Later this month, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Sony plan to launch a premium video-on-demand service that is causing much consternation among theater owners. The service would shorten the theatrical-to-home-entertainment window to two months and allow rental of semi-new releases for around $30. Since I’m silly and naïve, I hoped that theaters would make positive chances that would lure consumers out of their homes and back into auditoriums. Instead, Deadline reports that Regal Cinemas is planning to retaliate by cutting the trailers and posters of these studios just as blockbuster season is upon us. Studios would then be forced to make up the difference by heavily marketing on TV, which is expensive and doesn’t have the benefit of a captive audience.
Hit the jump for more on this intriguing development.
Before you get your hopes up that next time you go to a Regal theater you won’t have to sit through twenty minutes of trailers before getting to the movie you paid for, keep in mind that Disney and Paramount aren’t part of the VOD service (they were concerned about piracy). It’s possible that Regal will just stack the trailer portion with more of Disney and Paramount’s movies or audiences will be treated to more of the insufferable “pre-trailer” advertising so you can learn more about that new TNT show you won’t be watching.
Keep in mind that this is just a threat at this point. Regal isn’t promising to follow through and I’m not sure what happens even if they do. The studios have already invested in the premium VOD service and deals are in place with DirecTV and cable companies. They can’t reverse course now and the whole point of the premium VOD service is the smaller release window. If they push it back to three months, then the service is undercut by Blu-rays and DVDs of the same movie. If studios fight fire with fire and make the release window even smaller, then they threaten to reduce their box office revenue.
While I understand and applaud Regal’s intent to not simply sit back and let studios reduce theater revenues even further, I’m curious to discover what their endgame is in all this.
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No biggie, I’ll just go to AMC…my regal isn’t that nice anyway
Regrettably for you, this article fails to point out the fact that AMC is joining Regal in this matter. Probably Cinemark as well.
But isn’t at least 5 month from release til a movie is on video at least for the big releases.
Their endgame is obviously to end up like Blockbuster Video.
You’d think a more productive measure would be pricing. Since ticket prices go up every year, audience attendance drops. I would be all for cheaper seats. It would get me out to the movies more often if I didn’t have to shell out $20 for me and my wife to see a movie, we’d spend the savings on overpriced candy and soda.
This is a vicious cycle and unless someone does something brilliant to change it in ten year’s time we’re going to see every movie released direct to Blu-Ray or VOD. Which, in turn, means that quality will suffer because, as Disney most notably has illustrated, direct to home video films aren’t made with the same care and craft as theatrical releases.
Rather than battling each other the studios and theater chains need to work together to create an experience that’s going to be memorable. For example with movies like Avatar and TRON: Legacy, Fox and Disney respectively sent representatives out to several IMAX theaters to ensure that everything was properly calibrated and that the presentation was as good as it could possibly be, and if you were lucky enough to see the movie at one of those theaters than you got an experience that you could not replicate at home, and paying the premium for an IMAX ticket felt totally justifiable.
As much as I hate rude audience members and pre-trailer advertisements, my single biggest complaint with going to the movies is paying through the nose and getting a shoddy presentation. If I’m paying $10-$15 a ticket, I expect the projector to be bright and in focus, the sound to be loud, clear, and immersive, and the 3D to be properly aligned. It seems, however, that as the prices go up the general care and quality of the presentation has gone down.
That’s what sets apart the cinema from the living room, if it’s done right you get an immersive experience that you simply cannot get on a home system, and that’s one thing that IMAX at least is getting right. Fault them all you will for their progressive switch to all digital theaters (and I fault them for that too) but when you see a movie in IMAX you can expect a certain level of quality in the presentation that you can not get at home. That is how all theaters need to be, and the film studios need to work with the theaters to give them the tools to make this happen and ensure that it’s happening on a regular basis.
Shortening the release window to 3 months isn’t that bad when you think about it. Anybody know of a theater still playing The Green Hornet? That came out less than 3 months ago and was gone by early March. Theaters push ‘em out for the latest and greatest all the time. I’m just worried about shortening them smaller than 3 months.
I have to agree with pretty much everyone else. It seems the answer is staring hollywood and theater owners right in the face yet they won’t admit it. People have stopped going to theaters because its too expensive. How hard is that to understand? People have stopped buying movies because they are too expensive. Given the cheaper alternatives to theater visits and disc purchases, the execs are losing. How do they handle it? Fighting amongst themselves? More expensive tickets and VOD? Is there a brain among them? Figure out a way to drop ticket prices. Figure out a way to drop disc sales prices. That’s the only way you’ll reclaim audiences.
I have a wife and 2 kids. A theater visit is like $35. Waiting for Netflix to send it to me a couple months later, more or less $2. My theater attendance has plummeted in the last 3 years along with most other people. Is it so unreasonable to ask for even $6 tickets?
