Movie Theaters Finally Realizing They Need To Compete With, Not Whine About, Home Theaters
from the about-time dept
For the past few years, as home theaters have grown more and more common, we've seen movie theater owners constantly whining that they just can't compete with home theaters. They complain that if studios start releasing DVDs at the same time as theater runs, no one will come. This, of course, shows a profound misunderstanding of their own business -- which is to provide an enjoyable social experience that convinces people to go out. People can eat food at home where it's much cheaper, but most still go out to eat on occasion as well. They do so because it's a social experience and provides something that can be seen as different and better. So while too many theater owners seemed to think they couldn't offer anything better, it appears that a few of the big chains are at least realizing that if home theater screens are getting bigger, so should movie screens. Both AMC and Regal Entertainment are installing a bunch of new IMAX screens, recognizing that the IMAX experience still beats the home theater one. Now, if only these theaters would start improving other aspects of the theater-going experience as well.
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Filed Under: imax, movie theaters, social experience
Companies: amc, regal cinemas
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reasons to watch at home
1. excessive volume
2. excessive snack prices
3. not listing the actual movie start time
4. excessive ticket prices
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Re: reasons to watch at home
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They will surely perish!! Or, alternatively they could adapt. Glad to hear they choose to adapt.
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restaurant analogy
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Re: restaurant analogy
It's not just about the movie, it's about the entire experience. Don't think just about the food being different, think about everything that goes with it.
If theater owners understood their business, they'd make the entire experience better (which it appears at least a few are figuring out).
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A False Benefit
The improvement => They implemented a policy to charge for children attending with their parents to minimize "disruptive" behavior.
No other real customer satisfaction improvements to my knowledge were ever implemented.
One new annoyance: commercials. If we see commercials, the price of the tickets should go down. Of course they haven't the movie theaters just pocket the extra revenue.
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Re: reasons to watch at home
6. (Dangerously) Reduced house light levels during seating times to permit viewing of "Pre-Show Advertising".
7. Pre-Show, non-coming attractions, television style advertising.
8. Over-selling a showing.
9. Noisy, leaky and unstable three cent bags instead of ten cent cardboard tubs holding the $6.00 popcorn.
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If I owned a cinema and could damn the expense
2) 1-2-1-2-1... seat layout (gaps are arm rest/cup holders)
3) Plenty of leg room and steep rake (don't cram people in)
4) No stupid law against video cams - just eject anyone causing excessive distraction (mobile phone, etc.)
5) Comfortable seating. All chairs specifically bookable via web.
6) Intermission at convenient point around half way (for showings after 8pm).
7) Alcoholic beverages permitted in auditorium after 8pm
8) Popcorn and other litter banned after 8pm
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Not acting like vicious idiots would improve the e
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102398.html
Visit Regal Cinemas, go to jail.
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Or not. That might really cut down the audience in the U.S.
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Adding value to the experience
Our local arthouse cinema was brilliant, late night double bills, fantastic refreshments (Cheech & Chong/Frank Zappa double bill from 10pm with black forest gateau and coffee in the intermission anyone?), original art deco picture palace as opposed to tin box on some out of town estate. Projectors & audio kit was a bit out of date though and I guess they were off the circuit for mainstream distributors. But the experience was generally good, if only they'd got decent projectors & sound... haven't been back there for a while either...
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All About The Popcorn
For me, it boils down to "butter-flavored edible oil product" being used instead of butter. For that reason alone, I stay home for movies and eat good popcorn rather than go out and eat (more) edible oil.
I don't care about the price I pay. Charge me $20 for some popcorn and a soda if you want. Just don't insult me by shaving 5 cents of your cost by replacing butter with lamp oil.
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Re: Re: restaurant analogy
> entire experience. Don't think just about the
> food being different, think about everything
> that goes with it.
The problem for me is that "everything that goes with it" is usually everything I want to avoid: time spent driving to the theater, fighting traffic, paying for parking, standing in line, uncomfortable chairs, having to miss part of the movie if I want to go to the bathroom, not being able to control the volume level or the start time of the movie, overpriced food and drink (and standing in more lines to get them), screaming babies, restless kids, teenagers who (when not talking and giggling amongst themselves) are text-messaging each other with their glowing cell phones... the list goes on.
