Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cinema Tickets in the UK for just 20p !!!

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Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 04-08-2002, 10:20 AM:

Found this on another website.

Monday 8th April 2002 9:32am

Cinema tickets for 20p - Stelios

Popcorn extra...

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man who claims to run the 'Web's favourite airline', is planning to bring his buy early, buy cheap pricing model to the world of cinema.

According to reports, Stelios is hoping to open Easycinema before the end of the year, promising to sell tickets bought a month in advance for just 20p.

"Our cinema will make money in the same way that Easyjet does by selling seats for £45," Stelios told the Sunday Times. "It is all about volume and utilising the asset. The cinema industry average - seat occupancy of 20 per cent - is criminal."

The London-based cinema will be painted in the corporate colour – bright orange.
......................................................

I wonder what sort of return the renters will be looking for ?

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 04-08-2002, 11:52 AM:

LOL! Guess he never heard of minimum per/caps or scalpers.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 04-08-2002, 01:16 PM:

When we signed our contracts with the distributors, they wanted to know how much we were charging and when were we charging the prices. I would assume that the studios will not give you film if you charge less than they feel is adequate. The Distributors have made a conscious decision to reduce the volume of discount theatres out there by releasing films earlier to video and pay-per-view.

So I think he can open the theatres, but can he get the film? I wouldn’t give him any film because I would rather have 70% of 8 pounds than 90% of 20 pence.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-09-2002, 02:40 AM:

Stelios H-I was interviewed on Radio 4's Front Row programme yesterday evening and was pretty evasive when he was quizzed on this point (distributors' returns). If you go here and click on 'listen to the programme' you can hear it as streamed Realaudio.

The interviewer asked if he had negotiated with distributors, to which he replied that he had tried to but no-one in Wardour St. wanted to meet him! Someone from the BFI's exhibition unit was then on, suggesting that the analogy between cinemas and budget airlines was a bit dodgy: people tend to fly so infrequently that they don't mind disrupting their lives to make savings by travelling off-peak, but are customers really going to book a month in advance to see a film at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon? Stelios' reply was that this formula had worked for airlines, car hire and internet cafés and so there's no reason why it shouldn't work for cinemas!

BTW, would you like to sit through a film in bright orange seats? They'd reflect the projector beam something terrible!

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 04-09-2002, 04:01 AM:

Someone from 'dahn saff' keep me right here.

Did the Robins Prince Charles Leicester Square not do last weeks release for a pound a seat at one time? I wonder how that worked financially.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-09-2002, 04:42 AM:

I think they show second-run and off-release stuff and so hire the prints at a flat rate per screening rather than on a percentage basis. Since the prints would otherwise be sitting at Perivale going mouldy, the distributors are happy to rent the titles on far easier terms than a they would a new release.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 04-13-2002, 08:08 AM:

I think a distributor quoted in Screen International has summed up EasyCinema well.

“The Fundamental problem is he’s (Stelios Haji-loannou) talking about giving away someone else’s product, not his own,” said Alex Hamilton, director of sales, Momentum Pictures. “I can’t conceive of any distributors being willing, certainly not day-and-date with nationwide releases. Can you imagine 20th Century Fox letting him have Star Wars at a 20p ticket price? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

1991 was the year the Prince Charles Cinema commenced with daily repertory programme changes for an admission charge of £1. only. Prices are now.

Mondays all day..............£1.99
Weekday matinees.............£1.99
Evenings & weekends..........£3.50
Friday late double bill.........£7.00
Sing-a-long Sound Of Music.....£12.50

4 different films daily plus a Friday late double, Alien & Bladerunner this week ending at 4am.

Interesting website: www.princecharlescinema.com Also mentions the equipment but not the platter which I believe is also used.

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 04-13-2002, 10:11 PM:

Our top price is $8.00

We run a 1 movie special every now & then for $2.00

It makes us a bit of money @ 25% terms but our big money is made in "LOLLYWOOD"
Usually $7.00 to $8.00 per head.

Posted by Owen Shave (Member # 1156) on 04-17-2002, 08:56 AM:

can't see the easy cinema thing ever coming to fruition. The guy really hasn't done his homework, as far as I can tell. Some companies won't even let the chains give free tickets to their employees for the first few weeks of release, never mind nearly free to customers.. it cheapens the product. Stick to what you're good at, I say.. I hired one of those little A-class mercedes over Christmas and it has less than 1000 miles on the clock! nice.
As for the orange auditoriums.. heheh sounds funny, but I really wouldn't be surprised if he had them, were it all to pay off. Can't be worse than the orange (mobile phone) ads that we have to have on nearly every film.
In order to make his money, I guess there would probably be 30 mins of adverts prior to his main features instead of the usual 10ish from Carlton.
Owen

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 04-17-2002, 04:10 PM:

While the idea is sound, (how many of your day sessions in week3/4 are completly full) who can predict how many seats are going to be available in 3 weeks time.

They would also have to have your programming at least 3 weeks in advance.

However if Ep 2 performs as expected, you are virtually guaranteed to be playing half empty by week 11.

The consession per cap however would be fantastic.

I remember seeing an article where in China they have a super cheap seniors day.
They pack out all day sessions.

Now if they can only get the distributers to agree, then plan schedules weeks in advance, then perhaps this idea will fly.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 04-17-2002, 08:48 PM:

Sounds like a basic sub-run theater to me. Lately, subruns have been dealt percentages ... it's no longer a flat fee per week ... however, the percentages are in the 30-40 range.

The statement about percaps being sky-high is eminently false. Per caps are MUCH lower in a second run theater ... because the people that are only willing to pay $.50-$1.00/ticket typically can't afford the food. The ones that can don't mind shelling out $7-$8 for their ticket.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-18-2002, 07:19 AM:

Well if Stelios does go ahead with this I'd advise him not to open any orange-seated cinemas in Catholic areas of Northern Ireland!

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 04-18-2002, 08:11 AM:

He was on 'Richard and Judy' or whatever the am TV rubbish is today. He's taking a back seat with his existing 'easy' brand companies to concentrate on starting new ones, he said ' I want to get in the cinema business', so it's obviously still in his mind.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-18-2002, 10:42 AM:

Profile of Stelios (BBC News Online, business section)

BBC News Online story about his proposed cinema venture (doesn't say very much, though)...

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-18-2002, 12:40 PM:

Ian,

Isn't price fixing (studios telling you what to charge) illegal? I would think the most pressure a studio could apply is a price guarantee they will charge you minimum for the license to play their film. As long as the minium was uniform, then a theatre should be able to loose money if they can't cover the guarantee.

Now as to the studio being nosy into your prices and when...I would think that has more to do with their split on the boxoffice take...they want to make sure they get their cut.

Steve

------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 04-18-2002, 02:13 PM:

When you sign up with a distributor to show their films, you enter in to a contract. They have to like the terms of the contract or they will not give you films. They didn't tell us what to charge. They only asked as part of the contract. But it's their contract. If they don't like the terms, they will sell the film to someone else.