Malus Evaluation Question 4

Cinema audience on a whole has changed dramatically through history and in recent years it has become clear that the most common age range of cinema-goers is 15-24 year olds. Teenagers are more likely to attend the cinema, as there isn’t an awful lot they can do with their spare time and so they opt to see the latest blockbuster. For this reason it was important to stick to a certificate of 15 to allow the most frequent cinema-goers to see the film.

The target audience is 15-24 year olds with a particular interest in fantasy and horror to intrigue the male audience and strong female leads to attract the female audience. By showing the film during October half term this will guarantee success as the target audience will not be in school/college and so they will be able to attend the cinema as well as the fact that it is very near to Halloween which is the most successful time of the year to release a horror film.

Teenagers on a whole tend to favour horror films as it is a fun, coming of age scenario to go from being forbidden to watch anything mildly frightening to going to the cinema with friends for a good scare. Adults, particular parents, tend to lose the stomach to watch horror films when they grow older because they feel that some of the situations are too barbaric to pay to watch.

Teenage audiences also tend to provoke the promotion of the film and generate hype with their more hands on approach to social media. For example, teenagers generate a hype, unknowingly, by tweeting about a film or posting a picture of their cinema ticket on Instagram. By going this they are spreading the word, on a global scale, about the film and acts as free promotion for the movie. This would work well in Malus’ favor to help get a good reception.