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Box Office Report: Hurricane Irene Advances, Shutting First East Coast Theaters

Clearview Cinemas is shutting all of its 57 theaters along the Philadelphia-New York corridor this weekend; Hollywood expects the domestic box office to take a sizeable hit because of massive storm.

Clearview Cinemas is shutting all of its 57 theaters — which stretch from Philadelphia to New York City — on Saturday and Sunday because of Hurricane Irene.

“Out of concern for the safety of our guests and staff, all Clearview Cinemas will be closed on Saturday August 27th and Sunday August 28th. We plan to reopen on Monday August 29th. Wishing you and your family a very safe weekend,” read a statement on the circuit’s website.

So far, Clearview is the first exhibitor to announced its theaters are going dark because of the massive storm, but both AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment — which operate numerous multiplexes in New York City and other East Coast hubs — are monitoring the situation carefully.

As a precaution, government officials in New York City and Philadelphia are shutting down public transportation on Saturday, making it difficult for employees of movie theaters and retail stores to get to work.

Clearview Cinemas has three locations in New York City.

The domestic box office is is expected to take a substantial hit because of Irene. According to anecdotal reports, movie-going has already slowed down in New York City, even though the effects of the storm won’t be felt until Saturday.

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That’s bad news for the three new films opening this weekend -- the Luc Besson-produced action pic Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana and distributed by TriStar; The Weinstein Co.’s R-rated ensemble comedy Our Idiot Brother headlining Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer; and the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, distributed by FilmDistrict and starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce.

By some estimates, box office revenues could be down 10 to 20 percent.

Notwithstanding the storm, all three films — which are tracking modestly -- could have a tough time toppling DreamWorks and Participant Media’s late-summer box office hit The Help from the No. 1 spot.

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Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 08-26-2011, 06:50 PM:
 
I'm back to school just outside of Philly, all activities for Sunday have been canceled, and our trip into town, originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, has been moved up to tomorrow morning so we can get it in. I'm going with a group in 1 hour to grab some supplies.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-26-2011, 07:56 PM:
 
For the last two weeks we have been moving 25 staffers and all our equipment -- phones switches, servers, computers, files, furnature, etc. -- out of our office suite in one wing of our George Gershiwn and Sam Levenson Theatres. The building to be demolished to make way for a new facility. This week I've been spending 12 - 16 hour days configuring network servers and digital phones in our new digs -- a TRAILER.

I sit here in a TRAILER, contemplating 100 mph winds taking this thing airborn. I can't imagine that the roof is going to stay attached, or that the three trailers which were all bolted together, will stay bolted. When I asked the foreman if this thing would survive the storm, he paused and said, "This is built to code." Funny, that wasn't the question. He did suggest no one stay in it until the storm is over.

I am wrapping our servers in plastic. If we are lucky, all that will happen will be windows may break and we will get rain flooding the place. Hopefully the plastic wraps may protect them. What is REALLY unfortunate is that about 100 feet away from the trailer is a city block worth of plywood panels surrounding the theatre demolition site. I picture these things taking off like big sails and while the trailer itself might hold against the wind, I doubt it will survive 8'x12' plywood projectiles being hurled at it at who knows how many mph will.

I am leaving now. It will be interesting to know what I come back to find on Monday.

Everyone keep safe this weekend.
 

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Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 08-27-2011, 12:27 AM:
 
Stay safe to Frank, Steve and to everyone facing this thing. You have the support of a great community here.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-27-2011, 01:16 AM:
 
When I was in first grade my dad was stationed at Camp Lejune, NC near Jacksonville, NC. That place is probably going to be pretty badly hammered by this storm. We spent numerous weekends at Onslow Beach. Fun memories. There's no way I would want to be there right now at this moment. Probably lethal or near so to be in that spot now.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-27-2011, 02:25 AM:
 
Full image of earth taken this morning shows how huge hurricane Irene is.
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-27-2011, 11:55 AM:
 
How about some irreverent humor?

