Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Running Films Already On DVD?

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 02-28-2014, 10:00 PM:

How may of you run films that are already on DVD (sub-run, retro run)?

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 03-01-2014, 09:10 AM:

We don't do it as habit, but it happens. We are a single screen arthouse and calendar house, so films aren't always available to us in a timely manner. Given the targeted nature of our audience, it doesn't seem to have an adverse effect. Also, it is becoming common for many of the smaller distributors to make the movies available video on demand before they are available theatrically. So far, not a problem, but has the potential to be.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 03-01-2014, 01:08 PM:

We do/did. A couple of big ones that come to mind are Despicable Me 2 and Monsters U. Both did very well for us, even into the DVD season.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 03-01-2014, 01:18 PM:

A couple weeks ago we opened Dallas Buyer's Club the Friday after it hit DVD - not realizing until it was too late to change. We had a decent week, but I think this type of film appeals to people who are more likely to want to see their movies in a theatre if possible. We almost opened Nebraska this week under the same circumstances, but decided to play Philomena instead.

I don't remember the specific movies, I know there have been a few instances where we've played something as the second feature at our drive-in starting the Friday before it hit DVD. Since it wasn't the featured movie, it's very hard to judge any impact this might have had.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-01-2014, 03:43 PM:

We always do 2 or 3 matinees every year during the holidays, some of which come on BluRay. One of them last year was Despicable Me 2 and we had a huge crowd for it. But, these are always a super low price (either a dollar or two, or free sometimes depending on the sponsor) so it's hard to say what would happen with a regular show schedule.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 03-02-2014, 11:51 AM:

We're still playing Gravity in 3D, even though it came out on video last week. Still doing good business, and I'm sure there'll be a slight uptick if it wins Best Picture tonight.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 03-02-2014, 12:39 PM:

quote: Edward Havens
We're still playing Gravity in 3D, even though it came out on video last week. Still doing good business, and I'm sure there'll be a slight uptick if it wins Best Picture tonight.

Wasn't Gravity in 3d one of the few movies where 3d and the big screen were a big thing to see?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-02-2014, 12:43 PM:

So here's a twist on this...since Netflix tends to not offer rentals until a month or so after the DVD release date, how many people feel THAT is attracting business?

In other words, once a movie releases on DVD what is the hit, then once it releases on Netflix what is the hit?

Posted by Michael Putlack (Member # 6523) on 03-02-2014, 02:56 PM:

A few weeks ago we had a one-off screening of the documentary The Square which is on Netflix. We charged a higher price because it was a one-off, and it drew a great crowd! Just short of selling out. On a Tuesday night too!

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 03-03-2014, 10:53 AM:

This year seems to be the first one I recall where many of the nominated movies are available on streaming and PPV before the ceremony, but not yet on disc.

For example, Gravity was available on streaming several weeks ago, but it only showed up on disc this past week. Frozen has been available since 2/25 and it doesn't get released until 3/18. 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club are available on Amazon Instant Video as well.

I guess, given that all of them were released before the holidays, it makes sense that they would be making their way onto video before the ceremony, but the fact that they are being streamed before being made available on video is a continuation of that trend. Traditionally, the winners of the big awards would see a bump or return to theaters after the ceremony, but I wonder if that will be true this year, or if the streaming companies will be the one to benefit.

I know in our house, I almost paid $20 for Frozen instead of us going to a theater. The weather was cold and it seemed a lot easier to just stay in and buy it on streaming instead of spending the same amount of money. I am opposed to paying for streaming (it's fine as a free thing with Amazon Prime, but it's not worth paying for), so we ended up doing something else instead and we're going to wait for the Blu-ray to be released in a few weeks.

I wonder how many others did/will do the same?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-03-2014, 11:43 AM:

I guess the big thing I worry about with the whole streaming model is, what happens when that company goes out of business, sells out or whatever? I've got maybe four or five movies that I "own" on Amazon Prime, but what happens if they sell out to Time Warner or something or just go belly-up? I would HOPE that any buy-out deal would contain a clause that keeps everything working but....well you know.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 03-03-2014, 12:06 PM:

Those are some valid concerns Mike, I never buy iTunes movies, I do rent from iTunes every once in a while when I can't find a movie to buy or if the movie is too expensive. RedBox is still the best value IMO.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-03-2014, 01:19 PM:

There are MANY examples of people who thought they "bought" some kind of a library of music, videos or whatever, and later found out that they don't.

The involved company doesn't have to go out of business, either. If it becomes unprofitable to continue to provide the service, they stop providing it. Microsoft Plays-For-Sure is one of the more notorious examples a supposedly "forever" service being shut down by a company that is still in business. Someone at Microsoft was simply uninterested in providing the service that their customers had paid for, so they stopped providing it.

For myself, I trust the data that resides on my own equipment. I can read, modify, delete and archive any of those files when and as I choose; they don't exist at the whim of anyone else. If it's not here and under my direct control, then it's not really my data at all.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 03-04-2014, 01:49 AM:

quote: Justin Hamaker
We had a decent week, but I think this type of film appeals to people who are more likely to want to see their movies in a theatre if possible

I think these are rare cases that a movie will do well in theatres while out on DVD at the same time. It is the Oscar buzz that is giving these movie a push.

Below is a rare move by the studios:

'12 Years a Slave' to hit 1,000 theaters across US after Oscars win

Steve McQueen, the director of '12 Years a Slave' is planning further theater expansion after grabbing the best picture Oscar.

The movie will be playing in more than 1,000 theaters across the US, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

McQueen's slavery drama enjoyed a phenomenal bump in its 20th weekend, where the movie grossed 975,931 dollars from 411 theaters.

Theater owners doesn't play films when they are out on DVD but exhibitors make an exception in the case of an Academy Award best picture winner.

Speaking on the same Frank Rodriguez, chief of Fox Searchlight, said that exhibitors will allow some co-habitation in this case.

The movie earned a world total of 140.2 million dollars revenue before it grabbed the Beast Picture award at Oscars

'12 Years a Slave' to hit 1,000 theaters across US after Oscars win

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-04-2014, 10:05 AM:

I predict Godzilla will win the Beast Picture award for 2015.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 03-04-2014, 11:33 AM:

It will be interesting to see what happens with the now second re-release of 12 Years A Slave. Here in Montgomery, we have about a 50% African American demographic. 12 Years did really boffo at the multiplexes when it first played. Then it went away and came back for an Oscar Nom Run and tanked. AMC and Carmike haven't posted their schedules yet, I wonder if they think it will be worth it to try again.
Similarly, without the Oscars, Anchorman 2 with 700+ new jokes is tanking.

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 03-06-2014, 01:46 PM:

I manage a subrun and rarely notice a difference when a movie is available on DVD/online streaming. Naturally, subrun pricing is relatively competitive with these home viewing options, but I think another reason for not seeing a drop is that our core audience is interested in "going out"/the social experience of attending a movie at the theatre (for an affordable price); not all that different from staying at home to eat vs. going to a restaurant.

Posted by William Kucharski (Member # 7246) on 03-11-2014, 12:10 AM:

Interestingly enough, Frozen will be out on Blu-ray/DVD next week, but I don't see it being pulled from its original first run theatres yet - and I doubt the exhibitors/Disney want to give up the $3M or so it's still pulling in each weekend.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 03-11-2014, 11:25 PM:

We've actually thought about bringing it back in, particularly the sing-a-long version, after Peabody finishes it's 4th week. I really can't image Peabody in week 5 doing any better than the sing-a-long Frozen here.