All of that used to be outweighed by the fact that one could only see a movie in high-resolution picture and stereo sound on a big screen if one went to a theater. That's not the case any more. Other than maybe the comfort level of the chairs, there's really nothing a theater can do to improve on that list of negatives.
As for going to the theater being a social experience, that's usually the *problem* rather than a benefit. I can still invite my girlfriend or other friends over to my house to watch a movie and have a social experience without all the other strangers whom I don't care about and who in many cases would likely be more of an irritation than anything else.
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Social Experience?
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Re: If I owned a cinema and could damn the expense
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The "Dirt" on Theaters
I live just down the road from Regal Cinemas HQ. I know the CEO personally. Believe me, he hears all the complaints listed above. As for copyright, they are at the mercy of the MPAA too. Theaters are constantly threatened that if they don't deal with camcorders and piracy vigilantly and fiercely, they will not be given movies to show. And yes, the studios and the MPAA have followed up that threat in the past.
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Re: Re: restaurant analogy
Or try a drama - Same thing. The group experience almost always amplifies the individual experience.
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It would be nice if they policed their theatres better to keep trouble-makes out, but how do you do that without disrupting the show or inconveniencing typical customers? It would be nice if they improved the quaility of their snacks and drinks, but how can you do that if the only profit you make is at the snack counter (you can raise prices if quality goes up, but there's a limit to what people will pay, even with quality). It might be nice if they had waitstaff to bring you food and drink before the show (not durring, I think) so you didn't have to stand in line, but the row-seating idea would have to be adjusted if not tossed out entirely. I have to agree with BTR1701, though for different reasons, that improving the comfort of the seating is about all I can see happening.
There was a theatre around here that, a few years ago, had an all-day even showing the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings triology. That's a good idea, I think, making an actual event out of it, but there's only so much of a crowd that could draw. And I think it would be hard to plan even smaller events involving double-features that people wanted to see. The point maybe being that they need to stop thinking about just what movies are showing and look more at the whole atmosphere and how they can improve that. How they can satisfy people like BTR1701 and maybe make all those random strangers part of the appeal rather than a detracting factor. I'm not sure how they'd do that.
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Re: All About The Popcorn
I spit soda all over my keyboard after reading that comment. ROFL.
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Still no money for schools.
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Re: Re: Re: restaurant analogy
> the individual experience.
It's not an either/or choice. It's not like I either have to watch a movie isolated and alone in my house or with a group in the theater.
I can have a group of people over to my home to watch a movie if I choose. And their laughter is just as "contagious" as anyone else's, with the added benefit of being people I actually know, like, and want to spend time with (as opposed to some jerkoff who thinks it's funny to "entertain" the crowd by providing a running commentary to the film).
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You know, the funny part is it is still a ripoff when it only costs a buck. I can probably count the movies worth the time to watch on one hand that I have seen in the last decade.
Movies just suck.
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The Movie Experience
They have to have volume to make any money from the movie it's self. The sound has to be loud to cover all the talking assholes, but the thing that get to be is that sumbitch that keeps kicking my seat during the show. I like personal room, most places now try to all but eliminate it to get more seats in.
The midnight show places make more money of a ticket, the movies are cheaper to rent. So the experience can be nicer.
Way back when I lived in Cocoa Beach there was a second run cinema where they had decent food and a waitress would come around and take your order. I went to movies more there than any place else. The seats had plenty of personal room too.
The normal movie theater is all but dead, to me at least.
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Re: Theater Hater
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Bring back the drive ins
I would put our old drive in up against a brand new indoor movie theater any day of the week. It's just more fun and cheaper too.
It's to bad they have almost all gone away in the US.
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Guess what would happen to piracy.
But, like DRM, they continue to try to peddle items no one wants and at the same time wonder why no one is buying.
As far as theaters.... I don't know, maybe convert to some kind of restaurant hybrid or something, because right now it is a big set of fail. Comfy booth seating, bar, snacks, all there while you watch the movie.
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Theatre Experience
It is great that we can rent a $1 movie from RedBox and bring it home, but it doesn't compare to the "going out"experience.
