Theater Owners Still Oblivious To The Fact That They Can Compete With Home Viewing
from the sad dept
We've been arguing for nearly a decade that movie theater owners were overreacting to the threat of people viewing movies at home eating into theater revenue. After all, they've been complaining about this for decades. As we talked about last year, back in 1959, Mary Pickford, who was a Hollywood star (or, rather, at the time, the Hollywood star) who also cofounded studio giant United Artists and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the folks who put on the Oscars), claimed that cable TV would kill theaters. Then, of course, Jack Valenti famously said the VCR would be the "Boston strangler" to the movie business.Yet, now, with home theaters, video on demand, streaming services and (yes) infringement, the theaters are once again insisting that this time theaters are really in trouble.
The BBC has a good article discussing the details of the fears of theater owners, and even mentions both the Pickford and Valenti quotes. It talks up how theater windows are decreasing, and the theater owners are decrying how that's just going to make things worse and worse.
But what's amazing is that not once in the article does anyone mention that theaters compete on more than just the content. This is the core blindness that seems to effect most (but certainly not all) folks in the theater business. They keep whining about how they can't compete with the ability to watch movies at home. But what they're really admitting is that their theaters suck. Yes, the movie itself is a key part of deciding to go out to the theater, but it's the overall theater-going experience that really drives people. Lots of people decide they want to "go out to the movies" before they even decide what movie to see.
Going out to the movies is a social experience, and the problem that theaters are facing isn't that home theaters get the content too early, but that the big theaters have made the theater-going experience suck. The theaters are cramped, uncomfortable, noisy. The food prices are ridiculous. The sound quality or video quality sucks. But that's not the fault of home theaters. That's the fault of theater owners not making the experience good.
There certainly are some who recognize that making the theater experience better is the strategy that will work, but they're in the minority. The big theaters just keep worrying about windows and online streaming and "piracy," and don't seem to make any effort to give people reasons to go to the theater. People want to "go out." People want to have a special experience and enjoy being out with friends. That's what theaters should be capitalizing on. People can stay home and eat, but restaurants still do fine business, because people want that better experience of going out to eat. The same is true of going to the movies, but only if the theaters recognize that they have to make that an experience worth going out to.
And, yet, oddly, none of that makes it into the BBC article. Even worse, the theater owners in the article seem to want to blame everyone else. Check out this discussion, where a top lobbyist for theater owners seems to pretend that theaters are helpless here and at the whims of everyone else:
"Our concern is people won't go for this eight-week window," says Patrick Corcoran, California operations chief of the National Association of Theatre Owners.Or, you know, the theaters you represent could spend some time focusing on improving the experience so that even if they have options at home with the identical content, it's still worth going out to the movies. But, apparently, that line of thought just hasn't occurred to many theater owners yet.
"If [studios] are really intent on making this sort of thing work, they have two options: one is to shorten the window, the other is to put it at a lower price, or both.
"The closer it gets to the theatrical release and the lower price it gets, you start to get into this self-competition market that already affects the home entertainment market.
"The theatre business is a fairly marginal business so a few percentage points loss in admissions will end up closing some theatres.
"And if film companies do focus on [home entertainment more], they won't be able to justify current budgets so you will just end up with a lesser film."
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Filed Under: competition, movies, release windows, theaters, value
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Other Mary Pickford predictions...
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If the window for theater release to home cinema release is shortened, the potential is that people just decide to wait. That means that not only are they working with the question of "do I go to the movies", but now they would be competing against all the other ways that a movie could get delivered, and all inside that initial hype window.
They are correct - if the theaterical window gets too short, they will likely need the movie companies to take a hit on ticket prices to keep them competitive. Just as cheapie tuesdays (in these parts half price for the two tuesday night shows) packs the theaters, dropping ticket prices would certainly bring more people in. However, unless you double the number of people in the seats, cutting half off your ticket price isn't really a good business move.
They are looking at supply and demand, and worrying that supply is going to wipe them out.
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More to it
IMAX.
This is what theatres are doing to counteract the home theatre. Far too many theatres are doing exactly what you are saying- stacking people in the smallest screen possible (200 inch screens...really? And they wonder why people stay home?), and no focus on the experience.
Look at the austin drafthouse, or the arclight in hollywood, for theatres who are concerned about the overall experience. Arclight even charges a premium, but their theatre is full.