What Washington DC needs, more than anything, right now, is a good BLOW JOB!


 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-27-2011, 08:59 PM:
 
Perhaps it should have been named Hurricane Monica?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-27-2011, 11:08 PM:
 
Why do they name hurricanes pussy names like Irene? Name that shit Murderton 3000 or some such and fuckers will evacuate like they are supposed to.
 

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 08-27-2011, 11:20 PM:
 
..........................
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-27-2011, 11:56 PM:
 
The proper name is Murderton XD-3D. Damnit Joe, you of all people should know this.

Since I'm not in the area to witness Irene first hand, I'll just wait for the movie (or one of its sequels). You know it will happen.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 08-29-2011, 07:01 AM:
 

quote: Steve Guttag

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In the case of the prediction of bad weather, we are designated to lose power in the hopes that others might keep it.

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What does that mean exactly? If they take your power down, do trees not fall on power lines elsewhere? Or do they just come and strip parts from your area to fix everyone else and then bring you guys back up last, or what?
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-29-2011, 09:14 AM:
 
Things weren't so bad here. We got rain and wind. Lots of basements got flooded, and some trees and limbs fell. My power, DSL, and telephone service had no issues (my lines are all underground, not on poles).

Some weird contradictions:

Lots of television reporters drove out to the coastline to do live reports to tell people to stay home and avoid being near the coast.

The governor told people not to drive, yet eliminated tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike for the day. Also, the MBTA (public transportation authority, mostly providing bus, subway, and train service) shut down, potentially forcing people who needed to go somewhere to use more dangerous means of transport.

Logan Airport stayed open, but had no inbound or outbound flights.
 

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Posted by Jeff Kane (Member # 6372) on 08-29-2011, 11:29 AM:
 
..and Jim Cantore running around looking for disaster. He's been down here a few times. Thankfully, every time he shows, the storm seems to be a no-show.

Well, y'all sent us snow in 2004, so it's the least we can do to return the favor.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-29-2011, 12:16 PM:
 
There was 24 wall-to-wall "news" coverage, most of which by 2am Sunday night consisted of an ABC news van driving around in the rain and inane commentary by the two half-asleep anchors. I kept thinking, surely at some point these people are just going to simply run out of crap to say. Evidently not. At one point (and I REALLY wish I have taped this), the guy in the roving news van actually went nearly silent after saying in 2 billion billion different ways, that there was water in the street and that it was RAINING and WINDY, all the while trying say something ANYTHING that was even remotely interesting. He noted that, "Oh there is a police car on that corner. They are just parked there as it is too windy for them to cruise." Then, to my utter amazement this guy actually said, "And I can see a paper cup floating by in the water." It think he meant to show that the water was deep enough for debris to float by, but it sounded so pathetic as to make me laugh out loud.

They almost seemed to be disappointed when the storm began to diminish. When it was downgraded to a tropical storm and no longer the hurricane with 100mph distructive winds that they had been talking about incessantly for 12 hours straight, they were almost beside themselves to keep the drama pumped up. The woman anchor said, "Yes, it is a tropical storm now, but THE DANGER ISN'T OVER..." and then almost gleefully, "...tropical storms can cause TORNADOS!" her voice going up an octave on the word tornados.

I think they really get off on this stuff. Now the make every storm sound like it's impending Armageddon. They were doing that all winter long with the snow storms as well....those "trecherous 'Nor'easters," which evidently are we are in such a rush to get away from that we have to drop out the "th"...take way to long to say North East. And I have also noticed they will call ANYTHING a nor'easter. One winter storm last January was coming in from the south west and the weather guy still kept calling it a nor'easter. I guess it's just not as scary if you just call it a freakin snow storm.

I say send all weather people to Syberia.
 

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Posted by Alan Plester (Member # 852) on 08-29-2011, 03:15 PM:
 
I cant begin to think what some of you may/will go through at work or your home, my thoughts are with you
 

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