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[ManaByte]

Regal joins the death party!

Cineworld CEO Says Universal Tried to “Take Advantage” of Virus Crisis by Breaking Windows

Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger has claimed that Universal tried to "take advantage" of the COVID-19 crisis by breaking theatrical windows.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Cineworld claimed that Universal's move was "completely inappropriate" and "certainly has nothing to do with good faith business practice, partnership and transparency." It also said that in future it would not be showing movies that "fail to respect the windows as it does not make any economic sense for us."

 

[cryptoadam]

They should just add if any other studios follow suite they will be sleeping with the fishes.

 

[HellforLeather]

Theaters basically live or die on providing an experience that you cant have at home and replicating that experience has never been cheaper. You can go out and buy a pretty big TV and a reasonable surround sound system for $1000; which is what? Maybe 2 years of going to see movies on a regular basis for a family of 4?

Not to mention all the negative parts of the "theater going experience": half the time the screens and sound systems aren't calibrated properly, you get fleeced on anything you buy there, most theaters never seem to enforce any of their rules (kicking people out for being loud or using cell phones) etc.

If your business model depends on you being able to sell a $.20 bag of popcorn for $15 then maybe it was shit to begin with. Good riddance.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Fuck em, really.

Watch how Disney reacts. They'll follow the money, and if the money isn't in the theatres...

 

[Nester99]

AMC is Majority owned by Chinese conglomorate "Wanda Group"
Attacking NBC Universal is an attack on America !


AMC can burn down all their theatres for all i care.
in fact, they might have just done that metaphorically.

 

[ManaByte]

Theaters basically live or die on providing an experience that you cant have at home and replicating that experience has never been cheaper. You can go out and buy a pretty big TV and a reasonable surround sound system for $1000; which is what? Maybe 2 years of going to see movies on a regular basis for a family of 4?

About half that. You can get a 55" 4K HDR TV for around $300 now. You can get a home theater in a box set for about the same price. It's not super expensive like people think anymore.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

the sad thing is the loss of real theaters, real films. as in movies printed on literal film. like there are still revivals all the time for movies and i go to them and get to see them in the original film format. that's the kind of experience you can't duplicate, even with 4k.

just sad remembering watching 2001: A Space Odyssey in 70mm only 2 years ago and now it looks like so many theaters will close down for good. if all theaters go away that kind of experience will be something lost forever.

 

[Stitch]

AMC billions in debt and now pushing away massive movie franchises out of spite.

 

[Sub_Level]

Universal's $1 billion movies in 2020/2021:
No Time to Die
Fast 9
Jurassic World: Dominion
Minions

To be fair to AMC, this lineup is shit. Even if they lose a lot of business, they can take solace that they are reserving screen real estate for potentially better films.

I'll never forget seeing a line going out the box office for Fast Five lmao

 

[Corrik]

There is no way AMC can stick to their guns on this. It would destroy their marketability as a theatre.

 

[TwoDurans]

I'm surprised another theater chain has joined the lockout. Too many more and Universal can sue for violations of the competition law.

 

[Thaedolus]

In the last two years I think Solo and Rise of Skywalker are the only two movies I’ve gone to. Both were free and Solo was before my kid was born and RoS on a day my sister was in town and wanted to babysit.

I spent a good chunk of change on my home theater setup, and I have 40 bags of Kirkland popcorn in my pantry. I’m good at home without covid bruh. RIP in peace AMC

 

[StormCell]

Dumb thought: why doesn't AMC just negotiate the streaming rights of the movies when they first come out? It seems to me that the writing is semi on the wall here. There are obviously people willing to pay exuberant amounts of money to legally stream movies on opening day.

That's an easy deal.

 

[ManaByte]

Dumb thought: why doesn't AMC just negotiate the streaming rights of the movies when they first come out? It seems to me that the writing is semi on the wall here. There are obviously people willing to pay exuberant amounts of money to legally stream movies on opening day.

That's an easy deal.

Because when people stream at home they're not paying $20 for popcorn and a soda.

