The extinction of movie theaters...

[0388631]

I think theaters are going to do themselves in eventually. There's a small one by work that I sometimes drop into instead of lunch for a matinee show. It's cheap, and usually I'm one of few. I do it for films I'm interested in. Though I do find myself waiting until it comes out on stream rental.

That said, I was never a fan of theaters because of how many germs may be there plus all the snogging people do.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think theaters are going to do themselves in eventually. There's a small one by work that I sometimes drop into instead of lunch for a matinee show. It's cheap, and usually I'm one of few. I do it for films I'm interested in. Though I do find myself waiting until it comes out on stream rental.

That said, I was never a fan of theaters because of how many germs may be there plus all the snogging people do.

How long is your lunchtime? lol I barely stop long enough to watch the trailers.

 

[576316]

I don't know...there's still something I enjoy about going to the cinema. But only the modern cinemas/newly built mega complexes - mostly because they're clean, have nice toilets and the seating is comfortable. But there's definitely something enjoyable about watching a new movie in a room full of fans of that movie, like the big blockbusters - Star Wars, Jurassic World etc. But I agree it's possibly too expensive if the movie is bad, and you never never never buy your snacks from the cinema. Although cinema food prices are just proof that cinemas as institutions are not financially viable.

 

[D.T.]

Although cinema food prices are just proof that cinemas as institutions are not financially viable.

FWIW, at least in the US, theaters make most of their money on concessions.

The movie prints are leased (through a booking process that sometimes includes a middleman) with an agreed to percentage of ticket sales, and that's scaled across the duration of the film being shown. So the first N weeks of a movie, the theater may get almost nothing to a small percentage. 6 weeks into a theatrical run, it may be a much larger percentage, but of course at 6 weeks, the film also has to be a huge hit for that to amount to significant revenues to the theater.

So especially early into a movie run, the theater really has to rely on food and beverages.

The sweet spot for a theater is with movies where the booking agent predicted a much bigger and faster decline, agreed to a higher percentage sooner and the film continued to do incredible business.

 

[Apple fanboy]

FWIW, at least in the US, theaters make most of their money on concessions.

The movie prints are leased (through a booking process that sometimes includes a middleman) with an agreed to percentage of ticket sales, and that's scaled across the duration of the film being shown. So the first N weeks of a movie, the theater may get almost nothing to a small percentage. 6 weeks into a theatrical run, it may be a much larger percentage, but of course at 6 weeks, the film also has to be a huge hit for that to amount to significant revenues to the theater.

So especially early into a movie run, the theater really has to rely on food and beverages.

The sweet spot for a theater is with movies where the booking agent predicted a much bigger and faster decline, agreed to a higher percentage sooner and the film continued to do incredible business.

Pretty sure they make nothing out of me with concessions!

 

[0388631]

How long is your lunchtime? lol I barely stop long enough to watch the trailers.

As long as I want. I could take a week long lunch break if I wanted to.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Personally, I think another reason for the decline of movie theaters is that we're not getting a lot of good films lately and many American moviegoers' ambivalence towards the entertainment community, but since I don't want this thread hijacked to PRSI....

 

[0388631]

Personally, I think another reason for the decline of movie theaters is that we're not getting a lot of good films lately and many American moviegoers' ambivalence towards the entertainment community, but since I don't want this thread hijacked to PRSI....

It won't. I'm not sure I agree. Despite people's objections to leftists in Hollywood, they'll still watch a movie. However, you are very correct about not getting good films. Don't get me wrong, there's still a crowd who enjoys shoot 'em ups like the John Wick franchise. Not the best storyline or script, but some incredible cinematography. Hollywood has noted that there's been a shift in consumer appeal from good storyline to something predictable, loud and violent. Or something animated.

If you recall, in the eighties, we got bludgeoned with a lot of street fighting movie. A lot of tough guy vigilante movies. Also some of the cheesiest lines in the world. Remember Cobra? I sure do. I saw it again a month ago. Very cheesy lines. Yet they were the coolest thing since pop rocks when it came out.

There's been a few arthouse and low budget films I've fallen in love with over the years. And I'll freely admit I'm a huge sucker for Oscar bait films. The King's Speech has been a film I've rewatched countless times.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Actually, what is happening is that Hollywood found a just as lucrative outlet besides movies: the 7 to 12 episode per season high-production value TV series. Spurred on by the huge success of AMC's Mad Men and Breaking Bad plus the "binge release" TV series on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, that's where everyone is going. Especially now with 4K theatrical quality digital movie cameras now being really cheap (you can just buy a Red Epic camera with 4K capability plus lens at almost the same price Panavision wants for long-term lease of one of their 35 mm film cameras).

Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised that within the next 3-4 years every A-list actor and actress will be involved in such TV series.

 

[0388631]

Actually, what is happening is that Hollywood found a just as lucrative outlet besides movies: the 7 to 12 episode per season high-production value TV series. Spurred on by the huge success of AMC's Mad Men and Breaking Bad plus the "binge release" TV series on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, that's where everyone is going. Especially now with 4K theatrical quality digital movie cameras now being really cheap (you can just buy a Red Epic camera with 4K capability plus lens at almost the same price Panavision wants for long-term lease of one of their 35 mm film cameras).

Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised that within the next 3-4 years every A-list actor and actress will be involved in such TV series.

Except shows were already popular for TV actors and actresses. Developing a movie is easier than a show. A 10 or 12 episode season is roughly 5 to 6 movies. Mad Men, GOT, Breaking Bad, et al. are all exceptions to the rule. In the timeframe since Breaking Bad started, as I believe it's the oldest show, how many big budget shows have come out and flopped? Plenty.

Most people prefer the nature of a television show, albeit an established one, because it offers them more entertainment for the monthly access fee, whereas it only gets them a single movie at a theater.