Box office

From ArticleWorld

If you require tickets to some form of public event, for example a film, concert or sporting match, you will almost always need to purchase them through the box office of the venue hosting the event. Each venue will usually have their own box office which will concentrate on selling tickets to events being hosted there only. However for some large events, for example a nationwide music tour, tickets can be bought for any of the possible venues from one overall box office.

William Shakespeare

The original Globe Theatre, situated on the banks of the River Thames in London, was open between 1599 and 1644. It was built by the playing company that William Shakespeare belonged to and often wrote for and it is from here that the term box office is thought to arise. At that time it would cost the audience one coin to enter into the theatre and boxes were made with small slits in the top for the coins to be posted through. The full boxes would then be taken into an office for the contents to be counted, and so this became known as the box office.

Film success

The film industry now refers to the box office as a general term which has come to be associated with the financial success of a film. Box office figures relate to the amount of tickets sold to the public to see a particular film across the country or a region, rather than just at one specific venue. It has become a way to assess the financial success, or failure, of a film. The opening weekend box office figures are becoming increasingly important in direct relation to the massive amounts of money being spent on making the film and one which does not have a strong opening weekend is often known as a box office flop.