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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Getting around Disney's BV'S 3 WEEK OPEN/WAIT POLICY
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 05-12-2016 12:18 PM
We played Jungle Book and now Captain America on the break with the 3-week policy. I hate it, but that's the way it is.
But, here's what we do. Anytime we have a long booking (two weeks or more) I put the dates of the booking on the marquee. This tends to spread out the crowds much more. Using that system we have a bunch of nice manageable crowds, vs a handful of uncomfortable-sized crowds followed by two weeks of crickets.
This idea works especially well if the movie has good word of mouth. Our 3rd week of Jungle Book was almost as good as the 2nd week. And Star Wars:TFA, although comparatively quiet in the 4th week was still fairly near our average.
Going ahead, I don't really know if we'll stay on the Disney track but I do think we'll do the 3-week deal on Finding Dory, since that's looking like a big hit. The BFG, I'm not so sure about.
My big fear is the other studios seeing Disney getting away with this and copycatting them. There really needs to be a separate set of considerations for smaller venues playing on the break, since the studios are so hell-bent on getting movies to home video so fast. The CBG arm of NATO has been working on this and it appeared progress was being made, until Star Wars gave Disney all the power in the universe that they didn't already have.
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 05-12-2016 03:29 PM
We had run into this a few times before, mainly with Disney, IIRC. Barry brings up a good point about this year though. They have a lot of material and can gobble up your theatre for the better part of the Summer, if you let them.
As with Barry, we're a multiplex, so holding beyond 2 weeks has never been a problem for us. On the other hand, we had holdover problems at a single-screen drive-in we had back in '01. Even back that far, a 2-week booking at that place was one too many.
I wouldn't pretend to guess how Disney will handle future dates, but I wonder if this might cool off a bit, once the big Summertime releases play out. Overall, there seems to be a bit more room to work with the studios when the releases are more "average".
As for the Disney lineup this year... the double feature lineups are pretty good.
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 05-13-2016 01:20 PM
quote: Brian DeCiancio
they lost a lot of DIs and the extra percentage they wanted meant that they lost A LOT more than what they gained from higher percentage demanded from the others that felt the need to take the movie.
If they don't care that they lost hundreds of thousands in gross and thousands in film rental from those that held their ground, they certainly don't care about your theater--I'm sorry to say.
We thought about that, after reading the same opinion from a couple of additional owners. I know you and I don't see eye to eye on some issues, Brian, and while I respect your opinion on many matters, this is one area where I don't think the loss is as extreme as you suggest.
In an isolated area, it's possible that the percentages from a hold-out drive-in might be lost. In an area like mine however, many of the people who wanted to see the picture could just as easily have gone to one of the 6 indoor houses within my market area, and I believe they would have done exactly that. Here's where Disney wins either way. Those people would have paid somewhat higher admits than I charge (read: higher % back to the studio). The indoor houses pay slightly higher first-run percentages here, which would also translate to higher per-capita income for Disney.
I understand neither of us is likely to change our stance on this issue, and I can accept that. For me, I just don't believe the net effect on Disney would have been anywhere near as negative as it would have been for a lot of us, were we to have held out on Captain America. For that matter, I think 500 screens, indoor or out, could close tomorrow without it being a big-picture problem for any of the studios. I'm not sure I believe most of them would even notice.
I fully support making booking decisions, based on the strategic goals of one's business. However, using that tactic to send a collective message to Hollywood isn't something I think would ever work.
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