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The last several movies I've seen were at pub theaters. I paid $4 a ticket on the opening weekend of the movie with a sub-quality screen and speakers (in comparison to the mega-cineplex places), but I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I would have at the cineplex. I also spent a lot more on concessions ($8 for a beer or two and $5 for a slice of pizza) than I would at the cineplex ($4 for a small bottled water and $5 for a reheated hotdog in a stale bun).
Restaurant and pub theaters are the better business models. I never understood why cinemas insisted on having just popcorn and candy and soda. When they did introduce "real food," it was like they chose the worst quality products with the highest possible markup. I want a beer or Starbucks and good pizza or even a hamburger. I also want the theater to zealously kick out the assholes who talk on their phones or even pull out their cellphones during the movie.
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Pro:
Big ass screen
22.2 surround sound
Social event
Con:
expensive ticket
expensive and disgusting food
loud ass people
cramped and uncomfortable seats
nasty smell
uncaring if not dickish employes
Crappy video
Crappy audio
Looks to me like they have room to improve and compete. Hell, people here have already pointed out ways to add value to the theaters above and beyond what people already complain about. Have a showing that serves beer and is adults only is the first thing that comes to mind. Make it an event, don't just throw a movie up and pray people come.
So, to all the theater owners out there that say they can't compete with something that doesn't exist for a month, screw you. Your lazy asses are the reason I don't go to the theater even if it is a move I'm looking forward to.
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excessively loud audio
meat locker air conditioning
forcibly imposed advertising
forcibly imposed previews
worthless gimmicks like 3D
lack of intermission (yeah, sell me a 32 oz drink and then
let's see if my bladder can make it 2:37)
crappy content ("Transformers"? REALLY??)
surly, illiterate, stupid teenager staff
Over the last 15 years, I've gone from "movies at least once a month" to "movies once a year -- maybe". Theater owners are largely responsible for that: they've made it a crappy experience.
On the other hand, my local brewpub has steadily worked on providing a quality experience: quality food and drink, witty and attentive staff, fun events (like trivia night), great music, respect for loyal patrons -- as in, they greet me *by name* because they took the time to learn it after I kept showing up, participation in the community, and everything else that makes me want to bypass grabbing a beer out of the fridge, and instead drive over there and pay them more for the exact same thing.
Theater owners -- modulo the ones who own the places mentioned in this thread and ones similar -- are greedy, lazy, stupid assholes. Their businesses DESERVE to fail, and they deserve to go bankrupt. The sooner the better.
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There are no drive-ins around here. I don't even notice. I think a drive-in was something my parents did. Going to the movies might be something your kids wonder about one day.
Wait, you guys had to get in the car and drive somewhere to sit in a giant room to see a movie? Why would you do that? What kept other people from yelling out spoilers? How did you pause it to go to the restroom? Wait, you had to miss part of the movie? I thought you paid $15 to get in? And I thought that hollywood only made comic book sequels after 2013?
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Congratulations on regurgitating the BBC article and completely missing everything that Mike had to say.
Perhaps you could read the stuff that Mike wrote, and then you might understand that this isn't a problem.
This is only true if you (like the people quoted) believe that your theater sucks. If you try to understand what you're actually selling, it's not such a big deal.
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They'd probably sell more popcorn and soda if they lowered their prices.
Just as cheapie tuesdays (in these parts half price for the two tuesday night shows) packs the theaters, dropping ticket prices would certainly bring more people in. However, unless you double the number of people in the seats, cutting half off your ticket price isn't really a good business move.
How can you say its not a good business move unless X happens when you just finished saying that X already has happened?
They are looking at supply and demand, and worrying that supply is going to wipe them out.
If their business model entirely depends on huge margins from a good that becomes commoditized, then they deserve to go out of business when people realize they can get it for cheaper (and in some cases, better AND cheaper). Its simple economics.
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Theaters are still blowing it
If it had been just me I would have walked out and demanded a refund, but I was with friends and it was a social outing. But I've stopped going to the movies as often based on the realization that theater owners just aren't doing enough to make sure I get a good experience. Instead, they are counting on their exclusive distribution window to bring me in. Well, that just isn't good enough anymore.
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Theaters are killing themselves. They don't need VoD to blame.
Greeting me right off the bat was a ticket price of $8 for matinee, for which I needed two.
