Cinema industry counting on heroes to fill seats

ENTERTAINMENT

In difficult times, heroes make people happy, something the local cinema industry is banking on as it seeks to fill seats in 2009.

Thefirst twoepisodes of the ‘King Naresuan’ trilogy took in 500 million baht in ticket seleswhentheywere released in 2007, accounting for30%of all revenuemadeby Thai movies in that year. Cinemaowners have high hopes for the third and final instalment that willbe released this year.

King Naresuan, the wizard Harry Potter and the mutant Wolverine and his superhero friends are among the characters the industry hopes will continue to draw viewers in a slowing economy.

The first two episodes of the King Naresuan trilogy accounted for 500 million of the 1.7 billion baht in box-office receipts earned by Thai movies in 2007, but the figure sank to 1.2 billion baht in 2008.

The entire industry, including foreign movies, took in 3.3 billion baht in 2008, down from 3.9 billion in 2007.

Vicha Poolvaraluck, the chairman of Major Cineplex Group, the country's largest cinema chain, is more optimistic for 2009. He points to a lineup that will include at least two Thai blockbusters: King Naresuan Episode III and Ong Bak III.

The big attractions in the pipeline from Hollywood will include Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Transformers 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well as Terminator: Salvation.

"Having only two or three blockbuster movies generating more than 100 million baht each is much better than a big number of movies generating only 20 million baht each," said Mr Vicha.

The relative lack of blockbusters in 2008 affected cinema receipts, as did the weakening economy as consumers tightened their belts. Cinema operators like to say that movies are among the cheapest form of entertainment but they acknowledged that young working people and teenagers, their major market, were making fewer visits to theatres.

Pirated DVDs, which are almost as good as the genuine ones, also continued to be a headache, cutting gross revenues of foreign movies by 20-30% each, according to GMM Tai Hub (GTH) chief executive Visute Poolvoralaks.

Among the top 10 box-office attractions last year, only one earned more than 100 million baht: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor took in 127 million. Next came the James Bond flick Quantum of Solace at 99.61 million baht, followed by Hancock at 92.1 million.

Mr Vicha still strongly believes the movie business could be the last sector affected by the economic downturn, as going to the cinema is more affordable than other types of entertainment.

His view is in line with the results of a marketing survey by the marketing and brand consultants Y&R, which found that cutting spending on entertainment was not a priority for consumers. They would look to save money first on food and beverages, clothes and telephone bills.

"This can bring one to conclude that there is still a chance for the entertainment business to find a way to attract their demand, since they are not totally rejecting the category," said Oliver Kittipong Veerataecha, vice-president for strategy and brand consulting of Y&R.

Mr Oliver said the survey showed that young working people aged 23-29 years old were sensitive to entertainment costs while their older peers had less intention to cut spending on entertainment.

Though the cinema business seems to have better prospects next year, Mr Vicha says he is not underestimating the impact of the global economic recession in 2009.

He said Major planned more active marketing to increase traffic to its 344 screens and 84,155 seats. It would even cut ticket prices at some branches to lure moviegoers who would also spend on snacks and other items.