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Sounds like exhibitors should basically say to BV, "All bets are off! Since you put ads on prints that you previously said couldn't have any, WE are putting ads on too!"

MAYBE if this fight goes on long enough, people will be fed up and we won't have to put ads on ANY movies anymore!

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It all sounds like a crock of crap to me... especially, now that they are putting their own ads on. If they want no ads, then they should say NO ads. Really, the way I see it, they are weakening their own position.

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If I owned a theatre and I wanted to have dancing girls going up and down the aisles, that's MY business and nobody else's.
Once that first preview hits the screen and the lights go down, that time belongs to the people who want to promote new, upcomming movies. Once the feature hits the screen and the lights to out, that time belongs to the distributor of the movie. Once the movie ends and the lights come back up, that's MY time again.

Disney/BV wouldn't get much ad revenue at all if they tried to push the issue. If I have 14 screens and only 2 of them have Disney/BV films, then they only have 1/7 of the screens. If they split that 50/50, then they only get 1/14.

I agree with you -- Disney isn't going to press the issue, probably because it wouldn't be worth the court costs, plus, the studios already lost big-time with that same arguement when they tried to get a cut of concession sales -- "no one is coming into your theatre to buy popcorn -- they are only there because they want to see our movie." And I really like the idea of the dancing girls in the isles. I am old enough to remember that the theatres in Times Square all had concession girls who walked up and down the isles selling popcorn, candy and ice cream bars. Those were the days, my friends.

And just for the record, I have no problem with studios promoting their up coming product via trailers. I think trailers are a totally acceptable form of advertising because they are movie-related and audiences have been seeing them since before the world was created so there is no aesthetic objection to them (although I don't think they played ANYTHING before roadshow engagements, which says something about aesthetics). But all other ads, no matter how they dress them up to look "movie-like" rather than "tv ad-like," have no place on my screen. If the producer is so hot on selling ads, then work for it --go out and negotiate placements and work them unobtrusively into the body of the film. Don't take the easy way out and expect me to compromise my presentation and alienate my audience.

And no, even after the lights go out, my theatre never "belongs" to the producer, the studio or the distributor (eventhough their cut of the ticket sales may indicate otherwise). I don't get to tell them how to make their movies -- they don't get to tell me how to run my theatre.