Things you probably didn’t know about: Black films
“Highlighted in the Black Film Report: 2000-2004 are key findings that illustrate the economic impact of the black film genre:
* Seventy-seven (77) black films, representing $1.75 billion in domestic box office gross, were released in the five-year period, 2000-2004.
* Since 1990, black films have grossed $3.88 billion in domestic box office revenues. During that same time period, mainstream films grossed $102 billion. On average, black films represent 3-5% of the annual domestic box office take from all films released.
* Black films are receiving larger budgets than in years past. Today black films average a negative cost of $15.7 million versus in the 1990s when black films averaged negative costs of $6 to $8 million. Production costs allocated to black films are still significantly lower than production costs for mainstream which average a negative cost of $45.1 million.
* Black films are also opening on more screens. From 1,200-1,300 screens in the 1990s, black films now average openings on 1,500 to 1,700. However, black films still lag behind their comparative mainstream counterparts who open on 2,700+ screens.
* Black films continue to get smaller P&A budgets than their comparative mainstream counterparts. P&A costs for mainstream films average $35 million while black films have P&A budgets that average $7 – 10 million, and small, independent black films average budgets $500,000 to $1 million.”
(source)
