Surprising Rental Statistics

PopMatters dug up some interesting rental statistics, Unexpected Films Find Success with DVD Rentals, Sales.

At Netflix, the nation’s largest mail-order DVD rental service (with 6.3 million homes covered), “Traffic” had four times as many rentals as “Erin Brockovich” in February. And “Requiem for a Dream” had about 33 percent more rentals than “Traffic.”

With its high-grossing contenders, the 1997 best picture race was a dramatic reversal from the indie-dominated 1996 contest, in which “The English Patient” bested “Fargo,” “Shine,” “Secrets and Lies” and the one studio entry, “Jerry Maguire.” Yet not only is `Fargo’ the most popular Netflix rental of those 1996 nominees, but the Coen brothers’ dark comedy also tops “Good Will Hunting” and the rest of the 1997 nominees.

“Great movies may not win the awards, but they win the audiences over time,” Netflix corporate communications director Steve Swasey said.

Comments

[Big Will]

Netflix and the other services have made all these movies more accessable.
Some towns have only one movie theater and one video store within miles, so they get a chance to catch up on things they missed.
The stores can only carry but so many titles and if you think Blockbuster sucks, go to a small town mom and pop, whoof.
So yeah, I believe that would explain that.

[JebNY]

Two possibilities come to mind.

A block buster means a lot of people saw it in the theater, no need to rent it. A lesser film you wait till it comes out on DVD.

Seems like more and more of the top movies have twist that once you know the flip at the end, it isn't a repeat view movie. An example, I liked The Sixth Sense but don't care to see it again, now Fargo I try to watch every year or so.

Jeb

[corey3rd]

But a big question is how often these films get rerun on cable - and if they get butchered. People might be more open to renting a film if they catch it late at night and sense it was snipped.

At the same time, if you really like a film - odds are you're going to buy it. Most of these films can be bought for under $10.

[CJ]

You know the old saying: "You can fool all the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." Personally, I find most "awards" based on a flash of popularity carefully orchestrated by the movie industry powers-to-be for one specific point in time. And I don't believe "awards" give little indication if the movie has lasting popularity years later.

Come back in 10 years and see if people are renting (or downloading by then?) "The Departed" (a great comedy!) or "Little Miss Sunshine" (a true classic).

BTW, the "C" in "CJ" is for "cynical."

[type-cast]

"At the same time, if you really like a film - odds are you're going to buy it. Most of these films can be bought for under $10."

I own legal copies of DVDs I rate 4-5 stars. My ratings are based on replay value. If the replay value is poor, I won't give more than 3-stars and I won't buy it. I don't rate too many 5-stars. Many of my favorites aren't on DVD yet. I won't hesitate to download a copy from eMule or BT, if I can't buy it.

The long tail theory is mostly a lie to sell books, but "unlimited" subscription services do encourage long tail success more than pay per view or sale. Apple tries to conceal the fact that iTunes has about as much diversity as Billboard's charts. If they charged less, or had unlimited downloads for $20-30, there would be more diversity of tastes. But Apple is just the MPAA's whore, so they charge you $1 a song, and let diversity be damned.

Film buffs watched obscure things before the Netflix service existed. They're less likely to benefit from NFLX suggestions. NFLX never suggested anything I would rate 4+ stars, or didn't already know about. Their rentals are still dominated by hits. Fight Club has been rented 100 times more than "This Film Is Not Yet Rated." (based on total ratings.)

[type-cast]

"Come back in 10 years and see if people are renting (or downloading by then?) "The Departed" (a great comedy!) or "Little Miss Sunshine" (a true classic)."

While I agree Departed was a stupid and lame turd, I skipped Little Miss Sunshine after a clerk at BBV hyped it as "the funniest movie ever made" the day before its release. It is all hype and B.S. The Academy Awards haven't meant anything since 2001 lost to Oliver!

[corey3rd]

Fight Club wasn't a hit. It didn't even make half of what it cost to make and market.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated is a TV special parading around as a feature. It's being shown on cable now - why would people want to rent something that's on their cable box (Or their friend can record off that channel)?

[dnl2ba]

I'm not surprised. I tend to watch different kinds of movies in the theater with friends than at home alone.

[CJ]

From Type-cast:

"The Academy Awards haven't meant anything since 2001 lost to Oliver!"

I disagree - the bigger travesty was 5 years earlier in 1963, when Tom Jones topped any one of the other nominees: America, America; Cleopatra; How the West was Won; Lilies of the Field.

It was that year (1963) I concluded the Academy Awards meant nothing - just silly popularity contest among insiders.