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Adults spend more time choosing a film than they do prepping for a date, choosing a holiday – and preparing for a job interview. A poll, of 2,000 movie enthusiasts, found 78 percent will spend up to an hour reading reviews, and 74 percent will take up to the same amount of time watching trailers.
In comparison, only 35 percent spend the same amount of time preparing for a date, while just 39 percent will take this long deciding their next holiday – and as few as 36 percent will spend up to 60 minutes getting ready for a job interview.
Key elements they consider when doing the research include the storyline, the length of the movie, and who the cast consists of.
Sophia Ahmad, chief consumer officer at Sky UK and ROI, which commissioned the research to mark the free monthly ticket offering from Sky Cinema in partnership with Vue, said: “We know how much our customers love those goose-bump moments when watching a film they’ve been waiting for, and we know choosing one can involve serious research.
“This new offer gives people the chance to watch a movie on the big screen at no extra cost, all while still being able to enjoy an unrivalled line-up of films at home.”
Londoners take the longest to ponder over a film choice, at 37 minutes – with one in three admitting they’ve even snubbed friends for their taste in movies.
But when it comes to the Scots, 18 percent don’t ever look at reviews before pressing play on a film.
Those aged 25-34 spend the most time reading write-ups (10 minutes) and watching trailers (nine minutes) – and are even the most likely to row with a partner about what to watch, compared to other generations (14 percent).
And the over-60s take the least time to prepare, as they will only spend six minutes reading up on film reviews before making their choice.
Nearly six in ten (59 percent) said the professional opinion of a film critic motivates them to watch something they wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
But it was also revealed 47 percent would trust the opinion of their partner more than they would a critic when it comes to movies.
Despite this, 58 percent have been left disappointed after watching a film that was given a five-star review by critics.
For 17 percent, a bad meal would be less disappointing than a critically-acclaimed film that didn’t meet expectations.
And nine percent reckon they would get over their favourite sports team losing, quicker than they would having sat through a bad film that had received a lot of hype.
Meanwhile, the same number (nine percent) would spend less time feeling disappointed if they had a serious holiday mishap.
It also emerged 22 percent have previously been put off seeing a film they were excited, about because of a bad review.
Nonetheless, 63 percent have watched something before that was rated poorly by critics – but had been pleasantly surprised.
The study, conducted via OnePoll.com, also revealed comedies, science-fiction, and rom-coms are the genres people believe critics are the harshest towards.
