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Topic: UK cinemas threaten Alice in Wonderland boycott

Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99

posted 02-28-2010 04:54 PM

quote: Sam Cat
With 3d tv's coming out shortly cinemas may not be able to hang onto their audience in the future as well.

I wouldn't worry about home 3D. That dinosaur jumping out of the screen is pretty impressive on a 40 foot screen, but on a 40 inch one, well, it's not so impressive...

I don't think the studios want to kill exhibition. It is, frankly, not in their financial interest to do so. Theatrical exhibition followed by dvd sales basically allows them to double dip - they get to sell you a ticket, and then a couple months later, they sell you a disc. If everything was day and date, they would miss out on a lot of the double sales opportunity.

Honestly, Disney's logic is sound, as Mr. Spock would say. If we want major product in the off season, we are going to have to accept that Studio will want to realase the dvd at a time that will maximize it's sales as well.

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Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 03-01-2010 08:12 PM

quote:
quote: Mike BlakesleyI want to know what Disney had to "give" in order to get that deal. Or was it more along the lines of, "You will play Alice with the 12 week window, or else we will do the same thing with Toy Story 3."

Forget that, it was probably more like "You will play Alice with the 12 week window or else you won't play Toy Story 3 period".

I think the only thing that makes sense is a percentage deal.

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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-05-2010 12:16 PM

quote: Darryl Spicer
I can sum it up in one word:

Economy

I'm not sure I buy that. I might buy that for expensive new releases, but for catalog titles, there are an amazing number of great DVD titles selling for as little as $5. I rarely pay more than $7 for a DVD title. In a bad economy, I think it's more likely for someone to take this route than take the family to a theater.

As far as the studios go, IMO they are committing suicide by shortening the theatrical window. Titles that don't have strong theatrical distribution will tank on video. It's still the theatrical presentation and the marketing behind it that makes a film "important". Sure, they'll increase their cash flow a bit by moving up the video release and this way the theatrical marketing campaign will also apply to the home video release, but it's still a really big mistake for the long run, IMO, especially when they decide to do this even before they know how well the film is going to do.

They'll destroy the theatre business and then they'll wonder why their home video sales suck and why consumers have moved away from narrative film forms to YouTube videos in much the same way as the TV audience gave up on most dramas and traditional comedies in favor of reality shows.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 03-05-2010 01:07 PM

For an economy that is in a recession the attendance sure jumped last year at least in our area. I do think the economy is a factor in lower DVD sales because it has forced places like Walmart to lower their prices on DVD's and Blurays. Now I know that Walmart has offered DVD's for less than $10 for a few years, but a lot of those titles were either full screen titles or titles I wouldn't buy at any price. I saw some bluray titles that walmart sells for $10 or less that are selling for $20 or more at Best Buy. So yes I think the economy right now has a bigger effect on sales than renting does.

It is also becoming more of a rare thing to see a title play longer than 12 weeks at one location. I would have to say that the average would probably be around 4 to 8 weeks for a 16 screen location. The oldest title we are playing right now is Avitar going on it's 11th or 12th week. Next in line after that is Crazy Heart going on it's 5th week. I am not a supporter of reducing windows and definitely not a supporter of Day and Date releasing.

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Jonathan Althaus
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: Bedford, TX
Registered: Dec 2008

posted 03-05-2010 01:19 PM

We are still running Blindside, and just got rid of Chipmunks and Precious. We've had 5 films since the beginning of last summer last 15 weeks or longer.

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-05-2010 01:27 PM

The reduction in DVD sales is mostly due to Netflix and Redbox. Why buy a DVD that you are only going to watch once anyway if you can rent it for $1. If you want older titles you can watch several a month for under $10 from Netflix. That's why I think the studios should try and encourage more viewing during theatrical release. The studio revenue per viewing is going to be a lot higher in the theater. It takes a lot more home viewings to get that same revenue and with the trend towards the cheapy rentals I don't know if the market is big enough. i.e. 100 million redbox rentals of a title will only net the studio $50 million where 25 million theatrical tickets will net the studio around $100 million.

If I were a studio head my windows would be something like:

-16 week Theatrical Window where each admission would give me around $4.00 in revenue on average.
-4 week VOD/PPV only priced in the $15 or so per view with a 50% revenue share where I'd probably net around $2.50 or so per set of eyes per view.
-4 week DVD/Blu-ray on sale for full price (not the $10 wal mart special)
-After that 24 weeks is up then it would be available for Netflix/Redbox and discounted sales

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 03-05-2010 01:36 PM

quote: Jonathan Althaus
We are still running Blindside, and just got rid of Chipmunks and Precious. We've had 5 films since the beginning of last summer last 15 weeks or longer.

That will happen if you have to split titles with a competitor.

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Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-12-2010 12:21 PM

Piracy isn't all about saving a buck or two or getting a movie at home before the studio wants you to. The pirate DVD experience is often better than the official DVD. I am sick of being treated like a criminal when I buy a genuine DVD: hey, FBI and Interpol... I JUST BOUGHT THIS REAL GENUINE LICENSED DVD, NOT A "COUNTERFEIT"! . Then being forced to endure a series of previews and crap. This poster sums it up perfectly:

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