At the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, tickets cost just $5 and the show ran for 15 minutes. Since then, much has changed in the film industry. YouTube has become a catalyst in the success and failure of films, even before they reach the box office. Movie trailers are used to determine whether a movie is worth watching. 78% of YouTube users agree that watching a trailer helps them decide what movies to watch. Even more compelling, this year we noticed that a film’s box office success is positively correlated to the number of views the trailer has on YouTube. It’s easy to understand why, given that almost half of YouTube Entertainment users won’t buy a ticket unless they’ve watched the trailer.
