Theater Owners Fight Plan $30 VOD Movies

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I can't possibly imagine why theater owners are fighting the industry's plans for a premium priced VOD service that would allow you to see a movie in your home soon after it plays in theaters. Hmmm, could it have something to do with lost revenue from inflated ticket prices, $10 popcorn and $5 sodas? :rolleyes:

The nation's largest theater chains have been reaching out to investors and analysts on Wall Street, as well as directors, producers and agents, in an effort to build support for preserving so-called theatrical windows — the period of time between when a movie opens in cinemas and when it comes out on DVD or other media.
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AMC should move all their business (and employees if wanted) to delivering popcorn and snacks to the people at home instead.... big nice TVs are so affordable that it almost makes it pointless to get gouged at the theaters.

IMAX is the only reason I go to most of the new movies, because it looks a lot better than most TVs, and because its MASSIVE!... its worth the $12 or whatever its at now, but a $9 ticket at a crappy sticky floored AMC theater along with a $5.50 slushee = not so good (prices not exaggerated at all)
 
I think we'll see more movie parties, invite several people over & split the $30 cost. Alot cheaper than the theater

I'm sure they wouldn't allow me to charge admission to watch the movie, but maybe I can overcharge my "guest" for popcorn and drinks to turn a profit instead :)
 
LeninGHOLA said:
In the US, we should adopt a more European theater experience. Serve. Beer.
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Great, so in addition to the kids screaming and people talking on thier cell phones, we can have drunken having load arguements too.
 
i am sure some think the sooner it is in homes, the less piracy will occur which is BS just means HD copies out sooner, they just dont get it that craqppy movies dont money, look back at the profits of good movies.

Also it costing $17 for a large popcorn, large coke and a bag of maltese is just stupid!
 
LeninGHOLA said:
In the US, we should adopt a more European theater experience. Serve. Beer.
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nutzo said:
Great, so in addition to the kids screaming and people talking on thier cell phones, we can have drunken having load arguements too.
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Wont happen, just because their is liqor doesnt mean it will only be loud drunk people, beleive it or not, some people can control their drinks.

in CR they have a VIP theater, $8 and they serve you in the theater with waiters, pleather reclining chairs for everyone aswell.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
In the US, we should adopt a more European theater experience. Serve. Beer.
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I was just going to say the same thing.

Lets see, for a family of 4, its more than $30 in tickets alone, plus extremely over priced snacks, and I can't even buy a beer. WTF.

This isn't even mentioning the people who have to sit through a movie and text on their phone the whole time, people standing up, being noisy etc.

Forget that, I'd prefer to watch it at home, my audio system is better then the theatres anyways.
 
I like the idea of 30$ in home theater movies.... DEPENDING on whos running the show.. Netflix, sure, ive been pretty happy with them for about 5 years now, they just need new content and more HD.. Comcast or other ISP's, FFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Theaters can DiaF...
 
Here's the deal. Theaters don't make a cent from ticket sales. That all goes to the studios. Only money they make is on the overpriced soft drinks and candy.
 
Brokennails said:
Here's the deal. Theaters don't make a cent from ticket sales. That all goes to the studios. Only money they make is on the overpriced soft drinks and candy.
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You are half right, they do actually make money for tickets though. But you're right that most theater profits are food and drink...

The expense of concession stands has much to do with the way in which movie studios are reimbursed by local theaters. In the first week of a film’s release, the studio may make as much as 90% of the revenue from sales of movie tickets. So while movie tickets are high priced, they are not benefiting the theater tremendously. Each subsequent week the film brings greater revenue to the theater. So seeing second run films tends to mean one is giving more money to the theater and less to the studio.
 
nutzo said:
Great, so in addition to the kids screaming and people talking on thier cell phones, we can have drunken having load arguements too.
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Do you live in inner city Detroit or something? Here, disruptions get you kicked out of a theater. Also, the bartender can cut people off at any time...