Entering, two large popcorns (because it was stupid to buy anything smaller to save a buck or two, literally) required a payment of another $16.
Total price: $32 for less than two hours of "content" which was preceded by advertising, and I'm not talking about previews (which took a staggering 1/2 hour to run through).
Needless to say, our last experience was so dreadful we will not be heading to any theater in our future. We passed at the chance to go through all this again for Pirates 4.
VoD wins this round because:
Popcorn costs $2 for a box, movies are $3.99, and I have pleasure of watching without any annoyances such as talking teens.
As far as I'm concerned, the theater "experience" has become worse, not better.
If they're truly worried, perhaps they fix this and they can start by telling those who dictate ticket prices to knock it off.
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So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
"The food prices are ridiculous." --THAT from you, after all the talk about making money off other the "zero" cost item! As I said previously, your advice is logically: FREE admission and make money entirely off concessions!
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Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
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Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
Like any other business that doesn't allow a customer to shout, throw food, and disrupt the experience for everyone else? How about booting out and blacklisting the assholes who talk on their phone the whole movie? I'd certainly go back to a theater after seeing some self-important jackass get chucked out the front doors. (The last movie I watched in a theater, someone's alarm on their phone went off . . . for twenty minutes.)
You really have to stretch to come up with complaints, don't you?
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Re: Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
You don't even stretch, just pick the easy item and dodge the tough one of the two I mention.
Mike mentions problems without offering solutions: that's EASY too.
If keeping order is so easy and obvious why isn't it done? In practice you'd find it's a good way to lose big money from lawsuits, particularly if literally chucked someone out the door. In practice, if were usher-Nazis running around, you wouldn't like that either, and it's an expense on what are claimed already thin margins.
Take the next philosophically, because I'm with you up to a point: sounds like to you, some level of violence is the solution to all problems, and especially that your notions must be the rule. But, it's likely that the those you mention /enjoy/ their version of the movie experience, probably /more/ if know that they annoy you, and that gets into complex conflicts indeed. You and I may wish to sit quietly and enjoy the movie, but you're essentially saying that some people enjoy too much freedom. See how slippery it gets?
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Re: Re: Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
> In practice you'd find it's a good way to lose big money from lawsuits,
Look, this is kindergarten stuff.
Ask the jerk(s) to leave. If they don't then call the police and press charges for trespassing. Wanna bet the entire theater would break out in applause?
If the jerk is a big enough jerk and sues, then you countersue. You've got witnesses, employees, the police, and possibly people who were in attendance who might step forward as soon as the suit becomes local news. You make sure that a message is sent to future jerks that they are not welcome in your theater.
That is how you make your theater a more inviting place for people who are there to watch a movie.
> some level of violence is the solution to all problems
To some problems perhaps. Some jerks will leave when asked. If violence is required, leave that to the police.
The fact that you can't understand this reinforces that theater owners want to keep jerks coming back to ruin the experience. Thanks for the info! I think I'll stay home.
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Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
I have been going to IMAX, because even though its $17, it tends to weed out the idiots who won't pay the price, those are usually the ones more interested in some random text message than the film.
There is much theatres can do to improve the experience, and surely some creative options, removing the rude idiots would be a great start, though.
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Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
"after all the talk about making money off other the "zero" cost item!"
Well, I suppose it does help if you know what the product you're trying to sell actually is.
Mike's mentioned this, but let's try and go through slowly for those who haven't caught up. I presume from this comment that you're assuming this is the same situation as, say, DVD vs. illegal downloads - i.e. you can get the exact same for free. But, the theatres aren't trying to sell that product. What they are trying to sell is a "performance" or an "experience". Yes, this includes the movie but it also involves a large number of other factors - the quality of sound & video projection, screen size, seating comfort, the social experience, and so on. None of these is zero cost, and they cannot be replicated by most people without a significant financial outlay. The quality of this experience is at least as important to most as the title of the most they watch, perhaps more so.
Mike's criticism of the concessions is that they are truly overpriced and may have a negative effect on sales (e.g. most people know that the coke and popcorn they're selling for over $10 cost only a few cents so they don't bother buying it at all). That is, they seem to be shifting all of their hopes on clawing back revenue on concessions when they should really be looking at making the whole experience more inviting. If windowing truly affects attendence, it's because people don't want to go to the cinema unless they really have to.
