Who can say just exactly what it is that Moviegoods is selling for
$29.95? Note that MovieGoods does not say their AVATAR 27x40 advance one
sheet is a reprint, but they also don't say it is an "authentic,
original theater poster" either. Note they also described it as "near
mint" which indicates it *is* used (but used where?). Note also that it
is double-sided. The conventional wisdom on this list has been that
hardly anyone reprints double-sided posters as double-sided posters. So,
the general implication is that what MovieGoods is offering is a
"genuine theatrical" release AVATAR advance one sheet.
But that doesn't mean what it did 10 or 15 years ago.
Was it ever on display at a theater? Who knows? Do 99% of the movie
poster buyers out there care anymore? Not really. This is why I think
people who pay huge prices for "original" posters for recent films are
kidding themselves. Look, these days the studios no longer regard their
movie posters as something proprietary to the theaters -- they regard
them as just another piece of merchandise to be sold through as many
outlets as they possibly can. So, for a big smash like AVATAR, the
studio just keeps the presses rolling, cranking out hundreds of
thousands of real, genuine, studio-produced "theatrical" AVATAR movie
posters (double-sided and single sided). Far more than they ever need
for the theaters -- and they sell these posters wherever they can. And
they will *keep* printing them until demand drops off to where they can
no longer sell them at the price they want. At which point they will
remainder what they have left in inventory (could be tens of thousands)
to wholesalers and job lotters, who will then dump them for whatever
they can get.
The idea of a "limited print run theatrical edition" of a poster for a
regular studio release, particularly for a film with any popularity, is
a thing of the past. There will be just as many "theater posters" for
AVATAR printed by the studio as there are people who want to buy them at
$14.95 and up. Only when what people are willing to pay for them at
retail drops below that point will they stop printing them. Think about
the math: They sell a ticket to see AVATAR for $10 to $15 and the studio
only gets half of that at best. They can print a "genuine
studio-produced" movie poster for AVATAR for less than $1, put a retail
price of $14.95 on it and sell it wholesale to places like MovieGoods
for $7.49 each. The studio makes as much on every poster they sell as
they do on every theater ticket they sell!
By the way, this is why even if most theaters do go to digital display
boxes for their lobbies and they stop ordering printed posters when they
show the film, there will STILL be plenty of printed posters made. Why?
So the studios can continue to make big money selling "movie posters" to
all the people who want the poster for their recent favorite film
hanging on their wall!
-- JR
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