If it works fine elsewhere, why wouldn't it here?
 
Cinema De Lux out on Long Island has a full bar inside the theater, so you can get liquored up before seeing the feature presentation.. Also they have $6 Tuesday's for all showings.. I got to see Tron in 3d for $6.. Whoo Hoo!!
 
LeninGHOLA said:
We have I think 1 drive in left in my "area" (60 mile radius). Also, no beer in any indoor theaters I know of :(. Seattle area.
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Hmmmm. Lets see.
Rodeo Drive in in Belfair.
Is Valley 6 Drive In closed? (Auburn)
There's one down between Shelton and Olympia too.

Galaxy Theaters in Gig Harbor has a VIP theater which is 21 and older - serves beer AND hard alcohol.
 
It all starts at the very begining with the directors and actors. Sure we want great acting and sure we want great stories to be told, but most actors and directors are way overpaid. Then you throw in all the expensive sets, filming locations, and special effects and modern movies have huge price tags that get passed to the theatres who naturally pass it on to us.

If every movie had the killer directing, acting, and production values of Lord of the Rings I'd be less likely to complain about this, but we dont.
 
This was posted before, but that article said the hardware cost $5,000 to setup.

I could certainly see the appeal if it offered very high quality (1080p or higher) video from a unit that costs a few hundred bucks. $30 per movie wouldn't be terrible, especially if you have a lot of friends/family nearby.

What would the restrictions be? Limited to one viewing? What about pausing and rewinding?

I rarely go to movies in the theater any more. Say the Harry Potter midnight release because the girlfriend wanted to. $12 per ticket. Person in the row ahead of me was texting or checking her phoone every few minutes (with how dim the lights are there, the light from the phone screen is bright enough to be really annoying) and the person behind me was explaining the entire plot and backstory to his friend (who had never seen any of the other movies or read any of the other books). Kinda annoyed at the whole experience. I never get concessions so the prices don't bother me, but I'd certainly prefer to watch movies at home.

I generally don't mind waiting a few months, unless it's a movie that I'm very anxious to see (Iron Man 2 and Harry Potter 7 were the only recent ones that qualified as that). There are always new movies coming out, I'm just a few months behind.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
In the US, we should adopt a more European theater experience. Serve. Beer.
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Would save me the trouble of sneaking my own in, not only that would make date nights far more enjoyable, but all the same, many of today's movies no amount of alcohol can make them better, only help you forget.
 
nalc said:
This was posted before, but that article said the hardware cost $5,000 to setup.

I could certainly see the appeal if it offered very high quality (1080p or higher) video from a unit that costs a few hundred bucks. $30 per movie wouldn't be terrible, especially if you have a lot of friends/family nearby.

What would the restrictions be? Limited to one viewing? What about pausing and rewinding?
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That was actually something else entirely, and that was talking about releasing movies at the same time as theaters (it was 5,000 a movie too, setup was even more). This is talking about shortly after theater runs (like a month later) offering $30 PPV one time watchs off of Comcast On-Demand or DirecTV Cinema type of things.
 
don't care, rarely go to the movies now (i've gone i think 4 times this year?) because....

a) not many good movies
b) 9 dollars not worth it i think.... (i don't buy food, that's a rip off)
c) my theater sucks - still has analogue projectors..
d) my theater sucks - does NOT have surround sound..
e) my theater sucks - my kitchen chair is more comfortable then their seats
 
LeninGHOLA said:
We have I think 1 drive in left in my "area" (60 mile radius). Also, no beer in any indoor theaters I know of :(. Seattle area.
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That sucks, drive-ins rock. $7 double features plus you can bring your grill, and your booze. It takes out an entire night but so worth it.
 
could it have something to do with lost revenue from inflated ticket prices, $10 popcorn and $5 sodas?
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Unless things have changed in the past decade or so

First one.. nope, theaters don't see much of that ticket revenue at all during the first weeks, and they only start seeing revenue from tickets in additional weeks, which is usually after the movie made it's lion share.

