Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: City Cinemas (NYC) sues Regal, Loews

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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-27-2003, 05:44 PM:

There's a battle royal brewing in Greenwich Village: City Cinemas (Reading/Angelika) is suing Regal Entertainment Group and Loews Cineplex for restraint of trade.

According to the New York Post and the Associated Press (via Newsday), City claims Regal and Loews conspire to keep major releases out of the Village East in an effort to put that theater out of business. The Village East is in the same zone as the UA Union Square and the Loews Village VII.

The AP account said UA and Loews played 29 of the top 30 hits last year. The one top-30 hit that went to the Village East? My Big Fat Greek Wedding -- which actually opened at the Angelika and played there 2 weeks before moving over.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-27-2003, 11:49 PM:

I fail to see what is actionable. Of course you are going to use your clout to try to get the best product for yourself with clearance over others. Where's the beef?

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-29-2003, 12:50 AM:

So what else is new? Who cares? Things like this have been happening in our industry for years, unfortunately.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-31-2003, 12:10 AM:

It sounds like City Cinemas has a legitimate beef. The Loews Village theater is pretty close to the City Cinema Village East (one avenue over if I remember right). So it would seem to me that those three theaters would have to be in some kind of allocation agreement if film distributors refuse to allow the same shows to play day-in-date at those competing sites.

I guess I'm kind of surprised City Cinemas isn't naming some film distributors in their lawsuit.

One thing not on the City Cinemas theater side is the location. Isn't that place over on 1st or 2nd avenue, not far from Hell's Kitchen? The Loews site is in a more desireable spot (probably the best out of the three theaters since 14th street looks like hell anyway; i don't know if they've done anything to clean it up in the last decade).

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 03-31-2003, 12:50 AM:

I'm a little fuzzy on the concept of an allocation system. Isn't this like the product splitting ruled illegal by the Justice Department years ago? I would think NYC would be a heavily competitive market. Im sure relationships exist between certain theatres and distributors. Some are at the very end of booking desirability, others are at the top.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 03-31-2003, 09:48 AM:

Bobby

quote:
Isn't that place over on 1st or 2nd avenue, not far from Hell's Kitchen?

It's in the East Village area of NYC. It's located on 2nd Avenue @12th Street. The Loew's Village VII is located at 3rd avenue @
11th Street. Hell's Kitchen is located over near the Port Authority Terminal, west of 8th avenue near Mid-Town.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 03-31-2003, 05:15 PM:

City Cinemas didn't name any studios in its suit because of the Fox situation. Until recent months Loews refused to play any mainstream Fox product in Manhattan. In fact the Loews Village VII hasn't played a Fox title in 4 years -- until now. The Loews Village VII is booked to open The Good Thief (from Fox Searchlight) on Wednesday.

Bobby H: The UA Union Square is at 13th and Broadway. A Virgin Megastore (CDs/DVDs) is next door on the Broadway side. 6 subway lines intersect only 1 block north and the PATH train to/from New Jersey is only a 10-minute walk from the theater.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-01-2003, 05:29 PM:

Allocation agreements are drawn up between film distributors and movie theaters in close proximity to each other.

For example, there is the travesty of a situation in my town where Wallace Theaters runs a shitty theater that should be demolished and about a mile down Cache Road you have the Carmike 8 which is one of the best theaters in Oklahoma. Film distributors have to alternate their releases between these two theaters. For instance, if one Fox film plays at the Wallace shithole then their next film must play at the Carmike. The bad thing is a lot of movies wind up falling at that crappy theater and I just resign myself to waiting for the DVD release instead.

Now, it sounds like City Cinemas doesn't even have a working allocation agreement in place in regards to the nearby Loews and UA locations. They're just flat out missing most of the releases totally. That theater opened around 1990 and if it has been properly maintained then the distributors would have no excuse for overlooking the place.

Sorry Bill about getting mixed up on bad Manhattan neighborhoods. It has been a little over a decade since I left New York (The Loews Village VII and City Cinemas Village East theaters were both brand new when I was leaving).

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 04-01-2003, 06:27 PM:

What obligates a distributor to deal with them at all? Can't they say we are satisfied with the grosses these other houses earn us so thanks but no thanks?

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 04-01-2003, 10:20 PM:

This allocation system is by no means universal. I see no evidence of this happening in Los Angeles. I doubt it happens in NYC, either. It certainly wasn't happening in NYC in the 80's. Paramount product ALWAYS played at Loew's, for example. For years theatres in certain markets were accused by the studios of meeting secretly and diivvying up the releases. This was by no means going on in every market, either. In other instances, competitive bids are sent out. I dont quite know why allocations exist in your market, Bobby. This might be a smaller market thing. But in showcase markets, films will be booked in what the distributer will think will serve his film the best, IF the theatre agrees. Of course, in this era of the megaplex, things have changed quite a bit, since every plex seems to get almost all movies (provided they're not too close together, and even THEN they still might be sharing).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-02-2003, 12:29 AM:

I think some of the allocation deals stem from anti-trust legislation. Frankly, I wish distributors could play shows day in date at those two Lawton theaters down the street from each other. That's certainly one case where allocation allows one theater operator to get away with running a dump. A good theater doesn't get rewarded for its merits of Film Done Right.

It has been a decade since I lived in New York, so I don't know the current condition of the City Cinemas and Loews locations in the East Village. Both are roughly the same age and opened with comparable equipment (both able to show films in high quality presentation). At least on the surface it doesn't seem right for the City Cinemas location to miss out on so many mainstream bookings.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 04-02-2003, 10:53 AM:

This case is gonna get a lot more ugly: Fox has allocated Phone Booth to the Loews Village VII. As a result Reading (which controls City Cinemas) will not open Phone Booth in Manville NJ.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 04-02-2003, 01:06 PM:

Allocated. I guess it's simply not possible that Fox decided that booking the film there will make them the most money. Okay.