In other words, the theatre owners are offering an unattractive service and it's this that's losing them business, not "piracy" or artificial restrictions being lifted. As with the music & other industries, they can compete fine with "free" and cheaper home experiences. They just have to make their product worth paying for rather than depending on aritfical restrictions, overbearing laws and the like.
"As I said previously, your advice is logically: FREE admission and make money entirely off concessions!"
Only if you think that's there's only two parties involved (the theatre and the customer) and only 2 products (the seat and concessions). Neither of these is true. The studios place a lot of controls over what the theatres can charge and the level of revenue thet they can take from a screening, while there's a huge number of products they can sell if they chose to. You just have to have some imagination, something that most cinema owners (and studio owners, and label heads, etc.) seem to lack.
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Re: So let's have the Masnick solutions to a couple problems.
Well, except for Friday the 13th horror nights - they let us gals screech our faces off 'til we lost our voices. And the boys could laugh themselves silly at our foolishness. It was an innocent blast. No sex. No drugs, No guns. Just plain, silly kid-style fun.
If I'm behind the times, I think I'd like to stay there. We used to practice respect; it was a good thing.
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infringement
Oh my god.... We have to stop this! the fact that you freetards think you can just make food at home is whats wrong with this country. How are these hardworking restaurant owners supposed to make any money, when every meal you make at home = one lost sale for every restaurant in a 50 mile radius!
These 'grocery stores'(more like infringment stores amirite?) are just as bad as google is to music about aiding and abetting these clear and present dangers to restaurants.
I think we need to get legislation where restaurat owners can tell the government who they catch making food in their homes and have their electricity/gas stoves cut off(whoever thought those would be a good idea, they are clearly made to defeat restaurant DRM)don't even get me started on grills...
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Re: infringement
What about fair use? Could you make a hamburger at home if you only ate a couple bites?
We need to unite and file lawsuits against Recipes.com for inciting infringement.
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Re: infringement
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infringement
Oh my god.... We have to stop this! the fact that you freetards think you can just make food at home is whats wrong with this country. How are these hardworking restaurant owners supposed to make any money, when every meal you make at home = one lost sale for every restaurant in a 50 mile radius!
These 'grocery stores'(more like infringment stores amirite?) are just as bad as google is to music about aiding and abetting these clear and present dangers to restaurants.
I think we need to get legislation where restaurat owners can tell the government who they catch making food in their homes and have their electricity/gas stoves cut off(whoever thought those would be a good idea, they are clearly made to defeat restaurant DRM)don't even get me started on grills...
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Re: infringement
And god help those people if that particular plant strain is copyrighted. You're looking at some serious jail time when ICE suddenly seizes their gardens.
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And on this topic, I've said it once and I've said it twice, the copyright industry simply does not know how to compete. When your "job" is collecting government granted monopoly rents, making your customers happy is not a major concern. You don't have customers, you have people legally obligated to pay you.
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"If [studios] are really intent on making this sort of thing work, they have two options: one is to shorten the window, the other is to put it at a lower price, or both."
That's three options, mate.
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NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.
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Spanish Inquisition indeed! ;)
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If a lesser film means more $5 million gems like "Moon" and fewer $500 million monsters like "Transformers 3" then please please please Hollywood give me a lesser film.
Budget has absolutely nothing to do with quality.
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[psst...what game are we playing? I hope it's Non-Sequitur Whisper Down the Lane as We Spin the Bottle for Quarters!]
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My theaters don't suck. They are usually quiet. The advertising got grating, so I started to show up 5 minutes after the films started.
But ultimately what happened is the quality of the films I was seeing went down, and the prices kept rising, (do I pay ~40 for a family of 4 or just "rent" it for $0-$1 for all of us in a month? gee, I wonder.) and home viewing just is so much more convenient and cheap. There's probably nothing a theater could do to entice me back.
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A Vorlon Demon
Bad screens. Obnoxious patrons. Absurd concessions. Annoying ads. The entire thing seems to be a mess.
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More than the movie
They showed the movies in their largest and newest theater (the seats are actually really comfortable). I went even though I own the complete extended cut of the movies and have watched them. Many of my friends also went with me even though many of them also own the movies. We went because this was a rare chance to see the full extended cut on a huge screen with a great sound system with a dozen friends.