Second and third one, absolutely. Movie theaters main revenue source is concessions and games (video, claw game, etc), that's how they pay everyone's salaries.

So yeah, the "industry" wants to allow VOD after the movie plays a bit in theaters, attacking a theater owners revenue source, they're going to fight back. They want all premium showing spots for basically free at the theaters (i.e opening week), then they want to screw the owners out of potentially more income in the weeks after. I'd be pissed off too, down side is you're really fucked unless you want to tell movie studios that release VOD to fuck themselves by not showing their movies at your theater (basically shooting yourself in the foot)
 
Where I live, I go to the most expensive theater in town and I find the cost of the theater directly correlates to how rude people are. I'd rather spend the extra $4-6 bucks to minimize the chance of having somebody ruining my experience. $30 is cheap. The tickets are around $20 usually and if I have the $4.00 dollar candy and soda (which can be purchased in the same quantity for a couple bucks at the grocery store) I am at $28 if we share. So for $34 I can get the movie, save on gas, watch it on my 60in LCD, and have 2 liters of soda and not have to share my candy. Sign me up!
 
There are two theaters in my area that serve alcohol (beer and hard alcohol). They also have excellent food. AND they bring it to you while you watch. It's pretty much the only place I go to when I want to see a movie. The AMC was bought by another company (can't remember who) and the place is a dump now.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
That sucks, drive-ins rock. $7 double features plus you can bring your grill, and your booze. It takes out an entire night but so worth it.
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I agree. Drive-in's were great!

When I was 19, I had a Ford pick-up. On a date, I'd back it up, set up lawn chairs in the bed, grab a beer from the cooler, spark a splif & enjoy the double feature. Might even lay down a blanket if I was luck enough to get some "quick action".

I miss drive-in's. :(
 
Theaters need to start looking for a new line of business, because they are all but out of business.

Theaters replaced Drive-In's (which is a damned shame if you ask me), and now Theaters are on the way out.

And like any other failing business model, they will go out kicking and screaming, and will damn sure inflict as much pain on consumers as possible as they circle the drain.

They will learn nothing from the pains of the Music industry. Hell, the Music industry hasn't learned anything from the pains of the Music industry.

I have zero desire to go pay $10 plus to watch a movie, sitting in a tiny, cramped poorly padded seat, with my shoes stuck to the floor, crying babies, and that dude that's always in front of you with his hat on. And lets not forget the $10 visits to the concessions stand where you don't come back with squat for your money.

Why would anyone want to see all that go away?
 
MrGuvernment said:
Also it costing $17 for a large popcorn, large coke and a bag of maltese is just stupid!
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Blame Hollywood for 20 million dollars per actor/actress, not theater owners. Like the majority here, you don't know anything about movie rental costs for the theater, how much is made per ticket and why the refreshments cost so much. You'd rather bitch at the kid making $7 hr. behind the counter while waiting in line. And its obvious that the news poster doesn't understand either. So I will start back in the day when I ran my district here in Southeast Michigan for General Cinema Theaters back in 93-96 as a CSR, and manager in 97.

Back then tickets were $4.25 matinee and right around $7 for night shows. Well, the rental cost on the piece of shit Under Siege 2 was around $3000 for the WEEK to show that movie. Now a big budget film like Jurassic Park(original) was double that at least. Now not only is it an 8 Theater movie house, you have to pay the 12-16 employees that are there on the weekend all at the time $4.75-5.25 an hour. Mean while, each ticket sold at the theater netted us at that time .10 cents in our pockets because of the movie rentals alone. Wanna pay rent on that 8 theater movie house, better be a big blockbuster film cause you haven't even paid the managers yet, or if they still have them a union projectionist.