 

[StormCell]

Because when people stream at home they're not paying $20 for popcorn and a soda.

Of course. You just have to find new ways to gouge. I was thinking $30 for opening day streaming. If you do the deals just right, you might be able to piggy back on Amazon and ship the drinks and popcorn on opening day as part of a package price.

But you'll always have to be proactive if you want to keep gouging.

 

[lyan]

But Universal only has 11% of the market share so clearly they can?

Well their operating profits aren't even enough to pay just the interest from debts since 2017. Whatever they are borrowing for better be worth it else they are fucked.

 

[StormCell]

Meh, the way I see it movie theaters are going to go the way of the arcade. As soon as people could have a superior moving watching experience at home, going to the theater became an unwanted requirement if you wanted to watch it near release.

 

[ManaByte]

Of course. You just have to find new ways to gouge. I was thinking $30 for opening day streaming. If you do the deals just right, you might be able to piggy back on Amazon and ship the drinks and popcorn on opening day as part of a package price.

But you'll always have to be proactive if you want to keep gouging.

The problem AMC does have a streaming service, but why would a studio give them 50% (like they do in the theater) when the studio could just put the move out on their streaming service or one of the other ones like Apple or Amazon that only take 20-30%?

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Dumb thought: why doesn't AMC just negotiate the streaming rights of the movies when they first come out? It seems to me that the writing is semi on the wall here. There are obviously people willing to pay exuberant amounts of money to legally stream movies on opening day.

That's an easy deal.

RedBox actually went to Blockbuster with their idea and they turned them down. the whole streaming/theaters thing reminds me greatly of that.

some companies are just too married to the old ways, they would rather die than adapt.

theaters are going to really need to step up their game when they come back or they will permanently go away. the local arthouse places thankfully often have community support (i've worked a number of fundraisers for the classic tiny theater in my town) and probably a catalog of amazing cool stuff they can bust out to entice viewers.

the mainstream theaters tho, that's a lot of overhead. plus im not sure people would have flocked to theaters to see Trolls 2. the reason ii succeeded is because it cost $20 for a 2 day window and 83 million parents are stuck at home with their kids right now. parents are admittedly a great demographic to have, they have at least 1 guaranteed customer, they are kind of forced to spend money on kids stuff by necessity. many households probably purchased it multiple times, due to the limited time window. the stars aligned for Trolls 2. they just lucked out. no way this movie would make anywhere near this if it wasn't for the pandemic.

 

[StormCell]

The problem AMC does have a streaming service, but why would a studio give them 50% (like they do in the theater) when the studio could just put the move out on their streaming service or one of the other ones like Apple or Amazon that only take 20-30%?

Would it be worth it to AMC to accept 20-30% for streaming? It looks like their business model is in danger of being made obsolete if they lose this last hold. Which I'm glad for it, but it looks like they could find ways to remain relevant.

 

[StormCell]

RedBox actually went to Blockbuster with their idea and they turned them down. the whole streaming/theaters thing reminds me greatly of that.

some companies are just too married to the old ways, they would rather die than adapt.

theaters are going to really need to step up their game when they come back or they will permanently go away. the local arthouse places thankfully often have community support (i've worked a number of fundraisers for the classic tiny theater in my town) and probably a catalog of amazing cool stuff they can bust out to entice viewers.

the mainstream theaters tho, that's a lot of overhead. plus im not sure people would have flocked to theaters to see Trolls 2. the reason ii succeeded is because it cost $20 for a 2 day window and 83 million parents are stuck at home with their kids right now. parents are admittedly a great demographic to have, they have at least 1 guaranteed customer, they are kind of forced to spend money on kids stuff by necessity. many households probably purchased it multiple times, due to the limited time window. the stars aligned for Trolls 2. they just lucked out. no way this movie would make anywhere near this if it wasn't for the pandemic.

This is how I see it too. I really can't see a way in which these big movie theaters will remain in business if the best they can offer is a big dark room, big screen, big speakers, and a bunch of people doing uncontrollable things (ex: 2 and 3 year old kids running back and forth in boredom while parents watch Avengers).

if I were AMC I'd be working hella hard on the closest thing to a holodeck experience.

