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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Why aren't classics shown on the biggest screens?
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Geoff Jones
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 579
From: Broomfield, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-15-2019 01:57 PM
Scott, are there any examples of theaters being penalized for breaking this "rule?" It's hard to imagine Sony getting their panties in a bunch over one showing three weeks after OUaTiH opened. (And anyone who wants to see OUaTiH on the big screen has dozens of other opportunities.)
Incidentally, Harkins Northfield in Denver is showing four different titles on its premium screen over the next several days, with two or three titles there each day. (Angry Birds 2, 47 Meters Down, Good Boys, and Apocalypse Now.) I wonder if they are breaking the rules or if they have a special arrangement with the (4!) different studios distributing those films... Either way, it's nice to see them making the extra effort to provide these opportunities for their customers.
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) a "classic"?
Everyone has different tastes. I define a classic as any film people are willing to revisit in the theater. Have you got a better definition?
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
I suspect the real reason is that in most locations, with a few exceptions in major cities, a "classic" film will not draw more than 75 to 100 paying customers.
Everyone says that they would like to see their favorite classics on the big screen again, but when it comes to putting their cold hard cash down at the boxoffice, it seem that most are nowhere to be found.
I don't understand this reply at all. I've provided data showing that more people are willing to put down their cold hard cash to see an older film than a current release in the metro Denver area tonight, and I have seen this in other areas as well.
And besides, the whole point of my post was to suggest a reason why more people aren't attending: Because theaters aren't showing them on big screens!
What is the relevance of 75 to 100 paying customers? I've seen reports on these forums about multiplexes that aren't drawing 75 to 100 paying customers for an entire day on some days. Should they just close those days? Or maybe try something different?
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Geoff Jones
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 579
From: Broomfield, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-15-2019 06:04 PM
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
I can't speak to the Denver market, but here in suburban New Jersey, those venues that regularly run classic films rarely draw more than 100 paying customers.
Again, the reference to "100 paying customers" makes no sense to me.
There aren't theaters in West Milford, NJ with reserved seating, so I can't tell how many tickets they are selling, but the AMC in Rockaway, NJ twenty-two miles south has sold a whopping 27 tickets to Hobbs & Shaw for the 7pm showing that just started in their Dolby Cinema auditorium. By my math, a classic film screening in that auditorium tonight would need to sell 28 tickets, not 100, in order to make more money.
But my point was not that more theaters should show classics (although they should!), my point was that theaters showing classics should put them on their largest screens.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Definately booking restrictions. The exhibitor has signed a contract to play it in X sized auditorium for X number of weeks.
I keep hearing this, but I also keep running into examples where it doesn't appear to be true. When looking at the AMC Rockaway, I noticed they are playing multiple titles in their Dolby Cinema Auditorium. (Dora (Par) and Hobbs (Uni) this week, then Blinded By The Light (WB) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony) starting tomorrow.) Maybe I'm naive, but I find it hard to believe they negotiated arrangements between all four studios to juggle showtimes in that auditorium. Wouldn't the paperwork and legal review make that cost-prohibitive?
There may actually be booking restrictions in the fine print of their contracts, but based on what I keep seeing, it doesn't seem like the studios care.
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Geoff Jones
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 579
From: Broomfield, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-16-2019 09:10 AM
quote: Martin McCaffery
Nonetheless, the number of people who make their decisions based on screen size is so small it is probably beyond measuring.
I don't buy this. Theaters spend millions to design, build, and promote "Premium Large Format" auditoriums. (RPX, Cine1, CineCapri, Dolby Cinema, Imax, LieMax, UltraScreen, EPIC, SDX, GDX, SuperScreen DLX, BigD(!), ETX, Prime, UltraAVX, XD, etc.) I can't believe they spend all that money for a customer segment so small it is probably beyond measuring.
quote: Martin McCaffery
Very little in the film distribution business makes "sense."
This, I buy. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
quote: Martin McCaffery
You just have to deal with it.
I don't know about this. I took my kids to Harkins Tuesday Night Classics occasionally and noticed that there were more people in attendance at the classics than at whatever was in their PFL auditorium. I reached out to them on social media and email to ask that they move those showings to the big screen. They've started doing that for some showings, and based on my casual observation, attendance at those showings has increased. Customers are having a better experience and the theater is making more money.
#AndyDufresne
quote: Helmut Maripuu
Just filling out the form, usually the movie will come up in the program.
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 08-16-2019 01:14 PM
I do mind the auditorium something is played in. Especially a classic movie revival has no business being screened at screen 47 in a multiplex, then I rather watch it at home, thank you.
It doesn't need to play in the biggest auditorium either, but it does need to be a decent sized room, preferably something that still looks like a proper cinema.
Also, going to the movies and sitting in an empty theater might be fun now and then, especially if you're not working in the industry and can have that perk essentially as often as you want, but there is actually something special when seeing a movie as part as a larger audience.
I can still remember sell out or near sell outs for reruns of classics and semi-classics (where-ever you draw the line) like Brazil, The Big Lebowski, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wall, The Right Stuff, 2001, Ben-Hur and a lot more. Those are really fun to watch, especially because you are there with other people that come there either for the experience or specially for that movie.
But even for such events, you need to build an audience, you can't just randomly schedule a classic movie in your otherwise first-run schedule and think a whole bunch of people will show up. It needs time, so people actually start to watch your programming and decide to free up their busy schedule to come to you.
The problem is, it requires some dedication, a human touch, somebody curating a program, know how to advertise it and build a bit of cult status around it, so you get a regular following. Then this sort of thing can actually make money. But this is not something you can expect from a mega-chain like AMC. Too much effort for the potential gain...
And yes, there are often booking restrictions, not so much fitting in this one show into the existing schedule, but getting an acceptable deal (as in the rental costs and permission) from the studio/distributor to actually be allowed to screen that particular movie isn't always easy... (And then there's that other thing: Getting a DCP that works or... imagine, even an actual film print...) Been there, done that. And since Fox is now Disney, stuff hasn't really gotten better in that regard.
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