Becoming Box-Office History?

Historically, historical movies have trouble at the box office. Even period dramas perceived as successful had limited appeal--the much-lauded “Glory,” for example, took in only about $26 million.

Which is why the apparent failure of “Beloved” to strike a chord with audiences should come as no surprise--even with the massive goodwill and publicity that accompanied the film’s star, Oprah Winfrey. So far, the film has made about $15 million, with a disastrous 46% drop in box office in its second week. The $55-million film isn’t expected to make much more than $25 million.

“Beloved’s” inability to overcome the usual hindrances period pieces encounter--despite critical support and a pull-out-the-stops promotional effort by Winfrey--could easily be blamed on its subject matter, the evils of slavery. Like another slavery-themed film, “Amistad,” released last Christmas, audiences did not rush out to see “Beloved” and word of mouth on the difficult film was not good.

But other factors also came into play, including changes in audience demographics and questionable marketing, according to industry analysts. There’s no question that the subject matter is a tough sell. But then so are movies about politics (“Primary Colors”) and serious personal dramas (“One True Thing”). That’s why Hollywood makes fewer and fewer serious dramas in favor of a steady stream of predigested, high-concept comedies and action films.

Part of the problem is the selling of serious dramas. One studio marketing executive points out that the main similarity between “Beloved” and “Amistad” was a marketing campaign that “sold the movies like they were medicine.”

“Audiences were told it was good for them,” the executive said. “It makes no sense in a film with entertainment value to sell the message first.”

Unlike “Amistad,” “Beloved” dealt less with slavery than its psychological aftermath. Dramatically it has as much in common with historical tales as diverse as “Sommersby,” “Glory” and “The Last Emperor,” all of which bumped their heads on a low ceiling at the box office.

“Sommersby,” a Civil War period romance starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster, was the only one to gross as much as $50 million. It took nine Oscars to get “The Last Emperor” to $44 million (that’s the same as “Amistad”). And even a best supporting actor Oscar for Denzel Washington didn’t take “Glory” much past $26 million at the box office.

Comparisons to another adaptation of a best-selling novel, “The Color Purple” ($94 million), are no longer valid, says one studio distribution chief, because the pattern of film attendance has changed significantly since the Steven Spielberg film was released in 1985.

“With the rise of the multiplex, the primary audience for movies today has shifted from the cities to suburbia,” says the executive. The suburban audience (and most urban viewers) now have multiple viewing choices in one location. If “Beloved” is competing with six to 10 other films, it’s difficult for the film to stay around long enough to catch on. In addition, though Winfrey can motivate her substantial female TV audience to read books, the primary demographic for “Beloved” was middle-aged women, probably the toughest audience to get out of the house.

That audience is well served by the frequent and often well-made historical films and miniseries on network and cable television.

Further, TV does a much better job of marketing historical films as events, often positioning them during sweeps periods and priming the audience with weeks of self-promotion on the particular network’s most popular series.

The more successful period pictures of recent years (relative to cost) include the Merchant Ivory films such as “A Room With a View” and “Howards End,” which were made on a modest budget and grossed about the same as bigger studio projects such as “The Age of Innocence” and “Dangerous Liaisons.”

But before sounding the death knell on historical dramas, it should be noted that the past three best picture winners are all set in the past, “Braveheart,” “The English Patient” and “Titanic.” Period dramas may be a tough sell, but if you build the right one, audiences will still buy.