This document summarizes Danielle Duffy's market research into the thriller film genre. It analyzes the most successful thriller films of 2014, including The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Gone Girl, and The Maze Runner. It finds that these films were successful due to having compelling narratives and relatable characters that audiences could engage with. Establishing fan bases from existing book franchises also contributed to their commercial success. The research concludes that crafting an interesting story and characters will be important for Danielle's thriller film project to attract audiences.

1. MARKET RESEARCH
Danielle Duffy

2. Introduction
• I will be carrying out some secondary research into the
film industry – particularly the market for those in the
thriller market as this is what my film would be aiming to
enter; looking at key information such as market size,
revenue and therefore success of certain thriller movies
and how they might have become so successful
• This task will give me an insight into the factors which
make a movie popular and what type of audiences I
should target my opening sequence towards

3. Most successful films of 2014
• I have looked at the films with the highest revenue achieved in 2014. Films which produce the most money
are considered to be the most successful as profit is the ultimate goal of an institution.
• I can see that one of the films fits in the thriller/suspense genre; ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’
therefore in 2014 the thriller genre had a market share of 10% of the most successful films in comparison to
other genres:
• Overall the most successful films of 2014 were in the adventure genre showing that there is a large
consumption of these type of films and many customers seeking an adventure film to watch with the family.
Therefore I might want to consider using the element of adventure in my thriller movie as a sub-genre.

4. Market Share for Each Distributor in 2014
• I looked into which institutions dominate the film industry market. This helps
me identify my main competition as these production companies are
producing and releasing new films.

5. Market Share for Each Genre in 2014
• According to this chart; the thriller genre currently has the 5th
largest market share. Therefore thriller is highly popular and
there is large a demand for movies in this genre.

6. Most successful thriller/suspense films of
2014
• As it is the thriller genre my
project is focused on, I
looked at the most
successful thriller films as to
gain an insight into my
competition and their use of
narrative and themes
• I see some recognisable
titles in this list of popular
thrillers of last year
• I will be looking at what
made these films so
successful so I can gain an
insight into what constitutes
success in the film industry

7. 1. ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’
A film highly anticipated by its large fan base and those who had witnessed
the prosperous prequel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 proved to be
2014’s most successful thriller. However, reviews were quite an aberration
from what we would expect. Rotten Tomatoes provided me with an average
rating of the film of 6.3/10, under significant criticism from viewers. 73% of the
audience liked it, not a bad figure and it shows that most fans were not
disappointed. The audience were 13 years and up, and I believe people from
13 to around 30 would have seen this movie. Our generation is full of young
people and so there is a high demand for movies to appeal to this age. They
had a wide audience and so were able to sell a profuse amount of tickets.
I believe that the success of this film was
prompted by their established fan base who
would have seen the prequel or even read the
books that the film is based of. Their
expectations are likely to have been high and
so critiques were not overly impressed by the
standards of the film.

8. 2. ‘Gone Girl’
It appears that both critics and viewers were satisfied with the movie. 88% of
people enjoyed which is a pleasing figure. This movie is targeted towards over
18s and therefore mature viewers, and I believe it was successful because it
was something mature for the older viewers, people perhaps in their 20s or
30s. It was obviously well executed and there were intense scenes to match
the intriguing narrative. Produced by the most successful studio of the year;
their work has built a positive reputation for the quality of their films. It also
stars popular actor Ben Affleck, and his reputation for putting on a good
performance may have been a prompt for some people to seen the film.
This movie is also based upon a well-
received novel and so fans of it would have
been keen to watch it.

9. 3. ‘The Maze Runner’
Fans of the book on which the film is based would have been eager to see
the movie, and so the large amount of ticket sales resulted in this movie
being a great success. However as the book may have raised the
expectations of many, it was a disappointment to some (revealed by the
figure of 68%) as some scenes may have deviated from how they were in
the novel. However I thought this movie was excellent and the special
effects were beautifully done. The narrative is lead strongly by an enigmatic
mystery and the strong plotline meant it was suspenseful and thrilling, the
characters’ lives at risk.
The compelling plotline is well supported
by the range of characters who are played
by young, talented and fresh actors who
present their contrasting fear and curiosity
to find out why they were sent to the
maze. I think that this movie appeals to
ages 13 to 20.

10. Conclusion
Through conducting this research into the market for thriller films, I have
discovered how different factors contribute to the success of a film. Most
importantly; in terms of box office; higher sales constitute success in some
way; particularly for conglomerates who are aiming to profit from their work.
What made 2014's top movies a success was their unique and captivating
narratives. Particularly in The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, their
choice of (older) teen characters made them relatable which helped evoke
excitement and fear in the viewer. Also, perhaps the audience were able to
indulge In their fantasy-based themes for benefits of escapism (relating to
uses & gratifications theory). In our project we will aim to create an interesting
narrative and include characters which our audience can relate to as I have
learnt how this helps attract audiences. It is also relevant to point out that the
top three thriller films were all based on fictional novels. When one text has
multiple forms of media (products), this is known as a synergy and is highly
effective in establishing a fan base of consumers. Therefore I have also learnt
how a synergy is a highly effective method of obtaining success.

11. Sources
Market information
http://www.the-numbers.com/market/2014/top-grossing movies
http://www.the-numbers.com/market/genre/Thriller-or-Suspense
Movie posters and information
http://www.imdb.com/
Film ratings
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/