It looked like they did pretty good for the turnout as well, the theater was also close to full.
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I was dis-satisfied years ago with the theater experience. One I promised myself I would never put myself through again. This was long before commercials, ads, night vision goggles, and cell phones, made it worse.
Hollydud can jack the prices all they want. The theater owners can run it as trashy as they will. I will not be back. I've simply had it with paying for poor quality experiences at premium prices.
There are other forms of entertainment that doesn't require putting up with bad experiences. I have a choice and am exercising that option continually. It has nothing to do with home theater.
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Content does not have any intrinsic value. If the complete works of William Shakespeare had stayed in his mind or been written down but never performed, their value would be exactly nothing. Performances of his plays by actors just sitting around a table reciting lines would be worth slightly more. Take the same works and make them into productions by a company of skilled, classically trained actors and the value skyrockets.
The point is, people don't value content. They value consuming content. A movie, no matter how good, is worth nothing to you if you don't watch it. Likewise, the more satisfying the experience of consuming it is, the more it is worth.
For most movies, nothing a theater could add would enhance my enjoyment enough to justify paying their prices. For a small minority it will. Which category a movie falls into has nothing to do with whether I have other options for consuming it. It has everything to do with whether my enjoyment of the movie will be increased significantly by seeing it in a theater.
The enjoyment factor will also vary from one theater to another. For many years, there was a local theater where you could buy drinks and food and even smoke while you were watching a movie. They were essentially a discount theater, which in their later years meant they were showing movies you could already buy or rent on DVD.
A couple years ago Billy Joes closed their doors, but it had nothing to do with competition from home video. In fact it was entirely due to a state smoking ban. The value of the Billy Joes experience dropped to the point where they could no longer attract enough business.
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How else would you explain people who would pay for an internet connection, a computer, and spend hours scouring around looking for torrents of the latest movie, taking sometimes a day or more to download, just so they can see the latest movie? They value the content highly. They have just been taught not to pay for it.
Your example of Billy Joes is pretty much right on. The value was gone when they no longer had a unique product on offer. When they are showing movies that are already on DVD and PPV, who wants to show up? You can smoke and eat at home.
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so no they do NOT value it highly, it's in fact so low valued that a lot o peple refuse to pay even redbox or netflix prices for it.
go fuck shill
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Hours? Takes me approximately one minute to find anything I'm looking for.
Heck, part of the reason piracy is so popular is because of how darned fast and convenient it is compared to most traditional channels. That's also why Steam is so popular for games; With two clicks you can buy a game and have instant access to it from any computer, anywhere you go, and it sets everything up for your platform and updates automatically.
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Only grudge I have with Steam is that they still charge as if the game just shipped half across the world in a cardboard box and took up valuable shelf space in a high-rent game store in central Stockholm until I bought it. I mean whut? Whut whut whaaat?
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I absolutely love steam btw... I've won't even buy a game unless it's on steam.. sure it takes away your ability to access the secondary market, but they are giving you the ability to (like you said) access it from any computer, anywhere. I'm willing to make that trade.
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This is so unbelievably wrong. The only reason movie and music "piracy" is so common is because it's so easy. This is particularly true if you're not even downloading but just swapping files via a flash drive or portable hard drive.
Movie fans use reviews and trailers to determine the "value" of a movie to them, and decide how to see that movie based on that perceived value. Some movies I will make an effort to see at a theatre because I want the big screen, big sound social experience. Some I will not bother with until I can see it for free (could be a download, could be on TV).
"How else would you explain people who would pay for an internet connection, a computer..."
People don't buy a computer and pay for an internet connection just so they can download movies and music, they have these things for a multitude of other reasons. So this reasoning is nonsense.
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Bogus Argument
> spend hours scouring around looking for torrents of the
> latest movie, taking sometimes a day or more to download,
The Internet connection is already paid for. It was bought for other reasons.
The computer is already paid for. It was bought for other reasons.
One simply doesn't need to "spend hours" or "scour" the Internet. They invented this thing back in the 90s called a search engine. Perhaps you've heard of them.
A day to download? It takes a few days to get something shipped from Amazon or Netflix. You don't have to babysit either process. It's not "work".
