Global box office to jump 33% to $37.7 billion by 2013: Pricewaterhouse Coopers
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Hollywood studios don’t have much to crow about these days, but they can take some comfort in a new report on the state of their business by consulting giant Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
In an annual survey that will be released Tuesday, the accounting giant projects that worldwide consumer spending in filmed entertainment -- a category that includes how much consumers spend at the box office, on home video rentals and purchases and on movie downloads -- will increase at a compound annual rate of 4% to $102 billion worldwide in 2013 from $83.9 billion in 2008.
That may fall short of the government’s bailout of AIG, but it still seems like a lot of clams to us.
The biggest increases -- shouldn’t be too surprising -- will occur in Asia Pacific and Latin America markets, which will grow annually at 5.7% and 4.5%, respectively. North America will grow by a more modest annual rate of 3.4%, the study estimates.
Driving the growth will be an upswing in spending at the box office, which is estimated to grow from to $37.7 billion from $28.3 billion in the next five years, fueled mainly by a growing number of 3-D releases that generate higher prices and ticket sales than do standard 2-D films. Although the credit crunch has delayed the rollout of digital screens, there are nearly 50 movies set for release in 3-D in the next two years, the report notes.
Additionally, the authors predict that the much-publicized falloff in DVD sales -- which studios have relied on for years to prop up the movie business -- will be offset by a boost from the sale of Blu-ray high-definition videos. Still, home video’s share of entertainment spending is shrinking in North America and is projected to fall to 53% by 2013 from 61% in 2008. During the same period, the combined share for video-on-demand, online subscription rentals and digital downloads will double to 20%, a clear sign of long-term shifts in how consumers buy entertainment.
Said Deborah K. Bothun, one of the report’s authors: ‘As the younger generation spends more time online, studios are going to have to be more agile in how they distribute content.’
-- Richard Verrier
