% of its viewers in the social class of D/E this significantly higher amount of viewers in this social class indicates that the film has been aimed at a wide range of audiences. Aiming the film at the D/E social class more than other social classes takes advantage of a much larger volume of people; which should reflect on an increase on sales. It may also be said that

this TA are interested in feeling the thrill of a film like “Taken 3” without going on an action packed holiday to the Bahamas, which they probably cannot afford. This TA are also more likely to discuss the film with other friends or family as they are seen by the government to have more time to socialise as they are

typically working at a 9-5, so aiming your film at this TA also doubles up as a great way of advertising the film to other potential customers.










Audience characteristics – Social Class(Fast & Furious 7)


From the data below I can see that the “Fast and Furious 7” was aimed at the D/E social class with that section of the TA producing 26% of the sales. This targeted audience is slightly lower (3%) lower than

“Taken 3” which could be because the film is based around high performance cars which the more wealthy TA audience(s) are more likely to relate to. So while there is only a slight change in the targeted

audience I can infer that this change is done to upsell on further products as when this film was released, merchandise and other products/events were also announced and the institutions know that aiming the film at the more wealthy customers will increase profits as they will buy further related products as well.










Audience characteristics – Gender(Terminator Genesis)


From the data below I can see that Terminator Genesis was primarily aimed at the male audience rather

than the female audience. The male audience produce 73% of the audience and therefore 27% of the audience are female. I can infer that a larger proportion of the audience are male as the plot of the film is very action packed and involves a lot of violence. The female protagonist may be present only for men's

pleasure rather than for women to relate to.










Audience characteristics – Gender(Avengers: Age of Ultron (UK))


From the data below I can see that 69% of the target audience were male while 31% were female. From this information I can infer that “avenger” films appeal more to the male gender. There could be

numerous reasons for this such as the social aspect, where women may feel uncomfortable discussing this film as it is not a stereotypical film for a women to watch. However men may feel that society looks at

these kind of films to be manly and therefore okay to discuss with friends/family.










Audience characteristics – Gender(Fifty Shades of Grey)


I have chosen to show another film that is aimed primarily at the female gender, with only 27% of the

audience being male and a staggering 73% of the audience being female. This film is aimed at the female audience as the romantic themes are generally preferred by that audience. So therefore with there being a larger proportion of women watching the film this could reflect on all aspects of the film e.g. marketing, production and many more as the film needs to be targeted more specifically to women rather than men,

so that it’s the most successful It can be. It could also be noted that the small proportion of men are watching the film as their spouse wanted them to watch it together.










Summary of data

So from the research I have undergone I can now understand that marketing a film to right audience is a very important procedure and getting your target audience fairly accurate before the film starts

production can make or break a film as the information I have gathered from the BFI validates this. From the information gathered I can also see that films with a much larger budget tend to be more

successful as the institutions can use more impacting marketing techniques to really sell the film. From this research I have also found out that thriller films typically produce less revenue than films from the

action genre for example.

So from this gathered research I need to make sure I am making use of my audience profile as much as possible In order to make the film the most profitable it possibly can be.

Institution research (BFC)

Marketing

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