This is topic Had many "Cars" walkouts? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-13-2006, 01:56 PM:
 
Most of us agreed that "Cars" was too long in the reviews section. Now we have this from the Internet Movie Database:

IMDB Link

Ticket sales for Disney/Pixar's "Cars" dropped significantly below what the company had expected on Sunday -- usually a good day for family films. As a result, the final weekend tally came to $60.1 million, rather than $62.8 million, as the studio had estimated. The drop in ticket sales seemed to suggest that word-of-mouth was not so strong as it had been for Pixar's previous animated films. (There were reports over the weekend that some parents were leaving theaters with restless kids before the movie ended.) If so, mid-week ticket sales for the movie -- usually a strong time for family fare during the first week of school vacation -- could be seriously affected. In any event, investors, sensing that Pixar may not prove to be the infallible entity that it was cracked up to be, began unloading Disney shares Monday. (At one point in early trading, they were down nearly 4 percent but then seemed to rebound, closing the day off 1.5 percent at $28.90.) In a note to clients, Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy." Banc of America analyst Doug Shapiro wrote that the lower-than-expected box-office results for Cars raised "questions about the rationale for the Pixar deal." (Disney had acquired Pixar earlier in the year for $7.4 billion.) However, Doug Mitchelson of Deutsche Bank Securities pointed out, "The movie has little competition most of the rest of the summer and could continue to see revenue through the end of August." And several analysts stuck to forecasts that the film would earn between $600 million and $650 million worldwide.

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(Me again) As usual, this news overlooks one big factor: There have been a bunch of kid-films already this year, including the large hit "Over the Hedge" just 3 weeks ago. How much money are parents supposed to have, anyway? (I know, unlimited amounts.)

Personally here, we have experienced ZERO walkouts except for one lady who thankfully removed a screamin' baby. Otherwise the kids seem vastly entertained and we're seeing repeat business from some of the teens too. How's it going in your area?
 

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Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 06-13-2006, 02:56 PM:
 
From what I have seen, the movie is doing really good. Our auditoriums (#1 & #10) were pretty full, especially for the evening shows. If there were any walk-outs, I haven't seen any. From what I have heard, people are giving this movie really good reviews.
 

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Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 06-13-2006, 04:12 PM:
 
Monday was down more than I expected after the bang up wkend it had. But weather may have had an impact. No walk-outs.

Some reviewers and stock analyst's tend to have their head in the sand and can't see the big picture.

And what does Wall-street know, they dump shares over the dumbest things.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 06-13-2006, 05:29 PM:
 
I didn't have 'walk-outs'. I did have that one parent each show that had to bring the younger sibling out to the video games and wait for the significant other that watched the rest of the movie with the older sibling. In which case I usually gave the parent that had to miss the last reel of the film a pass to come back to another show.

I had to do this about a dozen times over the weekend.


 

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 06-13-2006, 06:49 PM:
 
I've had a few really small kids (under 5) wondering the lobby with a disgruntled parent, but no walkouts. Most of the comments I've heard have been positive, and its holding up well through the week.

In fact, the local McDonalds brought in a group of employees to see it Monday night. - Matt
 

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Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 06-13-2006, 07:45 PM:
 
Unfortunately, too many parents equate G-rated animation with kids film and kids are all under 5 and you don't have to pay for under 5s, do you?

Despite our advice, based on years of experience, parents insist on inflicting their toddlers on all audiences. This is spoiling the experience for the older siblings.

Yes, we tryto dissuade them. Yes, we make an announcement before each session. People are too selfish to care about others.

Although Cars is a stunning theatrical experience, this is why the DVD is the future for family films.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-13-2006, 10:04 PM:
 

quote: Ron Curran

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Although Cars is a stunning theatrical experience, this is why the DVD is the future for family films.

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I don't really agree with this. Most people without kids are smart enough to know that you don't go to a weekend early show if you want to actually hear the movie.

Our crowds for Cars the last couple of days have featured lots of adult couples. Of course there are always a couple of "movie ruiner" babies too. I'm much quicker to go ask the parents to take the kid out on weeknights when there aren't three dozen babies in the crowd.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 06-13-2006, 10:12 PM:
 
I'm much more forgiving of audience chatter in a movie like "Cars", especially from kids. I know what I'm in for if I go to a matinee for a Pixar/Disney film. There were a few noisy kids at the showing I attended, and the obligatory screaming baby. Normally I wouldn't put up with it but for "Cars" it didn't bother me much. Mike has the right idea - On a weeknight with mostly adults, a single screaming kid is a more serious problem then a Saturday morning when there's lots of families with young kids making noise.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 06-14-2006, 08:00 AM:
 
I agree with the weather being a big factor on this. Another factor possibly... has anyone mentioned "Cars" to someone you know only to get a "Huh? What's that?"??

I've gotten that a couple of times from relatively savvy movie goers that I know. I have no idea how they hadn't heard of it before I told them about it. I thought that was odd, and not a good sign for the movie.

