New York Times (May 25, 20120)
Older Faces on Screen Draw an Overlooked Crowd
Ishika Mohan/Fox Searchlight Pictures
Judi Dench stars as a can-do widow who moves to India in “The Best
Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
By BROOKS BARNES
LOS ANGELES — Anytime a film costs $10 million to make and ticket sales
approach $100 million, Hollywood pays attention. But jaws really drop
when a movie starring actors in their 70s and aimed at people over 50
pulls off that trick.
Related
Movie Review | 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel': Seven Tickets to
India, Please, and Reservations for an Adventure (May 4, 2012)
Enlarge This Image
Ishika Mohan/Fox Searchlight Pictures
Judi Dench, 77, with Tom Wilkinson, 64, center, and Bill Nighy, 62, in
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
Enlarge This Image
Fox Searchlight Pictures
The film has taken in almost $90 million worldwide. Pictured, Maggie
Smith, 77.
Wait. Stop. Older people will go to the movies if we give them
something to watch besides superheroes and special effects?
Surprise: “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a gentle comedic drama
about disparate British retirees who decamp to India, has so far taken
in $88.8 million at the global box office. With about $9.3 million in
ticket sales in North America since opening in limited release on May
4, “Marigold Hotel” is now the year’s top-selling specialty movie,
passing another solid performer, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.”
Fox Searchlight, the mini-studio behind “Marigold Hotel,” is so
encouraged by ticket sales that it is racing the film into more cities.
Featuring an ensemble cast anchored by Judi Dench and Maggie Smith
(both 77), the film will play about 1,230 locations over Memorial Day
weekend, one of the busiest moviegoing periods of the year, up from 354
last weekend. Box Office Analyst, a forecaster in Kansas City, Mo.,
said “Marigold Hotel” could play into July and take in $30 million or
more in North America by the end of its run.
“It’s supply and demand,” said Doug Stone, the company’s president.
“There’s just very little out there that appeals to older people. It’s
not like they’re going to rush out to see ‘Chernobyl Diaries.’ ”
The robust reception of “Marigold Hotel” by audiences — critical
reaction has been strong but not euphoric — validates Searchlight’s
dual business strategies. The studio, part of News Corporation’s 20th
Century Fox, spotted a generally overlooked audience (older adults) and
went after it. The movie is also a prime example of Searchlight’s
overall operating philosophy to aim narrowly, which, when successful,
allows the studio to spend small and collect big.
“We felt that this was a great story, but we were also very conscious
of the fact that there is a large and underserved older audience out
there,” said Stephen Gilula, a Searchlight president. “The response,
which is far beyond our expectations, once again shows that there is a
very diverse moviegoing audience.”
“Marigold Hotel,” directed by John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”),
stands out for another reason. Amid a sea of superheroes (“The Amazing
Spider-Man”), alien invasions (“Battleship”) and animation (“Madagascar
3”), there is a severe shortage of reality-based storytelling at the
movies. Real people in real situations has become an unlikely attention
grabber.
“There’s a big audience, and not just an older one, that is hungry for
something that isn’t fantasy,” Mr. Gilula said.
Hollywood has been slower than almost any other industry to market to
older people, partly because the 50-and-older crowd tends to avoid
opening weekends and doesn’t buy a lot of popcorn. It also has
traditionally gone to the movies far less frequently. Moviegoers under
50 (an age range that includes about 67 percent of the United States)
bought 77 percent of the tickets last year, compared with 23 percent
for those over 50 (33 percent of the population), according to the
Motion Picture Association of America.
Younger audiences are more willing to sit through the sequels and
remakes the movie studios like to churn out to reduce risk. “If you’re
in your 40s or 50s or beyond, you’ve seen a lot of movies in your
lifetime and want something that you haven’t seen before,” Mr. Stone
said.
But frequent moviegoers — defined by the industry as people who buy
tickets once a month or more — were older in 2011 than in the previous
year, according to a recent report by the motion picture association.
About 20.2 million adults ages 25 and older fit that category last
year, a 9 percent increase over 2010. In comparison, about 14.8 million
people ages 2 to 24 were frequent moviegoers last year, an 11 percent
decline from the previous year.
Hollywood is also starting to realize that the first of 78 million baby
boomers are hitting retirement age with some entertainment time to fill
and a love affair with movies. So while movie marketers stand on their
heads trying to spark positive chatter for films on social networks and
blogs, they are also increasingly thinking about word of mouth among
retirees, at least for certain films.
Disney and DreamWorks Studios, for instance, held special “War Horse”
screenings last year in retirement communities as a part of an outreach
program. Searchlight initially focused on retiree hot spots like
Arizona and Florida for its “Marigold Hotel” campaign. Some theaters in
those areas saw higher ticket sales for Ms. Dench, Ms. Smith and their
castmates — Tom Wilkinson, 64, Bill Nighy, 62, Penelope Wilton, 65 —
than for “Marvel’s The Avengers.”
“People may be surprised in Hollywood, but the popularity of this film
is no mystery to us,” said Laura Resnick, manager at the Plaza
Frontenac Cinema, an upscale theater in suburban St. Louis. “When there
is a story being told on the screen, people respond.”
A version of this article appeared in print on May 24, 2012, on page C1
of the New York edition with the headline: Older Faces on Screen Draw
an Overlooked Crowd.
_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
