Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Print totals on "The Passion"

This is topic Print totals on "The Passion" in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-17-2004, 06:24 PM:

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this topic. I was kind of amazed to hear about some of the advance volume ticket purchases being made for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Reportedly, there is a 20-screen complex in Dallas that will have all screens playing the movie. I assume some of the shows will be via interlock.

Just how many prints are being made for this feature? I'm also wondering whether the film will have any "legs" to sustain a credible box-office run or if it will fizzle after the big opening.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 02-17-2004, 06:27 PM:

From what I understand this is a one time thing and they are borrowing prints from other theaters to run.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-17-2004, 06:38 PM:

Which 20-plex is doing it?

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 02-17-2004, 06:51 PM:

More importantly, WHY?

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 02-17-2004, 07:16 PM:

There was a NY Times Article on this a few weeks back ...

Some Baptist church purchased every seat in the Cinemark Tinseltown Plano for a 6:30 am show for their members the day it opens.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 02-17-2004, 07:16 PM:

quote:
Just how many prints are being made for this feature? I'm also wondering whether the film will have any "legs" to sustain a credible box-office run or if it will fizzle after the big opening.

Here in Dallas this and any other bible movie will do very well. We were still selling about 75% of the seats for of Gospel of John until we lost the print. I do not however think that running it on 20 screens would be at all necessary.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-17-2004, 09:01 PM:

That would certainly tick me off royally if a print I was to play went to the Tinseltown first. I've seen the prints that come out of there lately (that place hasn't had a good presentation since they lost Darren Crimmins). Definitely not cool. I know why they are doing it though. That place is a clusterfuck of a design and interlocking would be very difficult, plus I don't think they have more than a few that are wired for it.

Oh the NASTY calls I would be making to Technicolor over THAT one.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 02-17-2004, 09:31 PM:

2000 screens are booked so the print order must be near that level. Foreign release is a month later which will allow some of these prints to be reused with suitable sub-titles.

Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 02-18-2004, 12:06 AM:

Last I heard the Tinseltown USA has no interlock capability. I installed the original system, though it was never used during my time there, other than testing. Last I saw the rollers had been cannibalized and moved elsewhere

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-18-2004, 09:34 AM:

Foreign release is a month later which will allow some of these prints to be reused with suitable sub-titles.

Domestic prints are already sub-titled (photographically) in English. Are you suggesting they're going to laser on another language elsewhere in the frame?

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 02-18-2004, 10:48 AM:

Possible......I have seen multiple language sub-titling via laser.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-18-2004, 01:32 PM:

Jesus that would be annoying.

Posted by Darren Crimmins (Member # 1116) on 02-18-2004, 02:27 PM:

Yes, I worked that theater, and unless they are planning on getting 20 prints of that movie, I don't see it happening. I think it would be funny to see them try to interlock , though. [evil]

That theater does have a sad, kinda capable system of interlocking, but only to 2 or 3 projectors at most. That theater is designed so bad that even attempting to do more is impossible. And as Brad said earlier, there is no functioning interlock circuitry in thier automation systems.

Even if Cinemark was able to find a way to interlock successfully, Cinemark operators, per Cinemark training, will not be able to handle running an interlock, at least at those mega-plexes. When I was there, they wanted "Usher -B's" to be able to thread, bulid-up and break-down, the minimum. This was to make them dispensible. Just enough training to get them to put features on the screen, as I was led to believe by higher management. I didn't agree with that train of thought, and trained acccordingly. Since I left, I am sure that they no longer have any more projectionists, sorry, "Usher-B's", who can handle an interlock, much anything else.

I would be interesting to see them try to do any "complicated" things, such as interlocking on any scale, and then see all of the money they would end up on losing by down shows due to incompetent operators. Theaters get what they pay for.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-18-2004, 03:44 PM:

Don't larger Cinemark multiplexes usually have a "booth manager" or something like that? Would that person be expected to know how to run an interlock?

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 02-18-2004, 05:24 PM:

Assuming someone will attempt it at that location, what sort of time delay between projector 1 & # 20?

Posted by Brett Garten (Member # 1996) on 03-02-2004, 03:32 AM:

Only 100 prints down under

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 03-02-2004, 03:41 PM:

Only 26 prints "even more down under"

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-02-2004, 07:56 PM:

Wow...that's like one print for every 10 people (not counting those who were at the Oscars)! [Big Grin]

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 03-02-2004, 10:45 PM:

Was it CBS that had a story that over 26 thousand people were extras in LOTR?
So approx 1% of the population of NZ were extras in the 3 movies.