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Some theatres are doing quite well
People would normally go out to eat, go see a movie and then go for dessert. At the Warren, you can do all that in one place, in balcony seating.
http://www.warrentheatres.com/moorediner.asp
It is a great idea and the people here love it.
While other theatres in the area are struggling, this one is booming with business every weekend.
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Re: Some theatres are doing quite well
The balcony experience at the east-side theater, on the other hand, was much more controlled.
Oh, and both of them, for obvious reasons, had really wide spacing between rows. That was a real benefit all by itself!
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Re: Some theatres are doing quite well
After visiting The Warren and making use of their balcony seating, it has made moving going a much more enjoyable experience. With assigned seating, food service at your chair, reasonable prices on food and great quality of the picture and sound, I finally have a reason to go see movies in the theater again.
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Re: Some theatres are doing quite well
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Bars
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Competition
How are they competing? Creating a social situation.
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WE can add tons
The prices go up, and its not just the theaters fault.
The movie industry has raised prices many times.
Seating Sucks..Iv been to a few OLD time theaters, and you had ARM AND LEG ROOM, and a padded seat(REALLY PADDED), and some had rocking seats you could lean back in.
With the average citizen weighing 20-30lbs over..a GOOD seat is hard to find.
NOW, lets look at something else. THE MOVIE.. MOST recent ones SUCK.. Many are re-makes.. And in the WHOLE industry or releases, per year there have been, 300-700 releases of DVD/theater/online/VOD/... And if you can go to the theater more then 1 time per month...you are Rich.
I would rather buy a Collection of DVD at $50 then to go sit in a theater..
WHO here has seen OLD release DVD at a store? the $5-10 bin??
Can you Pass that up? NOT ME.
Even the DVD companies are starting to have problems. sales are down for Current releases.
WHO wants to pay $20-30 for a NEW movie? and you dont even know, if you will like it.
Its better to pick up an older release at $5-10, and take your chances.
If you have $20-50 you REALLY dont care about..I have some empty pocket you could stuff it into..
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Theater Experience....
Arrived 5 minutes before the movie was scheduled to start.
Theater smells like old popcorn and butter...floor is sticky.
Sat through 10 minutes of slide show ad's with the most irritating music playing the whole time. Seriously...strangling cat bad.
Sat through another 10 minutes of previews which I don't mind...but each preview was followed by an ad that of course had the volume noticeably louder than preview.
Finally got to the movie. We were lucky this time...the theater was mostly empty so no ringing phones or idiot texters...
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Here's what I WANT to pay for:
Instead of the typical sardine approach to movie seating, the theatres could arrange the seating more like a restaurant. You are seated around a table, so that you can still see your friends as your watch. Either, the table would be more like a semi circle, so that you can still see the screen, or else there could be multiple screens so that you can watch the one that is most convenient (like when you watch the game at a bar). Rather than crappy food, you could actually order some decent restaurant food before the movie started. There could also be an intermission for pee breaks and ordering more food or drinks, like back in old country.
Alternatively, it could be set up more like a bar and lounge, where instead of full course meals, it's appetizers and drinks. Tables are spread out enough that you can have light discussion and not disrupt others, and waiters bringing food/drinks would not get in the way. There could also be an on-site non-movie lounge to hang around afterwards (rather than simply see a movie and split to somewhere else.)
I think that would be a lot more enjoyable, and I think a lot of people would pay a lot more for that (considering it could be like dinner and a movie all in one.)
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You hoping for something like this?
Honestly I've never been but they always look busy when I drive by.
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Re: You hoping for something like this?
Honestly I've never been but they always look busy when I drive by.
Hollywood Blvd is very cool! The seating is leather office chairs around tables, the food is actually good and reasonably priced, and the adult beverages are strong. They also do all sorts of promos and have guests in.
Funny thing was this theater (the Woodridge location) was THE ONLY MOVIE THEATER around when I was growing up. It was small, dark, stinky and sticky, and closed when all the megaplexes started being built. Whoever transformed that crappy theater into what it is today is a genius.
Now you've got Movieco (https://www.muvico.com/) kinda doing the same thing-- they're a little more traditional seating, but the chairs are huge and comfy.
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A quick overview of the theater business
The movie theaters cater to Hollywood explicitly, not understanding that the puck is about to move away from them. In the days of Hollywood owning all methods of distribution, it made sense that most made their money with food items. But did people also know that the licensing for every detail of the movie experience is also expensive and in need of an overhaul as well? Think about what it costs for Sony to protect against pirating a lens or putting out a movie on a cell phone while being paid.
