Audience Research: IMDb Thrillers

Box office Figures:

Divergent (2014)

Opening Weekend $54,607,747 (USA) (21 March 2014)

Gross: $150,832,203 (USA) (4 July 2014)

Maze Runner (2014)

Opening Weekend: $32,512,804 (USA) (19 September 2014)

Gross: $102,333,052 (USA) (9 January 2015)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Opening Weekend $95,023,721 (USA) (4 April 2014)

Gross: $259,746,958 (USA) (15 August 2014)

Lucy (2014)

Opening Weekend: $43,899,340 (USA) (25 July 2014)

Gross: $126,546,825 (USA) (31 October 2014)

Gone Girl

Opening Weekend: $37,513,109 (USA) (3 October 2014)

Gross: $167,122,875 (USA) (9 January 2015)

Nightcrawler

Opening Weekend: $10,441,000 (USA) (31 October 2014)

Gross: $32,098,401 (USA) (9 January 2015)

What have I learnt?: 

• Major 'Hollywood blockbuster' films such as these require a very large budget
• They almost always have huge worldwide releases which allows them to have much bigger platform for a very widespread audience, far more than a UK independent film for example.
• This therefore means that they have much higher grossing factors than smaller releases
• However even without big worldwide releases, it is still possible for smaller scale, independent film to achieve success (e.g. 'The King's Speech') therefore its still possible for an independent film such as our own to be successful
• In addition to this, these are prime examples as they demonstrate the importance of the opening weekend of major films as it sets the tone for the level of success (financially) that a film will achieve in the coming weeks.