Theater upkeep, projectors are expensive. These are not the little reels you see up on two wheels. They are 3, 5 foot platters spaced two feet apart on top of each other that run through the projector and Dolby Surround system, then back to an empty platter

So the next time you bitch about that $3 bag of candy, $5-7 popcorn, look at the kid behind the counter, your paying their wage. See, thats where the money from refreshments goes to paying employees and managers, and if they still have them(most don't) projectionist.

How did you ppl think they get 20 million a picture? Hollywood breaks it off in your arse, not the theaters. And for all those saying staying at home is better, well you are in the minority by the record breaking box office, the big screen is still better period or records wouldn't be broken.

Thank you,
and enjoy your movie.
 
I'm not accusing theater owners of getting rich, but given the modern quality of the home movie experience, theaters don't provide much value. Most of the value that they do provide is artificial, first play. Hollywood would jew them in a minute for a buck, and that means 30-day, $30+ VOD is inevitable.

The only reason it hasn't happened yet is Hollywood is worried about shooting themselves in the foot. They need the theaters so movies don't lose a lot of value by becoming "made for TV". They also don't want high quality pirated copies flooding the internet the first day of VOD availability, diminishing future ticket and media sales.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
You guys never heard of Studio Movie Grill?
They serve beer and wine...
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Minneapolis area had a cinema and draught house. Served Food, Soda, Popcorn, and Alcoholic drinks. Granted it was a glorified home projection system, but it still rocked having a brew and food with a good movie. All that and comfortable seats no less...

Still I like the outdoor theater near us. They don't charge an arm and a leg. It's always a double feature. The food, popcorn, and soda might be expensive (they serve liquor too) but it's of a good quality. You can show up early, feed your family, and get two movies (kid and then older audience) which costs far less than going to the regular theaters.
 
If I understand the new so called net neutrality, after we have to shell out extra for a higher tier service to be able to get VOD, we won't be able to afford to actually watch them.

I hope I misunderstand the whole neutrality fiasco, but if I do, then it's probably far worse than I thought.
 
TechLarry said:
Theaters need to start looking for a new line of business, because they are all but out of business.

Theaters replaced Drive-In's (which is a damned shame if you ask me), and now Theaters are on the way out.

And like any other failing business model, they will go out kicking and screaming, and will damn sure inflict as much pain on consumers as possible as they circle the drain.

They will learn nothing from the pains of the Music industry. Hell, the Music industry hasn't learned anything from the pains of the Music industry.

I have zero desire to go pay $10 plus to watch a movie, sitting in a tiny, cramped poorly padded seat, with my shoes stuck to the floor, crying babies, and that dude that's always in front of you with his hat on. And lets not forget the $10 visits to the concessions stand where you don't come back with squat for your money.

Why would anyone want to see all that go away?
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Additionally, you end up missing a few minutes of the movie if you need to go to the restroom, cannot keep your drink if you do need to and thus need to buy another if you want to continue sipping soda after (I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't leave my soda randomly in a public movie theater and expect it to be "OK" after).

Finally, the quality is worse than my home theater setup, and I don't even own the movie for later viewing if I want to watch it again, while having paid more, spent time/gas going out, and dealing with all the other caveats you mentioned yourself.

$8-15 and a new release BluRay is shipped to my door by Amazon, either on a pre-order deal or shortly after release there's nearly always a sale... if not, $18-20 ;). Still cheaper than a couple gallons of gas, waiting through line, and dealing with the rest of it on top of the $12-13 ticket + $5-6 soda + $4-5 popcorn, and I own something after :D.

Rather sit in my nice projector setup on my own, comfy sofa, and be able to pause, use a 2-liter of soda, and whatever food I want + any people who want to watch with me there, for a lower cost overall.

cliffs: Quoted For Truth. ;)
 
Considering theaters make very little off the actual ticket sales,no wonder concessions are so expensive.

Couple this with usually sub par projection equipment and annoying fellow patrons, and yeah. I'd be worried too. Oh, and fake 3D. Fucking hate 3D.

Of course if you want a top notch pay experience, there's always the Gold Class cinemas. Which are super pimp and punk free.
 
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