New MPAA Report Gives Filmmakers Good Stats for Business Plans |

New MPAA Report Gives Filmmakers Good Stats for Business Plans

March 5, 2008 on 9:25 pm | In Film Industry News, Financing, General Resources, Pre-Production | 1 Comment

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has just released its 2007 U.S. Theatrical Market Statistics Report. It looks like the U.S. domestic box office receipts for 2007 hit a record $9.63 billion, up 5.4% above 2006. Internationally, the worldwide box office rose to an all-time high – $26.7 billion.

So why would an indie filmmaker care about this report? Well, beyond having a positive financial result from the medium that you work in – you can use those stats for your business plan. When pitching your project to potential financiers, it is always good to present a positive outlook in the industry that seeks investment. It’s arguably more difficult to convince someone to invest in your low budget film if the overall marketplace is on a decline.

Here’s the summary from the MPAA report (you can also view and download the PDF file here:

2007 U.S. Theatrical Market Statistics
(A summary of 2007′s theatrical performance, looking at box office trends, admissions trends and consumer attitudes.)

+ The domestic box office continued to grow in 2007, reaching $9.63 billion after a 5.4% gain. (Refer to page 2 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ Worldwide box office reached another all-time high in 2007 with $26.7 billion, a 4.9% increase. (Refer to page 2 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ Domestic theater admissions held steady at 1.4 billion tickets in 2007. (Refer to page 3 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ In 2007, the top-grossing films offered more diverse fare in terms of ratings, with a 50% increase in both R and PG rated films. (Refer to page 5 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ The average cost to make and market a major MPAA member company film was $106.6 million in 2007. This includes $70.8 million in negative costs and $35.9 million in marketing costs. (Refer to page 6 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ In 2007, the average price of a movie ticket in the U.S. rose to $6.88, a 5% increase over 2006. (Refer to page 7 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

+ The total number of films released in the U.S. in 2007 remained on par with 2006 with 603 films released. (Refer to page 4 of the 2007 Theatrical Market Statistics Report)

(source: MPAA ‘Research & Statistics’)