Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Happy 30th, Star Wars!

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Community » Film-Yak » Happy 30th, Star Wars! (Page 6)

This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Author

Topic: Happy 30th, Star Wars!

Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 12-31-2007 09:37 PM

I guess today being the final day of 2007 means this is my last chance to pay tribute to the original "Star Wars" for its 30th anniversary. I had intended to post a list of every engagement during the movie's 1977-78 original run, but I've decided against posting that for a number of reasons. Instead, I'm re-posting the list of the venues that showed "Star Wars" during its first week. But, unlike the list I posted way back in May when this thread started, I've added as best as I can determine the duration of each booking and the presentation format upgrades that occured during the run.

I think it's interesting to observe what market played the film in what format, and, of course, reading the duration data is fascinating (and remarkable) in light of how the industry has evolved. Enjoy the flashback!

25 May 1977 … Beaverton, OR: Westgate (76 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Oct.)
25 May 1977 … Boston, MA: Charles 1-2-3 (45 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Sep.)
25 May 1977 … Claymont, DE: Twin Tri-State Mall (29 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Denver, CO: Cooper (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Aug.)
25 May 1977 … Edison, NJ: Menlo Park Twin (30 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Fairless Hills, PA: Twin Fairless Hills (30 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Hicksville, NY: Twin South (29 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Indianapolis, IN: Eastwood (55 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Lawrenceville, NJ: Twin Lawrenceville (30 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Los Angeles (Hollywood), CA: Chinese (4 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Los Angeles (Westwood), CA: Avco Center (25 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Louisville, KY: Showcase Cinemas (60 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Milan, IL: Showcase Cinemas (30 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Monroeville, PA: Showcase Cinemas (42 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … New York (Manhattan), NY: Astor Plaza (61 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … New York (Manhattan), NY: Orpheum (27 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Orange, CA: City Center (30 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Paramus, NJ: Route 4 Triplex (30 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Pennsauken, NJ: Twin Pennsauken (30 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Philadelphia, PA: Eric’s Place (23 weeks)
25 May 1977 … Phoenix, AZ: Cine Capri (60 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Sep.
25 May 1977 … Roseville, MN: Roseville 4 (55 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Sacramento, CA: Century Complex (60 weeks) Dolby Stereo from Nov.
25 May 1977 … Saint Louis Park, MN: Park (57 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Dec.
25 May 1977 … Salt Lake City, UT: Centre (54 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Aug.
25 May 1977 … San Diego, CA: Valley Circle (57 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Feb. ’78
25 May 1977 … San Francisco, CA: Coronet (29 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … San Jose, CA: Century 22 (60 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Nov.
25 May 1977 … Seattle, WA: Cinema 150 (60 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Aug.)
25 May 1977 … Southfield, MI: Americana (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Nov.)
25 May 1977 … Springdale, OH: Showcase Cinemas (59 weeks) Dolby Stereo
25 May 1977 … Washington, DC: Uptown (55 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Dec.)

26 May 1977 … Overland Park, KS: Glenwood I & II (56 weeks) Dolby Stereo

27 May 1977 … Calumet City, IL: River Oaks 1-2-3 (29 weeks)
27 May 1977 … Chicago, IL: Esquire (18 weeks) Dolby Stereo
27 May 1977 … Creve Coeur, MO: Creve Coeur Cine (10 weeks) Dolby Stereo
27 May 1977 … Dallas, TX: Northpark Cinema I & II (54 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Dec.
27 May 1977 … Dayton, OH: Dayton Mall Cinemas (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo
27 May 1977 … Des Moines, IA: River Hills (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo
27 May 1977 … Houston, TX: Galleria Cinema I & II (60 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo from Dec.
27 May 1977 … Lombard, IL: Yorktown Cinema I-II-III-IV (30 weeks)
27 May 1977 … Northbrook, IL: Edens 1 & 2 (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo
27 May 1977 … Omaha, NE: Cinema Center (21 weeks) Dolby Stereo

| IP: Logged

Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 531
From: Hershey, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 12-31-2007 11:00 PM

In any discussion of what film played where in any competitive markets in the 1950's through the late 1980's, it is important to remember that choice of theatre venue was most often dictated not by what was the best theatre to exhibit a given picture but rather by the product split and block booking practices of a given territory. It is one of the dirty secrets of exhibition that is rarely acknowledged even today.

It was not like the current market where every major theatre can play virtually every major picture. Back then even if a theatre owner wanted to play a given picture (such as Star Wars) the choice of which venue got the picture was usually dictated by the agreed upon split.

The theatre owners were ones who were often the promoters of such product splits. It was cheaper for them to get together and agree to split up the product then to have to bid against one another. From the distributors point of view such splits guaranteed that all of a distributor's output - both good and bad - got equal playdates in exchange for their agreement to the product split.

Such product splits took several forms: (i) in certain areas it was done on a distributor basis (e.g. all Fox pictures went to Theatre A & all MGM and Columbia pictures went to Theatre B & all Warner and Paramount to Theatre C and so on; [Sometimes in place of a single theatre this was done on a chain basis where a local chain controlled multiple screens in a given area; however the effect was the same in that the local chain controlled all the pictures from their captive distributor(s)](ii) in more sophisticated splits it was sometimes done on picture basis (e.g. Theatre A would play the first Fox release of a given year, Theatre B would play the second Fox release of the year, Theatre C would play the third one; then Theatre A would play the fourth one as the cycle would repeat).

The losers in such arrangements were the moviegoing public - who sometimes found movies such as Star Wars stuck at the least desirable theatres in their area simply because of the given product split arrangement.

| IP: Logged

System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

posted 01-27-2009 10:41 AM

It has been 392 days since the last post.

| IP: Logged

Julie Lucero
Film Handler

Posts: 37
From: Valencia, California, USA
Registered: Sep 2008

posted 01-27-2009 10:41 AM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Some of the Tatooine scenes were shot in the sand dunes just west of Yuma.

quote: Michael Coate
The majority of the Tatooine exteriors for "Star Wars" were shot in Tunisia.

I had a friend in college who had a relative who worked for Industrial Light and Magic, and he says that for the STAR WARS SPECIAL EDITION (1997) they re-shot that desert scene in the sand dunes near Yuma.

Michael is correct the scene had originally been filmed in Tunisia. What Bobby is recalling is probably the work done on the SPECIAL EDITION version.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.