AS Media Institutional research

1. Institutional Research
of the Thriller genre in
2012
Kirsty Steward

2. Introduction
For this task I will be using a range of sources to
create a market analysis of the thriller genre for this
year, 2010.
I will find out how:
 How many films of the thriller genre were released
 How much money the genre profited
 Which thriller films were most successful and why
they were successful
 What characteristics the audience for this genre
exhibit

3. A total of 55 thriller films were released in 2012 with the
total profit of
$1,304,015,097. (As stated on http://www.the-numbers.com/)
The Thriller genre was 4th in total 2012 film grossing profits
under the genres of :
• Action (which profited $1,405,892,948)
• Comedy (which profited $1,460,779,422)
• Adventure (which profited 2,400,837,022)

4. The most successful films in the
Thriller genre 2012:
The top 5 highest grossing films in the Thriller genre were ‘The Hunger
Games’, ‘Safe House’, ‘The Bourne Legacy’, ‘Taken 2’ and
‘Chronicle’. (As stated on http://www.the-numbers.com/)
We can assume these were the most popular for many different
reasons...

5. Why they were so popular
Chronicle
One of the many reasons that this film was the fifth most popular in the thriller genre 2012
maybe have been because the film distributer was 20th Century Fox (courtesy of
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=chronicle2012.htm) and is a major, corporate
company renowned for many famous thrillers e.g. Aliens, Alien Resurrection and Avatar (as
said on http://www.ranker.com/list/20th-century-fox-films-and-movies/reference) so
people may have been more influenced to watch it.
Taken 2
The fact that this film was a sequel could have been a factor as the first film ‘Taken’ had
a worldwide box office profit of $225,461,461(according to www.the-numbers.com)
proving it was very successful so people would want to see if the sequel lived up to the
first film. Also
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taken2.htm shows us the film had a release date
of only18 days meaning it pressured people to view it as it wasn’t in cinemas for a very
long time.

6. The Bourne Legacy
This particular film was the 4th film in the ‘Bourne’ Series which could have been one of
the reasons it was the third most popular thriller in 2012 as the full story wouldn’t have
yet been told so people may have been eager to know more about the narrative.
Furthermore http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bourne4.htm informs us that the film
was released in 3,753 theatres hence it would have been far more accessible so more
people would have been able to view it.
Safe House
One factor that could have made the film the second most popular is the fact that the
production budget for the film was $85 million (as stated on
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=safehouse.htm) which meant that better effects
could be used for the film as it is a hybrid film -thriller-action- and special effects are
always needed for the action genre therefore the production would have been of a
better quality. Also Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds both star in the film and are
both attractive, well known actors which could also contribute to the popularity.

7. The Hunger Games
As this film was an adaptation of the highest selling Book of all time on
Amazon (courtesy of http://www.digitalbookworld.com) it was likely to
be the highest grossing Thriller film of 2012 due to the popularity of the
book. Also the film was highly advertised before it’s release, one example
of this was Taylor Swift’s song ‘Safe and Sound’ which made clear
references to the film and was featured on the soundtrack that was
advertised 3 months before the actual release date (as stated on
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Taylor-Swift-Safe-Sound-Hunger-
Games-Song-Arrives-Online-Listen-It-Here-28509.html). Plus Taylor Swift is a
recognised, global superstar so her influence could also have made the
film the most popular of its genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFEDTtKaFz
U&feature=plcp

8. Audience Characteristics
Characteristics are never fully accurate as people’s ways of
living are never set in stone, however with the research I have
been able to do, most audiences of the Thriller genre have these
characteristics:
 Age group = 16-25 years old
 Gender= Mostly male
 Social class = C1 - D

9. Conclusion
Through the market analysis I have carried out
for the Thriller genre for 2012 I have become
aware of the average grossing profits of the
genre and have become accustomed to which
target audiences would be applicable to the
genre.
I will take elements of the typical target
audience to make the film successful but not
follow it completely so the film remains unique.