But there are few indie movie releases in smaller areas. There are fewer people that are repeat customers of a movie theater, instead catering to the three day release window, hurting the people in the system.
So here's a few proposals that could reinvigorate the movie theater business (IMHO):
1) Better food - Everyone that doesn't like popcorn or sweets should be able to get a choice of ham or steak dinner. Put that in the $20 price and give people refills of soda, some veggies (health nuts love that option) and make it better for people to enjoy the movie
2) Babysitting/ smaller movie theater for children - Yes, people have kids. Sometimes you want to see one thing, they want another. Fine, let there be a smaller kids section where they can either play around with a chaperone or get a "kids experience" theater with their friends. It's not hard to allow the kids to learn how to self serve popcorn with adult supervision and keep them quiet during Toy Story 4 (coming soon on Valve Time).
3) Diversification - You go to the movies for one thing, then you leave. Wouldn't the biggest idea to hit people is to have a DVD of their movie right then and there? Wouldn't it make sense to have a game to play at the same time? Wouldn't you want to go there to be entertained by the service? There are plenty of options here, and I'm sure anyone can have these ideas and expand on them. The problem is that the entire movie industry is looking at one issue, neglecting everything else and making all evidence fit into a very specific narrative.
But hey, if they don't want money, the scapegoat of piracy has been around since the 80s and Jack Valenti.
Keep kicking that dead horse while the world moves forward.
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It isn't something I would replace my streaming netflix habits, but that isn't the same as a favorite movie playing in the background during whatever I'm working on. I don't have nice theaters like that in my area, but I am certain I would go to a better experience than my normal decision to to pass on the half-assed screening (lopsided, unfocused, image smaller than the screen size) at the local 3 screen theater for 5 bucks. They even show 3D, but it still isn't set up right *rolls eyes*
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Provide a movie experience that DOESN'T SUCK ASS.
I know, Imagine that huh? Many of us are sick to death of astronomical prices for crappy theaters, sticky floors, uncomfortable seats, and asswipes talking/texting through the entire movie.
Theaters used to be great. Now? Um no.
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why make an effort?
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Re: why make an effort?
Gatekeepers believe that the key to profit is a math equation going like this: art exists + you have eyes/ears = Give me money.
FTFY ;)
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1) Have 'adult' only showings for ALL films, regardless if it's G or 18A. Sometimes I enjoy G or PG films like Shrek but I do not want to see them with a bunch of noisy 8 yr olds.
2) Lower the prices on the drinks and popcorn. They charge $5 for 25 cents worth of Pepsi and $6 for 10 cents worth of popcorn. Ridiculous. I do not buy anything there because of this.
3) More food selection. My theaters seem to only serve popcorn, soda/pop, and chocolate bars. What about potato chips? what about ice cream? what about some healthy options like rice chips? Also, I can make way better popcorn at home as I can 'layer' the flavor and the popcorn so that I can get flavor all throughout the bowl - The flavor on the popcorn is only on the top, it's like eating pure salt/other flavoring on top.
4) Please get special licenses/permission to use cell phone blocking technology within the theaters. The lights are distracting. Maybe people who use their cell phones while the movie is running should be escorted out without refund: You are there to watch a movie, not carry on a conversation on the phone.
5) I would really love intermission about half way through so we can go to the bathroom or refill our drinks if needed. I can do that at home any time.
6) Assigned Seating!. Sports events have been doing this for *ages*. This would also solve the problem of people coming in late and looking for available seating for 5 people and making people move just to accommodate them.
7) Get rid of the 3D. This isn't innovation, this is a gimmick just to charge more and I avoid 3D movies.
8) Stadium Seating: Good innovation, but doesn't happen nearly often enough. I will refuse to go to a theater which doesn't have this. Nothing says 'I just wasted money' then a 7 foot monster in front of me and I can't see a damned thing.
9) Give us an option to buy some 'exclusive' merchandise if we see a movie within the first week or two, like an advanced version of the DVD/Blu-Ray without the crap advertising before the movie.
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Re:
For cryin' out loud, I'm 5'2", a middle aged adult, and I shouldn't need a booster chair because an average sized man took a seat in front of me.