We play ours good and loud, and by the end of the movie, everyone is laughing loudly, and occasionally they clap and cheer at the end of the last race. No walk outs that I know of. Usually everyone leaves smiling and talking about what they just saw.

We were scheduled to interlock our print, which we did, but I'm not sure that we needed to. I'm hoping this movie picks up, or at least holds on for quite a long time.
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 06-14-2006, 09:33 AM:
 
Had some people complain about the Flicka trailer because of the word [INSERT DRUM ROLL] "DAMN". We took them off after numerous complaints on Sunday.

Fox is supplying a new version this week without that word in it.


 

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Posted by Gregory Brannon (Member # 405) on 06-14-2006, 10:19 AM:
 
When I saw the running time of Cars, I had concerns that it may be too long for younger kids. I think all kid/family oriented feature should be 90 mins to 100 mins max.

Another thing that I initially had some concerns about is whether this the title/theme of the movie may deter some of the female younger audience by thinking that it's boy oriented movie. However no one in the media hasn't questioned this. I remember when Dreamworks "Small Soldiers" came out years ago that was one of the concerns pointed out by industry analyst as something that could affect box office.
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 06-14-2006, 12:24 PM:
 

quote: Mike Blakesley

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Of course there are always a couple of "movie ruiner" babies too.

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quote: Lyle Romer

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This doesn't apply to movies like "Cars" which are kids movies and people know to expect this (and avoid the times where it is likely to be a problem), but why don't you ban babies from adult shows?

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quote:

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - When it comes to being 'family-friendly', Wegmans Food Markets is the best supermarket chain in America, according to a five-month study conducted by Child magazine. The magazine evaluated 44 retailers nationwide. The rankings will appear in the August issue of Child magazine, on newsstands July 15.

"We're honored that Child magazine rates us No. 1," says Danny Wegman who was interviewed for the August article. "We like making life a little easier for everyone, so we work on making shopping more interesting to children, and more convenient for adults."

The magazine considered the exceptional array of services at many Wegmans stores that take the hassle out of shopping, and make a trip to the supermarket an outing that kids and adults can enjoy together.

Among those services:
- Wkids Fun Centers - secure, supervised areas in 27 stores where children ages 3-8 play while parents shop;

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quote:

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Each month, thousands of children visit Wkids Fun Centers at Wegmans' stores, where children ages 3 to 8 play while their parents shop. The area is well-supervised and secure, and the service is provided free of charge. There's a climbing gym, computer games, books, toys, and lots of fun.

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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I would also like to charge, say, $10 for babies

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I don't think you'd be allowed to sell babies.
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 06-15-2006, 09:07 AM:
 

quote:

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If a grocery store can run a child care center in the store while parents shop, why can't a theatre have a supervised "play center" for the little ones while the parents watch a movie?:

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quote: Lyle Romer

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Muvico has this in most (if not all) of their locations.

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quote: Gregory Brannon

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I think all kid/family oriented feature should be 90 mins to 100 mins max.

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quote: John Pytlak

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If a grocery store can run a child care center in the store while parents shop, why can't a theatre have a supervised "play center" for the little ones while the parents watch a movie?

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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I cannot for the life of me figure out why all these otherwise-intelligent people bring their 1-year-olds to see ANY movie. As if the kid is actually paying attention. More often than not the mom winds up pacing the lobby for half the film.

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quote: Brad Allen

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I know of another theatre that only offers child price tickets on G,PG and PG13, if you bring Junior to an R, it's an adult ticket for him.

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quote: Ron Curran

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We have to be extremely careful with discrimination laws.

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I don't think not allowing admission to minors is discriminating.

I remember seeing an MA15+ film where a group of Adults brought their younger than 5 year old kids with them to a film that was not appropriate for them. The kids were noisy at the start and ran up and down the aisles. The parents laughed at it. The film had very disturbing scenes which made me disturbed and upset and I just wanting to smack hard all the faces of the adults who brought their noisy show-off kids along.
It's one of the reasons I now just stay home with DVD.
And if someone is on their phone during the film and you kindly ask them to keep it down or turn it off you get the "What you want, i'll f@#*k!^n smash ya mate"
And I don't bother contacting the staff. Most of them are just as dumb as the disrupting patrons with the: "huh...ummm...oh...umm yeah...ahhhh...right....ok"


At least at home i'm left in peace to enjoy the films .
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 06-22-2006, 03:49 PM:
 
Age discrimination only refers to refusing to hire, train, promote, sell, and so on, based on a persons age not being old enough or young enough.... Age descrimination does not apply to those of legal minor status. Keep in mind that we also do not sell booze to those under 21, rent cars to those under 25, let someone run for the presidency until they are... and so on... So you can bar anyone under the age of 18 from any show you want...

quote: Mike Blakesley

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Most people without kids are smart enough to know that you don't go to a weekend early show if you want to actually hear the movie.

