Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: One-screen dilemma: Flightplan or Corpse Bride?

This is topic One-screen dilemma: Flightplan or Corpse Bride? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001504

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-06-2005, 07:05 PM:

So if you only had one screen, which of these two movies would you take on the break? Any insights or opinions would be appreciated. I'm leaning toward Flightplan but am flexible. I'm considering saving Corpse for Halloween weekend.

I'm also wrestling with a decision on King Kong vs. Chronicles of Narnia. Kong comes out one week after Narnia, so we can only play one on the break.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 09-06-2005, 07:10 PM:

I would go with Flightplan. Both movies look like $50 million total grossers to me.

King Kong over Chronicles, though very close ... King Kong is tracking to do approx. $170 million, Chronicles about $160. Plus, Chronicles will have better legs. You can pick it up for a week after the Kong run.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 09-06-2005, 07:10 PM:

Thats an interesting question Mike.

First what is your average customer base, is it more family oriented or is it all over the map? Do they prefer cartoon/clay mation, or thriller/action movies? Just a few questions to kinda get the ball rolling here.

Something you could do, not sure how viable and smart this is but give the customers the choice, put up a ballet box and let them vote. That would be something diffrent and let your customers get the chance to voice there opinion.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 09-06-2005, 07:30 PM:

Tough call here, Mike. Maybe you should go with the studio that gives you the best terms.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 09-06-2005, 07:48 PM:

I feel that Flightplan has a slight edge of Corpse. Corpse probably a bit too "weird" for my small town audience.

I think Kong is going to be be HUGE and I think Narnia will be big, but not Kong sized.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 09-06-2005, 08:21 PM:

I'd say Flightplan except for the fact that I'd rather share my money with Warner Bros and not BVP.

Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 09-06-2005, 10:09 PM:

Flightplan if you have a family or older audience; Corpsebride if you have tennagers and college kids as the main part of the audience.

I am sure no one here will agree with me but I am really leary of King Kong. Sure it will open huge for one week but I still can't shake the feeling this belongs in the category of they should have left well enough alone ( e.g. Psycho). I also am old enough to remember the Dilaurentis version from 1976 and all the hype that went with it. Dilarentis said "When the monkey die, everybody gonna cry" They sure did -they were laughing so hard at the bad acting and dialogue.

I think Chronicles will surprise - going to start off slow but it will end up being one of the top grossers of the year. I believe it is the start of a new sort of LOTR franchise.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-06-2005, 11:05 PM:

Thanks all for your quick response and opinions.

We have a strong kid/teen audience, but I would have to say that our audience probably skews more to the family/older side. So that's another vote toward Flightplan.

Kurt's idea of a ballot box is interesting but I guess it's really a bit too late now to really get a good representative sample. Wish I'd thought of it a couple of months ago!

By the way, on a completely unrelated note -- today, September 6, is my theatre's 75th anniversary. It opened 9/6/1930 with a film called "The Bad One," starring Dolores Del Rio. [beer]

Our actual "anniversary celebration" will be in November to coincide with the new Harry Potter flick.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 09-06-2005, 11:48 PM:

Check out the "Coming Soon" on our website ... www.spotlighttheatres.com

The customers vote for what movies they want to see.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-07-2005, 01:14 AM:

"Narnia" will do great at your little "palace", Mike - Monte

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-07-2005, 11:45 AM:

75 and still rollin'! Congratulations Mike! [thumbsup]

Posted by Brian D. Nelson (Member # 3277) on 09-07-2005, 12:27 PM:

Indeed, 75 years is quite the milestone, congratulations Mike. We are coming up on our 77th in November and for the 75th we had a 'reunion' of sorts involving as many of the former employees as we could locate. I wish we knew what the first movie that was played when it opened but I think there was a vaudeville show for opening back in Nov of '28.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-07-2005, 12:48 PM:

Mike S. -- that's a cool feature! (Movie voting, that is.)

Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 09-07-2005, 09:53 PM:

Come on, Mike. Where I work, the bosses have a saying that goes something like this....

Come for the slides, stay for the commercials!

You could book "Hoppity Goes To Town" and it wouldn't matter as long as you have pre-show ads followed by regular rolling stock ads, Disney be damned! Why drive yourself crazy trying to pick the right "horse" when all you need is all the advertising you can get! [uhoh]

(Okay, I'll shut up now.)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-08-2005, 01:40 AM:

In defiance of the current conventional wisdom that dictates that you must have advertising to succeed, we don't do any advertising. (Thank God.)

Posted by Thomas Jonsson (Member # 1902) on 09-09-2005, 02:09 PM:

I have a single screen theater, and usually run two different
movies. Isn´t that a thing you can do? Or are the distributors
more restricted in the USA?

