Wolverine's "Unknowable" Opening: A Response

So the figures from "Wolverine" - a cool $87 mil for opening weekend. No bad, eh? Especially considering it was raked by a many a critic. Of course, given that the film had been leaked on pirate networks over a month ago, speculation is abound about how much "Wolverine" would (or should?) have made if not for internet piracy. THR (www.thehollywoodreporter.com) wrote an interesting article on the subject (see above link), but I feel a response is warranted.

I think the main point to take away from all this is the "Wolverine" still made more than enough money to line everyone's pockets comfortably (and by this I mean folks that actually make a crap-ton of money already from film releases... not the crew and other non-royalty bearing and non-box office receipt payment types..). Additionally, I'm honestly of the view that internet piracy really doesn't substantially impact the bottom line on most blockbuster movies. The folks that are downloading the film are doing so knowing that they're getting a different experience - no one that cares is fooled into thinking that can "replicate" the movie-going experience. And if they don't care, you can't harness that money. It is lost, because if they don't care about the substantial differences between seeing a crappy, unfinished version of a movie on a 14" screen and seeing a polishing, 5.1 Dolby surround sound version on a giant movie screen (not to mention the atmosphere opening weekend brings), you're not going to convince them to spend a dime on your film. They probably would have rented it, anyway.

Now, there are certainly those in the margins that would have gone to see the film and instead opted for the instant and free gratification of downloading it - but I truly believe those margins are slim. As a commenter stated on THR's post, most downloaders either don't care about the move experience (see above), or use the crappy downloaded version as a "test drive" to see if they want to pay money for the real thing.

I understand that the film industry wants to control the user experience, at least until the movie is released. However, the film industry, like the music industry, needs to understand this is a losing fight! Pirates aren't afraid of laws and regulations; there are so many of them that everyone is willing to take the chance they won't be the unlucky individual that gets caught. And you know what? They're right! Instead, the entertainment industry needs to harness the power of the people still willing to spend money on entertainment and who CARE about the differences between a download and a movie theater experience, just like those who care about the sound quality of a CD verses a compressed download. Yes, there will certainly come a time when the experiences are MUCH closer, if not identical, to one another. But that time is not now. By focusing on the benefits of spending a little money, entertainment industries can keep decent-sized crowds coming back for the "legit" experience. The figures may not be where they were before, but people are still willing to pay for entertainment. This is why people still pay to go to concerts! Yes, bootlegs abound. But do they come with the feeling of community, of belonging, of sheer joy and adrenaline that comes with the concert-going experience? NO. How do you think IMAX differentiates itself? It's a better experience. That's what people pay for - focus on them, and the industry will remain profitable.