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8 1/2 reasons why the theatre "experience" $ucks
[2] Cell phone usage by Mr. I'm so gDamn important.
[3] Noise from teens and preteens: yelling, cell phones, eating, giggling.
[4] That brown syrupy mess on the floor. On the seats. On the walls. On the walls?!?
[5] Noisy eaters. Why does such a fat person (with the fat dim witted children) need to eat yet more junk? Why the mega tub of sugar-n-fats?
[6] Opening credit commercials. When did that happen?
[7] The dcheBag who insists on sitting right in front of me when the theater is about half empty. What ever happened to common courtesy? Oh, yeah, low class people can't empathize with others.
[8] The young tough who threatens to "beat my F-en head in" for complaining about 1-7. The last time that happened, I escalated the incident by bringing in a uniformed police officer (who was in the lobby), and got right into the young tough's face and said in a voice that everyone in the vicinity could hear, "Officer, this is the guy who threatened to beat my F-en head in. Isn't that right junior?" It was amazing how fast that tough turned into a compliant little sissy-boy.
[9] Prices. Interestingly, the high prices are a really minor reason for not enjoying the "experience" of the modern theater. Give this only a half complaint. If we could totally eliminate 1-8, I'd willingly pay upwards of $20 for a 3-star movie.
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I used to work in a theater...
As for the person complaining they don't carry real butter, but butter oil, well that is to be expected. The cost of keeping real butter would be outrageous (refrigeration and the cost of spoilage). It is not saving the movie theater a mere couple cents, but saving them hundreds if not thousands of dollars (have you looked at the price of butter these days? Outrageous).
That being said, I hate movie theaters and not because I worked at one. I think people are rude and inconsiderate when gathered together in large groups and forced to be quiet (which many rarely do). Theaters, plays, and operas are all the same (you will ALWAYS have that loud talker or a few cell phones going off). Until theaters supply alcohol so I can overlook the faults of my peers, I will stay home!
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reason number 15342
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Allow Judge Dredd Tactics On Talkers!
The largest problem beyond escalating prices and poor presentation is something the theaters can't prevent, but can deal with: RUDE AUDIENCES! Since requiring manners has been banished from society as a remnant of "bad-ol'-days morality fascism", people actually get belligerent if you try to shush them for repeating lines on the screen, talking on their cell phones, talking to their pals, eating like they are at a trough, etc. People are afraid they'll get a cap busted in their asses if they turn around, so they suffer silently and then stay home. If theaters had ushers on patrol to make these goons STFU or they allowed permitted patrons to summarily execute talkers, like Judge Dredd, then the movie-going experience would be much better.
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Re: I used to work in a theater...
There's no reason why a private property owner shouldn't have the freedom to operate a jammer, so long as it's only strong enough to encompass his own property and not bleed off onto other people's property.
Put a sign up at the entrance that says, "All wireless communication is jammed on these premises" and then people can decide for themselves whether to see the movie there or somewhere else if having a functional cell phone is that important to them. I know I'd sure patronize such a theater. They'd get all my business.
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Re: reason number 15342
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Re: The "Dirt" on Theaters
I realize the regular theater has a larger building to maintain (usually QUITE poorly, at least around here), but if the money's going to maintenance it's not going to the movie studios.
And yes, concessions in both places are pretty expensive. But hey, I get to sit in my own car or outside if it's a nice night, I get to control the volume, and if anyone's yapping on a cellphone or got a screaming baby, they're in my family/group of friends so I can tell them to shut the heck up or go outside. ^_^ I'll take THAT social experience.
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If it's true that you know the Regal Cinemas CEO, would you please give him a message; Tell him that because Regal Cinemas pushed for prosecution of Jhannet Sejas because she recored 15 SECONDS of the film Transformers, they have permanently lost me as a customer. There is a Regal Cinema about 10 minutes from my house, and while I didn't go often, when I did want to see a movie in the theater, they were usually my first choice.