I know I’m a little off subject from the article, but isn’t this the real issue here? Its getting people back into the theater. Childish acts like pulling posters and trailers isn’t going to help either side. I’m willing to bet $30 VOD won’t either.
i talk to my friends about this all time time:
WHY DONT THEY LOWER TICKET PRICES. I would go to 5 times as many movies and probably get suckered into 5 times as much popcorn if the movies only cost 5 bucks. Instead, I only pick and choose the movies that i HAVE to see in theaters and ignore the other 85%. If movies were a cheaper diversion then all of us would go see more shitty movies, just because its fun to do.
You guys are all WRONG. If movie ticket prices are lowered, or even stay the same, then how will movie stars make a buck? Huh? How can Jim Carey or Bruce Willis provide for his family for only $10 million a movie? Hollywood actors are our most treasured citizens, along with professional athletes and reality TV stars. Lowering ticket prices? You’re practically stealing from these people, making them live like a teacher, or a soldier, or police officer, or any other nobody. Shame on all of you!
I am NOT paying 30 bucks to watch something at home. However, Regal never has anything I want to see anyway (I think the last thing I saw there was ‘Wolverine’ – a family thing – and a painful one at that!
No ads before the movies, that’s awesome. Good job Regal.
No ads before the movie, sign me up.
Well I won’t hate on Regal and AMC for retaliating. Studios keep shooting themselves in the foot IMO by shortening the window between theatrical and home market releases. For a family of 4 you’re better off paying the 30 bucks and having a family night, inviting friends over and you still have the movie for 48 hours so you can see it again the next day. Alternate with buddies or family and each can alternate on who pays for the film. Save lots of money
If it was up to me I’d go back to what it was 15 years or so ago. Maybe about a year between theatrical and home release of any kind. Now I don’t know if that would backfire but the idea of having to wait that long would get the ones on the fence out to the theaters
I’m a projectionist for a Regal multiplex, and I can tell you as of this moment in our lobby we only have banners/standees/ceilling danglers in place that promote Paramount, Disney or independent films. It didn’t occur to me until I read this article. There was no explicit directive from higher up in the company regarding this that I’m aware of, so unless this is just a strange coincidence, Regal has already been quietly making moves to decrease advertising for the four colluding studios mentioned in this deal, to the benefit of Paramount, Disney and other smaller companies.
I agree with everyone on here. Why spend $50 for me and my wife to grab some towne-center food and go to the theater only to be annoyed by loud teenagers and fat close-sitters? When we were dating, we went to see movies all the time. Now, we are mature enough that we can wait to Netflix it and enjoy a movie on my hdtv with a nice home cooked meal for a fraction the price. Who absolutely NEEDS to see a film in a theater more than a couple times a year anyway? Maybe if tickets were $5 all the time and they served fast food (at regular prices) instead of that shit they have now, people might start returning to the cinema in pre-television like numbers.
You guys don’t get it. The theaters have no say in how much ticket prices are. the distribution companies set those prices. The theaters recieve a small (very, very small at that) fraction of the ticket prices. They generate revenue from concessions. Popcorn and soda is how they get paid. So stop saying that the theaters should lower their ticket prices to get more people into the movies. It’s the distribution companies that need to do this.
I don’t care who the fuck is in charge of ticket prices. The entire industry is hurting because of it. Somebody needs to lower it if they want to keep asses in theater seats.
Ticket prices are a reflection of rising costs mainly taken on by the studios to produce the films we do watch and the losses for the ones we dont. However, its also the tacked on middle man theater chains looking for profits to provide viewing ratcheting up prices. Its with the theaters that the movie industry is in a choke hold. These chains bloat all services cost with little in return to the end customer. Im all for the model of movie viewing to be changed and challenged by the film industry to get the product they made into the hands of the masses anyway possible. Its a digital age no one should have to rely on archaic methods to get films seen by a public. VOD has its place as does theaters. Neither one trumps the other. If theater owners are worried about losing patrons they need to step up and provide a level of service beyond what they have become accustomed to with out raising prices. Twizzlers in bulk dont cost 4 dollars a bag. Popcorn is not a rare treat garnering a 10 dollar price tag. Cleaning a theater and bathrooms to some level of decency should be expected. Patrolling the decency of patrons would be nice, but may be too much to ask. Theaters look to squeeze out money from everyone at every level and cry when challenged to change their business model to appeal to those they rely on to stay in business. If they decide to cut their throat throwing away ad money where do you think they will try and make up the costs at?
screw all of them. The studios and the theaters.
The problem, if you want to know, is a combination of pirates and crap movies. 90% of Hollywood movies are bullshit and pirates. Whoever the studios gives the contracts to make the dvds and blu rays for their movies are also pimping that crap out on torrent sights and beyond. It is a dirty business. And the theaters with their overpriced ass concession stands can kiss my ass!Mom, dad, two to three kids all getting hot dogs, drinks, popcorn, candy and heaven forbid you you get nachos. Them sons of bitches cost like $8.00! A teaspoon of goddamn cheese whiz and a half dozen tortilla chip(could they make them chips any damn smaller!).Oh and don’t let the movie be in 3D cause that just tags on an additional 3 to 4 bucks on an already steep ticket price.
We talking about a good hundred dollars for a fam of five without counting the ticket. That’s is unacceptable to me.