 

[cryptoadam]

Cinema's die, Drive ins make a come back.

 

[jshackles]

Ruh Roh Scoob! RIP watching Warner Bros. movies at AMC.

(Honestly, this is a much better deal, $25 to buy in 4K and let the kids watch it as many times as they'd like)

 

[gatti-man]

About half that. You can get a 55" 4K HDR TV for around $300 now. You can get a home theater in a box set for about the same price. It's not super expensive like people think anymore.

That tv will be shit and your “home theater” will be absolute ass. A real home theater that replicates a cinema experience is still 6,000-10,000 or more. You need a 9.1 Dolby atmos setup with decent sub and a minimum of a 70” UHD tv. A 55” UHD tv is not even comparable and a waste of resolution honestly. Then you need color accuracy and a decent black level.
TV 2,000 minimum
Receiver 1500
Sub 1,000
Speakers $500 each minimum. 9x500= 4,000.

Also y’all better hope theaters don’t go away because streaming revenue is PENNIES compared to theater revenue. Why should you care? Hollywood would essentially cease to exist at that point for AAA movies. You’d be getting Netflix/Disney + quality at best all the time.

 

[teezzy]

Studios no longer need theater chains to reach and maximize profits off of their intended audience. Unless AMC wants to provide a streaming service of sorts, then the writing is on the wall.

 

[teezzy]

That tv will be shit and your “home theater” will be absolute ass. A real home theater that replicates a cinema experience is still 6,000-10,000 or more. You need a 9.1 Dolby atmos setup with decent sub and a minimum of a 70” UHD tv. A 55” UHD tv is not even comparable and a waste of resolution honestly. Then you need color accuracy and a decent black level.
TV 2,000 minimum
Receiver 1500
Sub 1,000
Speakers $500 each minimum. 9x500= 4,000.

Also y’all better hope theaters don’t go away because streaming revenue is PENNIES compared to theater revenue. Why should you care? Hollywood would essentially cease to exist at that point for AAA movies. You’d be getting Netflix/Disney + quality at best all the time.

Enthusiasts will continue to develop their home theaters and technologies in that field will advance as a result due to increased business. Studios working with limited budgets will renew creativity through financial restriction.

Death to the theater, I say.

 

[Mihos]

Studios no longer need theater chains to reach and maximize profits off of their intended audience. Unless AMC wants to provide a streaming service of sorts, then the writing is on the wall.

This is asbolutely, completely untrue.

Regal theater family is joining the fight also.

And thinking that and VoD money is ever going to come anywhere near what is made from the theater box office for a studio is hilarious.

This also has nothing to do with Trolls 2.

 

[cryptoadam]

Studios do not get all the money from Cinema's, and an even lower cut internationally.

It it better to take 100% from 75 Million dollars, or 50% of 100 Million dollars ?

The only reason why this notion that you need Cinemas to make huge bucks is around is because Cinema's have used dirty and I would say underhanded and maybe closed to illegal practices to keep a monopoly on first run movies.

I am willing to bet the day the choice is there it won't take more than a year for the public to make it very clear what they prefer, and thats watching movies on their own time at their own place of chosing and not forced to abide by theater owners rules.

 

[jshackles]

So for people that are keeping track - apparently AMC and Regal will no longer be showing films from either Universal or Warner Brothers. This means they've essentially cut out the #2 and #3 studios of 2019.

So if you want to watch any movies like these (or their potential future sequels / spin offs), be sure to steer clear of AMC or Regal.

I feel like this a good way for them to let Disney strong arm them even further.

 

[Grinchy]

Yeah Disney is about to work out a 110% of ticket sales deal with AMC moving forward

And popcorn is about to cost $20.

 

[Sakura Doritos]

Yeah Disney is about to work out a 110% of ticket sales deal with AMC moving forward

And popcorn is about to cost $20.

And be the color pink.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Which will win out?

The brands boycotting the content they sell to consumers?

Or the content producers who sell directly to the customers on their home TV?

