If you want to invest in movies, consider the one genre of film where knuckles turn white as they grip the seats, popcorn is forgotten, and you even forget to blink because you don’t want to miss what comes next.
Thrillers. The name says it all. These are films that put you on the edge of your seat and quite literally thrill you because you never know what’s about to happen next. In a thriller, the key is to keep the audience guessing. This creates suspense, or tension, deep within the viewer.
The reason why we love thrillers and why they have become so popular is that a good story involves tension. Of course, you can attain tension and should in other genres, but nowhere is it more intrinsic than in the heart of a good thriller. Movie goers attend a thriller because it keeps them guessing – all the time.
Thrillers also represent a great movie production investment opportunity. For instance, single location shooting has multiple benefits for keeping costs low. Movies like the captivating Sleuth comprise a cast of two people set in a house for the entirety of the film. The cast was kept to a minimum, without any need for extras and only one location was filmed. By not having to pay for transportation and rental fees for multiple locations, filming takes less time and the location can be chosen according to tax credits/incentives that also lower the overall cost of production. Limiting locations means less moves, less rentals and less props which can add up to big savings and larger investment returns when investing in movie production.
Movie productions like the cult classic Cube, the mega epic Castaway and the deeply riveting 127 Hours are all intense dramatic thrillers that take place in primarily one location and yet manage to keep the audience glued to their seat by combining a good script, great actors and an original premise.
Looking at thrillers and the buzz they create not only solidifies the powerful and popularity of this genre, but also emphasizes why they represent solid investments. Sure Tom Hanks in Castaway had to fly to get to the deserted island, and James Franco in 127 Hours had to drive into the middle of nowhere. Yet for a moment in time they never left the silver screen and the audience was perfectly happy to spend that time with their characters. Combine this with the teeth clenching suspense of a great film and you have the perfect recipe formovie production investments.
