Four-quadrant movie

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The four groups that a four-quadrant movie is said to appeal to Four-quadrant movie aspects.png
The four groups that a four-quadrant movie is said to appeal to

In the Hollywood movie industry, a four-quadrant movie is one which appeals to all four major demographic "quadrants" of the movie-going audience: both male and female, and both over and under 25 years of age. [1]

Contents

Criteria

Films are generally aimed at at least two such quadrants, and most tent-pole films are four-quadrant movies. A film's budget is often correlated to the number of quadrants the film is expected to reach, and movies are rarely produced if not focused on at least two quadrants. [2]

Examples

Although four-quadrant movies are generally family-friendly, this is not a requirement. [3] Titanic, which was the highest-grossing film ever following its theatrical run, has been cited as a strong example of a four-quadrant movie that blended action and romance in a historical setting to appeal to all four quadrants. [4] Some other films exhibiting this quality may be comedic (such as Meet the Parents ) or horror films, or be crowd-pleasing in nature, [5] [6] such as high-profile action films or adaptations of popular novels. Four-quadrant movies often have both adult and child protagonists. [7] They are often built on a "high-concept" premise with well-delineated heroes and villains, with emotion, action and danger present in the story. [8]

See also

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References

  1. Smith, Neil (2011-10-26). "Why did The Help clean up at the US box office?". BBC News.
  2. Friend, Tad (19 January 2009). "The Cobra". The New Yorker . Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  3. Tomasi, Rollo (30 April 2012). "Film Term of the Week: Four-quadrant Movie". Filmbook. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  4. "There may never be a hit like Titanic ever again". The A.V. Club. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  5. White, Forest F. (27 October 2012). "How to write a four-quadrant story, or using movie marketing logic on a novel". Dreamwidth. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  6. "10 Great Quadrant Movies Screenwriters Can Learn From". Industrial Scripts. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  7. "Meet the Four Quadrants". 16 September 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  8. "What Makes a Four-Quadrant Film? 10 Essential Elements". ScreenCraft. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2014.