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quote: Dennis Benjamin

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there is a social reason for the large number of children in Utah. It has to do with a particular religion not believing in using condoms (or any sort of birth control).

This web page Will get you more info on their beliefs.

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quote: Ron Curran

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Pixar has created a difficulty for audiences going in, with those black screen segments at the start of the feature.

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What difficulty?

First, the black segment is only about 15 seconds long.

Second, anyone who comes to a movie late deserves to fumble around in the dark. (and to be told to shut the hell up if they insist on talking about how they can't see anything.)
 

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Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 06-24-2006, 12:42 AM:
 
No argument there, Mike. Trouble is, many people are multiplex trained to miss the beginning of the film so they miss the commercials we don't show.

The Cars audience comes out of a blinding sun into a darkened theatre. The evening audience in our part of the world is practically non-existant for this type of film.
 

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Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 06-24-2006, 01:38 AM:
 
Ron, where are the ushers with the torches? Isn't that what they are there for

If a Theatre does not show the amount of crap that Multi/Megaplexes do before the feature then in their advertising and times listing they should clearly state that films start promptly at advertised times. One (now closed) arthouse cinema here did just that so everyone knew and there was hardly latecomers at all because they all knew the drill compared to other Cinemas which add a pile of before the features which most people don't want to sit through.
 

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Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 06-24-2006, 01:55 AM:
 
John, the ushers with the torches are inclined NOT to shine them over the seated audience, so it is difficult for them to see many vacant seats beyond the aisles. Latecomers can sit further down the front as far as we are concerned.

Latecomers also insist on looking at the screen instead of in the torch path.

We do advertise that features commence right on start time. Latecomers do not read. Large signs saying "Please wait at the door for service" are ignored. Latecomers are impatient. While 2 ushers are showing people in, a family of latecomers will barge in.

When we show a film like Phantom of the Opera we clearly advertised that no one would be admitted after the start of the film. Most people took note. But you will always get the few who will abuse you with "Where does it say that?" We really should personally telephone everyone in the community and surrounding districts before we do such a thing.
 

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Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 06-24-2006, 02:14 AM:
 

quote: Ron Curran

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John, the ushers with the torches are inclined NOT to shine them over the seated audience, so it is difficult for them to see many vacant seats beyond the aisles. Latecomers can sit further down the front as far as we are concerned.

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quote: Ron Curran

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While 2 ushers are showing people in, a family of latecomers will barge in.

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I never realised what a bad cinema we were running till cinema-going experts like John K pointed out the error of our ways. ... Let’s face it, we’re hopeless.

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Don't take it personally. Everyone tends to think their own theatre is the best. Even me....even though mine has plenty of flaws (some of which we eliminated this week), it's still my favorite place to watch a movie.

Excuse me...gotta go thread my platter array.
 

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Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 06-24-2006, 10:43 PM:
 
Thanks Mike, my skin is the only thing that isn’t getting thin. According to some of your posts, you have a reasonable idea of what showmanship is and the problems on the ground. I do think that Thumper’s mum in Bambi had the right idea, though.

Occasional customers tell us how we should run the cinema. Until they stage a military coup, we will keep running it the way our regulars like it. How much longer depends on our local government.

Back on topic, week 3 of Cars has dropped drastically here. We hope it is just pre-holiday hiatus, not word of mouth.

So the problem this week is not about walk-outs but a reduction of walk-ins.
 

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Posted by John Koutsoumis (Member # 1855) on 06-24-2006, 11:33 PM:
 

quote: Ron Curran

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I never realised what a bad cinema we were running till cinema-going experts like John K pointed out the error of our ways.

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Ron, I have no idea how you run your Cinema I just stating an opinion on what might be a way to do things. You do things your way and leave at that. It's your cinema.

On thinking about it I knew certain things may not be possible but so what, never mind. Again it's an opinion. Don't know where the heck your Cinema is but if I ever pass by I'll drop in. I'm sure you must do at least a better job than the ty plexes around here.

I don't work in a commercial Cinema (ours is private hire, ctrics screenings, film societies, etc) so I don't face the dilemmas and problems you might but I have faced them as a patron. And yeah where I work (The Erwin Rado Theatre) is to me the best place to watch films on 35, 16 and Video so I no longer go anywhere else
 

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Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 06-28-2006, 12:08 AM:
 
Ron's Cinema is in a little pocket of paradise called Glenbrook, at the base of the Blue Mountains, aproximatly one hour drive from Sydney. Australia. If you are there in summer take a towel and swimsuit and take advantage of Jellybean Creek at the local national park.
I have never had the pleasure of meeting Ron, but admired him from afar for a long long time. His early embrace of Dolby Digital and DTS sound always impressed me. It was an era when many cinemas were still equipped with EPRAD or yellow brick processes from associated sound!
From what I have heard from people who grew up in the area, it is clear that showmanship and quality presentation is very important to him. Anybody who can keep a single screen cinema alive in the 21st century deserves to be congratulated

Keep up the good work Ron
I hope "Cars" business picks up
 

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