Movie Theater Owners Say Give Us Better Movies

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1050841' target='_blank'>http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1050841</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Tired of being blamed for the box office slump, the nation's movie theater owners returned fire Thursday, accusing the studios of delivering sub-standard product. "Here's what we know about 2005: The movies are not as good," said John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. "They're not terrible; they're just not as good. And so the industry has experienced a temporary drop-off compared to 2004, the biggest box office year in movie history."</i><br /><br />We had a poll a while back where pretty much everyone said they though the current movie selection over the past few years was pretty bad (now I hear we are going to have to put up with Jurassic Park 4). Well now the movie theater owners have to worry about one more thing, simultaneous theatrical and DVD movie releases. This is happening in China right now because of piracy, but it seems that the movie studios want more of the action up front, rather than share it with the theater companies. Of course the smart move would be to actually offer up digital copies of these movies that one could download too, but that would make WAY too much sense. :crazyeyes:

[Felix Torres]

The studios are in for a shock if they actually try to close the window on the theaters, cause digital tech is opening the door to alternatives for the theater chains.

Stuff like concerts, sports, and other special events--to say nothing of independent movies--can now be (and are being) shown in theaters.The same flaws in their business model that have produced this summer of mediocrity are actually strengthening the hand of would-be competitors who are better positioned to take advantage of new tech that can reduce the cost of producing theater-grade attractions and help bring them to market a lot easier.

As noted, the studios should, instead, be looking to strengthen the quality of their offerings and look to online distribution for extra profits and to reduce reliance on dvd sales.

Best guess is the first studio to cross the theaters gets seriously hurt and the first studio to properly tap online distribution gets a windfall.
I'll bet the former happens before the latter. :roll:

[BugDude10]

I don't pay any attention to Hollywood box office figures, but I did hear one interesting explanation about this year's decline compared to last year. Specifically, last year had the surprise success of "The Last Temptation of Christ", which grossed something like $350 million USD -- which, coincidentally, is just about how much this year is down from last year. Perhaps the industry is just short one blockbuster this year, that's all.

(And, BTW, what's the point in releasing box office figures to the public like this -- are they trying to guilt us into going to the movies more often to get them out of their slump? :roll: )

[Felix Torres]

I don't pay any attention to Hollywood box office figures, but I did hear one interesting explanation about this year's decline compared to last year. Specifically, last year had the surprise success of "The Last Temptation of Christ", which grossed something like $350 million USD -- which, coincidentally, is just about how much this year is down from last year. Perhaps the industry is just short one blockbuster this year, that's all.

(And, BTW, what's the point in releasing box office figures to the public like this -- are they trying to guilt us into going to the movies more often to get them out of their slump? :roll: )

Correct on the first count. The way it works is that Hollywood theatrical grosses peaked around 2000 but that monster hits like SpiderMan and Passion of the Christ, plus rising ticket prices have disguised the decline in attendance.

As for the publishing of the grosses (which btw are estimates and often inflated beyond reality) that serves two purposes: one, to drive attendance by hyping the movie listed as "the most popular" of a given week (bulk of attendance for any movie these days comes over the first three weeks), and two, to *counter* the power of movie critics.

If you look carefully, a great many critically-panned movies turn a nice profit despite the poor reviews. The gross attendance numbers provide an alternate benchmark for many moviegoers who are not interested in artistic merit as much as mindless entertainment (IE., Dukes of Hazzard) and take into account that a lot of people "voted with their wallets" even if the critics hated the movie.

Well, its either that or several million people actually turned out to see Jessica Simpson's thespian skills... :wink:

[Jason Dunn]

I went to see quite a few movies in 2004 - so far in 2005 I've seen maybe six so far in the theatres? Given the following factors:

1) Painful seats
2) Poor displays (no digital theatres in Calgary yet)
3) Rude/loud people
4) Prices
5) No awesome movies

...I've opted to spend more time watching movies at home.

[stevehiner]

You're worried about Jurrassic Park 4?

Next year it looks like we're going to get Highlander 5 (http://imdb.com/title/tt0299981/). 8O

[Jason Dunn]

Next year it looks like we're going to get Highlander 5 (http://imdb.com/title/tt0299981/). 8O

WHAT? I thought Christopher Lambert was dead! He sure looked like it in the last movie I saw him act in. :roll:

[jeffd]

I prefer getting the hardcopy of a movie and doing the conversion (if needed..like for a portable player, no interest in keeping avi versions of a movie for my pc) myself. The chance of us being allowed to download 4-8 gig vob file versions of a movie is slim and none.

[sojourner753]

I agree. What turns me away the most is the social experience. Rude people, unruly crowds.

There is this one theatre in Arundle Mills with a HUGE amount of theatres. No lie, when I was trying to leave the theatre afterwards, I was packed in a shoulder to shoulder cattle herd.

The lack of decent movies only lessens any incentive.

[kiwi]

3) Rude/loud people
4) Prices
5) No awesome movies

...I've opted to spend more time watching movies at home.

those are the main reasons I'll now be saving up for a 42"+ screen for the winter months.

Only reason I have been to the cinema recently was I was on a date with a chick.... "Mr &amp; Mrs Smith" I think was the film we saw... I'd rather wait and get the film when it comes to DVD then get them back to my pad.. :lol:
42" screen as a drawcard... 8)