Institutional ResearchLeo Featherstone

For this task I will research into a mixture of primary and secondary sources and carry out a market analysis of the thriller genre for the year 2012. I will aim to find out:- How many thriller films were released in this period.-How profitable the genre is.-What films were successful and why.-Characteristics of the audience of this genre.

Introduction

How many Thriller films were released in 2012?

55 Thriller films have been released in 2012 so far according to the website ‘www.the-numbers.com’ The Thriller genre also had a total profit of: $1,307,068,788 in 2012 making it the 4th most profitable film genre.

The top 4 most popular Thrillers of 2012 so far are: 1. The Hunger Games. Gross: $408,010,692 Tickets sold: 52,108,6452. Safe House. Gross:$126,181,630 Tickets sold: 16,115,1503. The Bourne LegacyGross: $112,806,385 Tickets sold:14,406,9454. Taken 2Gross: $105,971,469 Tickets sold:13,534,031

Which were the most successful Thriller films?

We can presume these films we’re the most popular by certain factors. For example, The Hunger Games may have been the most popular because it was an adaptation as the book came first. This would attract the audience which read the book which received many great reviews. Also, it wasn’t your typical thriller and was different from previous films like it. It also had a large target audience, e.g. the age rating was a 12A which means a lot of people were able to go see the film for example families.

Another factor could be because the film was a sequel to a first. For example, ‘Taken 2’ and ‘The Bourne Legacy’ These were both sequels which would attract a larger audience than other films seeing as people may have seen the first film, and because they enjoyed the first one, they might be more inclined to see the second one to see if it is just as good or to see how the story carries on.

…Why?

Another factor maybe because of the actors involved in the film, For example ‘Safe House’ Feature Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and because they are highly acclaimed actors and also maybe seen as attractive in a majority of an audience’s opinion, people may want to see the film even more because of the actors that take roles in the film.

…Why? (continued)

With help from the website ‘http://www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/film-industry-statistics-research’I was able to find some Exit Polls which provided me with information on the characteristics of the audience that watched Thrillers in 2012.

Characteristics of the audience.

‘Pusher’ - Certificate 18, Director: Luis Prieto Crime Thriller. 12th October 2012

Number of people surveyed: 42Male 74%Female 26%Under 25 17%Over 25 83%

The top two ways the audience found out about the film were:Cinema trailers: 33% Online ads:24%This can tell us about the sort of people that went to see the Thriller. A majority were male and a large percentage were over 25 and were people who use technology a lot, like to be update with the gadgets they buy. Seeing as they were watching TV or going to the Cinema or YouTube to see the trailer and saw online ads on the internet about the film.

Exit Poll For ‘Pusher’

‘A Dangerous Method’- Certificate 15, Director: David Cronenberg. Thriller. 23rd March 2012Number of people surveyed: 291

Male: 41% Female: 59% Under 35: 46% Over 35: 54%

The top two ways the audience found out about the film were:Cinema Trailers:29% Posters in cinema:19%From this we can see that the type of people that saw the Thriller were fairly balanced between gender, either male or female, but more people were over 35. We can tell that people that saw the film found out about it by seeing trailers and posters in the cinema, which means they depend on going to the cinema to find out about films, which could mean they like the old fashion ways of finding out about films.

Exit Poll for ‘A Dangerous Method’

By completing this research task, and now have an understanding on the background of the Thriller genre and what it is like today. What popular films I can gain inspiration from, on what makes a certain thriller popular and a little about what kind of people watch thrillers in the cinema. I can apply this research to my own video, so I know what kind of thrillers to make my video like and also know a bit about what I my target audience may be and how I could make my thriller like a popular thriller in 2012.

Conclusion