 

[cryptoadam]

And be the color pink.

pink popcorn is the bomb

 

[jshackles]

Which will win out?

The brands boycotting the content they sell to consumers?

Or the content producers who sell directly to the customers on their home TV?

I mean, the big studios still have to pay Apple, Google, VUDU, etc what? 30% of the cut? Seems pretty cheap considering the brick and mortar places notoriously take almost double that.

For most people, their home theater setup is going to be "good enough". The demand for the full theater experience isn't going to magically die overnight, but with the coronavirus and the lock downs and people realizing the convenience of features like the ability to pause a movie, turn on subtitles, etc - I feel like streaming and/or digital purchases are going to come out on top. Digital purchases and streaming are infinitely more convenient than having to drive to a particular place at a particular time while paying 400% more for popcorn and drinks.

I figure things will get into a nice place where there are essentially three pricing tiers 1) "new" movies available maybe only as rentals, that are the highest pricing tier 2) movies that are a few months old aka what used to be "new to digital" and 3) older movies / bargain bin movies. There will probably be standardized pricing to go along with that, maybe even $30 / $20 / $10 for digital purchases and less for rentals.

This is the same tired story over and over again that I witnessed personally when stores like FYE, Sam Goody, and Tower Records bemoaned the advent of digital music sales but continued to insist they were relevant - right up to the point in time where their doors closed. A modern example is GameStop which continues to be less and less relevant as their stores start getting stocked more and more with gaming / nerd merch and less and less with actual games.

 

[NeoGiffer]

 

[Compsiox]

I'm afraid that if most new releases are available for streaming Day 1 that I'll never go to theaters anymore. Sometimes I just need to get out and do something to forget whats going on. Honestly, that mental need is not enough of a motivator if movies are online immediately.

 

[Compsiox]

So for people that are keeping track - apparently AMC and Regal will no longer be showing films from either Universal or Warner Brothers. This means they've essentially cut out the #2 and #3 studios of 2019.

So if you want to watch any movies like these (or their potential future sequels / spin offs), be sure to steer clear of AMC or Regal.

I feel like this a good way for them to let Disney strong arm them even further.

oh fuck Regal is jumping in on this shit too? Big disappoint.

 

[teezzy]

This is asbolutely, completely untrue.

Regal theater family is joining the fight also.

And thinking that and VoD money is ever going to come anywhere near what is made from the theater box office for a studio is hilarious.

This also has nothing to do with Trolls 2.

I get it. Renting a movie VOD once, and streaming it for a living room full of people at the same price as one guy in his apartment is never going to make sense.

Still, I'm tired of the theater experience, and rarely go these days. My 5.1 setup in my living room will always be preferred. I'm excited to see signs of the industry evolving in a manner that suits me personally.

Nonetheless, Hollywood will go where the consumers drive them to. It always has.

 

[Mihos]

I get it. Renting a movie VOD once, and streaming it for a living room full of people at the same price as one guy in his apartment is never going to make sense.

Still, I'm tired of the theater experience, and rarely go these days. My 5.1 setup in my living room will always be preferred. I'm excited to see signs of the industry evolving in a manner that suits me personally.

Nonetheless, Hollywood will go where the consumers drive them to. It always has.

I have about 10k into my home theater.... we still go to the movies about once a month.

 

[Compsiox]

I get it. Renting a movie VOD once, and streaming it for a living room full of people at the same price as one guy in his apartment is never going to make sense.

Still, I'm tired of the theater experience, and rarely go these days. My 5.1 setup in my living room will always be preferred. I'm excited to see signs of the industry evolving in a manner that suits me personally.

Nonetheless, Hollywood will go where the consumers drive them to. It always has.

Eh true, they can just overcharge for it like has been going on already. Like $25 dollars.

 

[Weiji]

The unwillingness of movie theaters to change with the times is pretty sad. Movie Pass was a really good opportunity to fill seats and generate recurring revenue. They should have embraced it.

instead they killed it, rolled out a theater chain by theater chain version of it at more then double the price.

they could have negotiated cheap ticket sales mid day, they could have adapted their model with better food or a different experience. They could have embraced cross chain synergies and modern sales models.

instead they doubled down on 3D movies no one wanted and $50 per trip concessions in a world of streaming.