I can run two, even three, blockbusters at the same time. As long
as I have enough shows the distr. are happy.

Thomas

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-09-2005, 02:12 PM:

Nope, that won't work here unless you are a drive-in.

Some companies are more picky than others.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 09-09-2005, 04:22 PM:

Go with Corpse Bride...

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 09-10-2005, 01:33 PM:

Who buys the most concessions in your theater. Maybe your choice of movies can reflect that than just total grosses.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-10-2005, 01:39 PM:

I'm still leaning towards Flightplan. We haven't had much for the adults lately, and the kids'll eat-up Corpse Bride during Halloween season.

Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 09-10-2005, 04:58 PM:

You know that, in the end, you might as well show "Hoppity Goes To Town" as either of your choices. So far, fall is worse than summer around these parts. This always leads to customers who ask, "When are going to play some GOOD movies?" Your answer can only be, "When there are some GOOD movies to play!" There is no such thing as putting up on your marquee, "CLOSED UNTIL BETTER FILMS ARE AVAILABLE." All you can do is go with your gut, and yours seems to be saying "Flightplan." So be it. By Halloween, "Corpse Bride" will be a distant memory anyway, most likely.

Then there's "Kong" and "Narnia." I'm sure you remember the non-event that was the 1976 version of "Kong," despite Paramount selling the hell out it. Decisions, decisions! I guess that's why the multi-screen came into being, so that they could book EVERYTHING and see what sticks.

Despite my current "funk" regarding the industry I grew up to love, I wish you well in your decisions.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 09-10-2005, 07:08 PM:

Robert-

Fall movies have pretty much sucked at the box office for years and years...it's nothing new.

Mike-

Has Disney offered you a flightplan print (if you go that way)? I've got Corpse booked at my place, but my booker is telling me Disney is on the fence about coughing up a print of Flightplan (I want both). I was told they are going for 2800 or so theatres. Are you on their marketing plan? Does either studio want you to commit to more then two weeks? I would think that length of engagement would be almost as important as the terms at a one screen.

I know different branches have different quotas, so maybe it different in your area, but around here Disney isn't going for everything they can get.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 09-11-2005, 12:45 PM:

Corpse Bride really appeals to the Hot Topic crowd. Flightplan oughta do well considering Jodie Foster is making one of her yearly appearances at the box office. Look at Panic Room & Contact...

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-11-2005, 01:58 PM:

Matt - I think our booker will make final arrangements in the next couple of days. Our weekly booking sheet says Flightplan so I assume he's sure he can get it. I think both studios would have gone for 2 weeks. The only time they usually want more around this part of the country is if the movie is a super-blockbuster like Star Wars or if they HOPE it'll be a super-blockbuster.

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 04-21-2006, 02:04 PM:

So, Mike, with your current Vinci / Hedge query, maybe I should've asked this before I gave my response ... What did you ultimately decide between these two, and do you think it was the right choice?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-21-2006, 06:10 PM:

Actually we wound up not playing either film on the break, and we didn't play Corpse Bride at all. We decided to try to go with Flightplan and save Corpse for Halloween, but then Flightplan wasn't wide enough for us to get a print on the opening. Then, every theatre in the state wanted Corpse for Halloween weekend and since we're smaller, we got passed over in favor of the larger towns. And then right after Halloween week we went into Chicken Little and Harry Potter, so we just never got Corpse into the schedule.

We played Flightplan in its 3rd week of release and it did very well here. I heard that WB had plenty of Corpse prints sitting idle in other states but would not ship any more to Montana, so we wound up playing "The Fog" over Halloween and it did OK for us.

I meant to come back to this topic and update it on what happened, but it fell off the front page and I forgot about it. I really appreciate all the input from the F-T members, it helps a lot with decision making. (Not just about bookings, either.)

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 04-21-2006, 06:25 PM:

Can't believe Flightplan did well it was an awful film.

Why can't you run two films at a time?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-21-2006, 11:50 PM:

Because....we are a single screen and we play most movies either on the break or just a couple of weeks later, and the studios don't want you sharing the screen.

Sometimes we do play two films, but always with studio permission. You can never share one screen with two movies on the break (unless you're a drive in, I guess) even if the two films attract wildly different audiences. It's a dumb rule, but it's a rule we have learned to live with. Six or seven years ago, playing ANY movie on the break in a small town was unheard of, so progress is being made. [thumbsup]

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 04-23-2006, 06:27 PM:

That kinda sucks, makes sense though from the studios point of view though as it limits competition. Programming is pretty evil art anyway let alone with one screen and many films [Big Grin]