While I understand that Hollywood and the MPAA are obsessed to the point of ignoring all common sense, about stopping copyright infringement, there is absolutely no justifiable reason to take someone to court for filming a 15 second scene of a movie. I could understand if they pulled her out of the theater and told her that what she did was wrong, but to actually prosecute her after it was learned that she only recorded a measely 15 seconds goes beyond all reason.
You say that theaters have to pull this kind of crap or they won't get movies to show. Maybe if all the theaters told the MPAA to take their draconian rules and shove them, stuff like this wouldn't happen.
To be perfrectly honest, hearing about this kind of crap makes me want to go to the opening night of a huge blockbuster and sit there through the whole movie with my non-camera phone cell phone opened and held prominently in front of me. Then when the staff pulls me out of the theater and calls the police, I can sue them for harassment.
That is how much I despise the current trend of treating theater customers like criminals!
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West Edmonton Mall Canada
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Re: Re: The "Dirt" on Theaters
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Re: reasons to watch at home
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8 1/2 reasons why the theatre "experience" $ucks
[2] Cell phone usage by Mr. I'm so gDamn important.
[3] Noise from teens and preteens: yelling, cell phones, eating, giggling.
[4] That brown syrupy mess on the floor. On the seats. On the walls. On the walls?!?
[5] Noisy eaters. Why does such a fat person (with the fat dim witted children) need to eat yet more junk? Why the mega tub of sugar-n-fats?
[6] Opening credit commercials. When did that happen?
[7] The dcheBag who insists on sitting right in front of me when the theater is about half empty. What ever happened to common courtesy? Oh, yeah, low class people can't empathize with others.
[8] The young tough who threatens to "beat my F-en head in" for complaining about 1-7. The last time that happened, I escalated the incident by bringing in a uniformed police officer (who was in the lobby), and got right into the young tough's face and said in a voice that everyone in the vicinity could hear, "Officer, this is the guy who threatened to beat my F-en head in. Isn't that right junior?" It was amazing how fast that tough turned into a compliant little sissy-boy.
[9] Prices. Interestingly, the high prices are a really minor reason for not enjoying the "experience" of the modern theater. Give this only a half complaint. If we could totally eliminate 1-8, I'd willingly pay upwards of $20 for a 3-star movie.
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Awesome List
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Re: Re: reasons to watch at home
11. A very large percentage of new films are utter crap.
12. Uncomfortable chairs.
13. Not family friendly.
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1. the existing multiplexes will continue to cater to a poor, non-discriminating audience who doesn't care about (or, frankly prefers/instigates) distractions and/or don't have access to nice home set-ups. As this diverges you'll probably lose the higher-end customers faster and faster
2. the more niche providers: nice, child free theaters catering to the art house crowd; combo bar-theaters, drive ins; etc.
For all the reasons repeated above ad nauseum, i have almost completely given up on seeing mainstream movies in the theaters and stick mostly to the indie/foreign fare at the local (Philadelphia) ritz theaters where there arent any children and are mostly patronized by people who still give a flying f%ck about FILM
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Re: Re: restaurant analogy
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Re: Re: Re: restaurant analogy
If you can't talk, can't eat comfortably and can't fool around because it's (understandably) annoying to others, what "social experience" can there be left, really? Add to that the unavoidable inconveniences that are more or less out of the control of the theatre (like traffic, parking fees, legal anti-piracy requirements and the need to supplement income through advertising and price inflation, since studios demand such a big cut from ticket fees), and theatres are in a pretty difficult position to successfully compete against better and better home entertainment technology, especially if releases end up being simultaneous. Sorry, Mike, but their "whines" are quite understandable, except for the fact they the theatres still seem to fill nonetheless...
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Re: Bring back the drive ins
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Re: A False Benefit
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Re: Re: reasons to watch at home
5. Totally true most of the time, which i agree is BS
6. We (Regal Entertainment) only dim the house lights at the time of the actual movie start (its a magstrip in the film which triggers it)
7. Yep, but thats how we make money
8. We actually stop selling at 20% remaining occupancy, people who sneak in or don't move all the way over cause the problems.
9. True, but we need to keep costs down somehow, or else that $6 popcorn will become a $7.50 popcorn because of the added costs
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Re:
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Re: All About The Popcorn
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IMAX too loud!
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Re: restaurant analogy
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