I’m amazed they’ve lasted this long.

 

[chitzy]

The unwillingness of movie theaters to change with the times is pretty sad. Movie Pass was a really good opportunity to fill seats and generate recurring revenue. They should have embraced it.

instead they killed it, rolled out a theater chain by theater chain version of it at more then double the price.

they could have negotiated cheap ticket sales mid day, they could have adapted their model with better food or a different experience. They could have embraced cross chain synergies and modern sales models.

instead they doubled down on 3D movies no one wanted and $50 per trip concessions in a world of streaming.

I’m amazed they’ve lasted this long.

I used to go to the theater probably twice a week when I had Moviepass. Nowdays it's like once every 6 months. To be fair though my problem isn't with the theaters it's with Hollywood. No chance I'm paying to sit through two hours of their woke garbage. Burn it all down.

 

[Grinchy]

I'm afraid that if most new releases are available for streaming Day 1 that I'll never go to theaters anymore. Sometimes I just need to get out and do something to forget whats going on. Honestly, that mental need is not enough of a motivator if movies are online immediately.

My local AMC theater was struggling, so they did a complete renovation inside and then started charging $5 for tickets to get people to come back. This was like 5+ years ago. They put in the leather recliners, did the seat assignments, ect. It became a way better way to go see movies again and I was buying tickets, getting overpriced popcorn, ect like once or twice per month.

But then the ticket prices went back to normal. Fast forward to today and it is like $14 to order a single ticket online. A large popcorn is $10. So I'm $24 in already to sit in a room full of strangers in a 5+ year old chair that probably never gets cleaned, idiots checking their snap stories every 4 minutes, girls yapping in the back rows, ect, and it's all to see some pile of shit movie like The Last Jedi or X-Men Annihilation or any of the other movies I wasted so much money and time on. It's just not a good experience anymore.

 

[Compsiox]

My local AMC theater was struggling, so they did a complete renovation inside and then started charging $5 for tickets to get people to come back. This was like 5+ years ago. They put in the leather recliners, did the seat assignments, ect. It became a way better way to go see movies again and I was buying tickets, getting overpriced popcorn, ect like once or twice per month.

But then the ticket prices went back to normal. Fast forward to today and it is like $14 to order a single ticket online. A large popcorn is $10. So I'm $24 in already to sit in a room full of strangers in a 5+ year old chair that probably never gets cleaned, idiots checking their snap stories every 4 minutes, girls yapping in the back rows, ect, and it's all to see some pile of shit movie like The Last Jedi or X-Men Annihilation or any of the other movies I wasted so much money and time on. It's just not a good experience anymore.

This never happens to me when i go to the theaters lmao

 

[Grinchy]

This never happens to me when i go to the theaters lmao

There were definitely times when it didn't happen for me, but all I'm getting at is that it costs way too much for an experience that feels like a hassle other than having the great sound system. Hell, movies aren't even shot on film anymore, so we're literally watching a DVD on the big screen

 

[cryptoadam]

They don't need universal, GAFs got em covered

Woke Reboot Ideas

Mad About You, Your Politics, and basically Everything Two Xirs, a They, and a Starbucks Unmarried, with Cats The Golden-Brown Girls Dr. Zoe Quinn: Game Developer, Writer, Hero, Medicine Cabinet Raiding Woman Three Headmates is Company Diff'rent But Equal Strokes The Slay Queen of Queens...

www.neogaf.com

 

[gatti-man]

Enthusiasts will continue to develop their home theaters and technologies in that field will advance as a result due to increased business. Studios working with limited budgets will renew creativity through financial restriction.

Death to the theater, I say.

Yeah low budget shows are totally creative and well written. LMAO.

good home theater equipment isn’t getting cheaper. In many cases it’s actually more expensive especially for high quality audio. A display with good color accuracy and black accuracy has never been cheap even now.