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They offer extra wide ultra leather seating with extra wide rows - 1 to 3 extra feet. They have 50% steeper stadium seating, digital super high definition projection in every theater with the finest Dolby / Klipsch sound system on a giant curved screen up to 50 feet wide. They have special living room theaters with private box seating & footrests.
Their concessions serve gourmet popcorn and they have a five star restaurant and world class wine bar that you can take with you into the theater, or order from within their living room theater and your meal will be delivered to you at your seat.
Needless to say, Cinetopia is not worried about competition from either home viewers or the local chain cinemas. They are doing well enough that they are opening new locations as fast as they can build them.
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Agree but your argument is flawed
A movie theater is showing the exact same movie we can (eventually) see on our home theaters. The core product is exactly the same. Yes, going out to the movies is a social experience, and in a best case scenario a great movie seen on a big screen with a great sound system will surpass most home theaters. But the core product, the movie, is exactly the same.
A restaurant experience can and often includes food we could not duplicate at home. Better or harder to find ingredients. Skill, originality and artistry that non-professionals cannot match. Not to mention the convenience of not having to cook and clean and the ambiance.
Your comparison doesn't work.
But at the end of day, there is no doubt home theaters, DVDs, streaming movies and, yes, VCRs, do and can impact box office. But you can't stop progress.
Does it spell the end of the theater business? No. Can theaters do a better job of making the theater experience better. Yes, of course, and some are doing that not only by tackling the low hanging fruit (cleaner, better service, reserve seating) but also through different models like serving meals and alcohol, and/or showing live concerts.
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Food vs. Movie
There is nothing special about most restaurants or what food they serve.
In fact, they are even MORE replaceable than a movie theatre. Most cheap restaurants get their stuff out of a box like a dressed up TV dinner. Of those restaurants that actually cook their own food for real, most of those serve things that are easy to replicate at home with better quality ingredients for one forth the price.
A well designed projection space is much harder and more expensive to faithfully replicate in a private home.
Although anyone can play a movie on their phone if they don't otherwise care much about "experience".
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It's better in Texas
New cinemas
Comfortable stadium seats
Large digital screens
Awesome sound
Online ticket purchase
Wine and beer in some cinemas
Bad:
$10 for 1 popcorn and 1 water (cost about $0.50)
Fat women and teenage girls who can't shut their mouths
Ads. NO sympathy for cinemas that are charging me $60 for 3 tickets and 3 snacks and then make me watch cheesy local ads. That really, really bites.
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The theaters suffer from a few problems, though.
First, not all movies are "theater worthy" for me. A movie like American Pie is awesome, but not the sort of movie I'd desire to pay a premium for. Theater movies for me are big action affairs like The Matrix or Star Wars.
Secondly, I understand movie theaters, like gas stations these days, don't really make much from there main commodity but from the sale of consumables. Still, I'm not going to pay $5 for some watered down syrup (especially when they almost always get the mixture wrong in the first place) that passes for pop, and $8 for a popcorn that tends to taste like rubber.
And lastly, to be most profitable, a theater needs to fill as many seats as possible for a showing. Here is where they REALLY lose me. I hate crowds. I tend to wait 3-5 weeks before I go see a movie so I can have a theater with maybe a dozen people and nobody within 20 feet of me (unless I go with other people). Not to mention the noise factor. Just breathing and occasional body movement alone from 100-200 people is going to generate a fair amount of background noise.
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movie theater economics
http://themovieblog.com/2007/10/economics-of-the-movie-theater-where-the-money-goes-and-why-it -costs-us-so-much.
And a study by Stanford Business is discussed at http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/hartmann.popcorn.html
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Mary Pickford was THE Hollywood star in 1959?
Yes, Pickford was THE Hollywood star in the 1910s and early 1920s, but as talkies displaced silent pictures, her star faded.
"Sad Dept." indeed . . .
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Biggest problem with article and comments
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Re: Biggest problem with article and comments
Let me say it this way.
I am the END USER, and it was 50+ years ago that companies and corps, WANTED the end product to be fully enjoyable.
That has changed. In this industry, we are SARDINES.
Our thoughts and ideas dont mater to you, Our comfort is not paramount and you throw popcorn to us, to feed us.
Going to the theater used to be fun, and an event..I could get shoved into an Airplane for 8 hours and get more.
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