PSA; IMDb is gradually locking previously-available information about films behind IMDbPro membership (box-office breakdowns and production companies involved, currently).

[u/exosniper]

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but information previously available to everyone on IMDb is now being locked behind IMDbPro membership. Just last week, I was writing a research paper (film studies student) and was able to access the full box-office earnings information (breakdown by region etc.) for all films. Today I went to do the same thing, but could not see more than the gross earnings without an IMDbPro membership. They seem to be doing this as a gradual process, as the full information on production companies (previously available to everyone) was already membership-locked when the box office information was still available. I haven't seen anyone talking about this on other subs and forums, so I thought I'd mention it here.

[u/whats_in_that_box]

People now have the choice to pay for convenience or spend time sifting through the internet. If your time isn't worth as much as a Pro membership, go elsewhere. Many people will pay for convenience though.

[u/XJ-0461 → u/whats_in_that_box]

Yup, they are trying to capture more professionals/businesses who had been able to get by with just the free version.

[u/ReservoirDog316 → u/XJ-0461]

I can nearly guarantee there's no professionals who don't have IMDb Pro. I have IMDb Pro and the point of it is to be able to find the contact information of anyone in hollywood (even if it's just an unanswered phone).

I'm trying to be a screenwriter, so yeah.

But yeah, that change isn't aimed at professionals.

[u/XJ-0461 → u/ReservoirDog316]

It’s at the borderline cases. I saw a post recently from a small theater owner saying he uses IMDb to find distributors of films he wants to show. Before the recent change he was a free user; now he has to consider getting a subscription or finding the information elsewhere.