Movies & Cinema during the Pandemic? Catch-all Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Worth]

So with Drive Ins during the virus spread, keep your windows closed and use the car battery with the motor off for sound. I assume that means no car air conditioning. Do they provide a cable jump if your car battery dies during a double feature?

I think the last time I went to a drive-in was over 30 years ago, but I remember starting the engine once or twice to cool it down and keep the battery from draining.

 

[Tino]

The Hunt looked cool but I don't know if I need to risk my life and the lives of the people I come in contact with to see it. That's just me though

Used a free rental to watch it. My wife and I were both entertained.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Oklahoma announces movie theaters can reopen May 1st. I doubt many will though.

Governor Stitt Details Plans To Reopen Oklahoma Starting April 24

 

[Tino]

Oklahoma announces movie theaters can reopen May 1st. I doubt many will though.

Governor Stitt Details Plans To Reopen Oklahoma Starting April 24

Another idiot governor. Shame on them all.

 

[Wayne_j]

AMC theaters being sued by a mall in Florida for missing rent. The rent owed is in the tens of thousands, they are suing AMC for over a million.

 

[TonyD]

Here’s an article that lays out the info if you don’t want to listen to a long winded take forever to get the meat of the matter 10 minute long video.

AMC Theatres Sued by Florida Mall Owners After Not Paying Rent - TheWrap

Lawsuit seeks in excess of $7.5 million in damages after AMC location did not pay $52,000 in rent for April

www.thewrap.com

The mall is in Hialeah, Florida just outside of Miami.

 

[TravisR]

Why am I suddenly reminded of The Simpsons episode where Lionel Hutz says "...this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film The Neverending Story"?

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Texas is allowing movie theaters to reopen this Friday.

Texas Will Allow Movie Theaters to Reopen on Friday

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said theaters could reopen with 25% capacity, but many theater chains are eyeing a July opening.

variety.com

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It’ll be the same story as Georgia. No new product to show, chains won’t reopen one state at a time, and extremely unlikely that studios will provide licenses to screen older films for fear of the bad press that would follow if a new outbreak was traced to a movie theater.

 

[Sam Favate]

This is big news.

Universal claims Trolls 2 made $100 million in three weeks from VOD, and says in the future it will release movies to theaters and VOD simutaneously.

AMC responded by saying it will no longer show any Universal films if that is the case.

I guess we won't be seeing the new Jurassic Park movie on AMC's 8,000+ screens in the US (more than any other chain).

AMC Theatres says it won't screen Universal films in wake of 'Trolls World Tour' comments

AMC Theatres' CEO announced that the theater chain will no longer screen Universal's movies, after CEO Jeff Shell's comments regarding the VOD success of 'Trolls World Tour.'

ew.com

 

[Wayne_j]

That's $100,000,000.00 Not $100.

 

[TravisR]

I basically said the same thing in another thread but Universal will fold faster than Superman on wash day on this. The theaters and the studios need each other but Universal needs the theaters more than the theaters need Universal.

 

[Tino]

That's $100,000,000.00 Not $100.

No. It’s $100.00
Seriously. One. Hundred. Dollars.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

That's $100,000,000.00 Not $100.

Well, ya gotta make $100 to be on the way to $100,000,000!

 

[Mysto]

Well, ya gotta make $100 to be on the way to $100,000,000!

They make up the difference in concessions. Hard to do when you're streaming.

 

[Sam Favate]

Regal is joining with AMC and will refuse to show Universal films.

Regal joins AMC Theatres in refusing Universal films over 'Trolls World Tour' streaming success

In the wake of the streaming success of 'Trolls World Tour,' theater chains are refusing to show Universal movies. Universal is hitting back.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Sam Favate]

That's $100,000,000.00 Not $100.

Fixed. Thanks!

 

[Jake Lipson]

We've also been discussing the Universal issue over in the 2020 box office thread.

All Universal has to do is continue to respect the theatrical exclusive window that has been in place for decades aand not try a simultaneous VOD release, and then the big chains will be happy to book their movies. This is no different from Netflix with their awards contenders that only play in a handful of arthouses that are willing to book them.

I think eventually they will come to their senses and things will go back to the status quo with regard to windowing, and then we'll see Universal product at the big chains again. All of the talk is theoretical anyway until theaters are open again.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Meanwhile, I can just as likely envision a scenario where the theaters are given the okay to open in more than half but less than 100% of the country/world, where it will not be possible for a tentpole to make the money it did prior to shutdown. If such a split occurs, it seems entirely within the realm of possibility that a studio like Universal could say, “Look, we can’t open Fast and Furious without the full percentage of theaters and make our money back. So we can delay it another year. Or, you can play it at your theaters and it will also be on iTunes at a premium price because we need both of those revenue streams to make us whole.”

 

[TravisR]

Meanwhile, I can just as likely envision a scenario where the theaters are given the okay to open in more than half but less than 100% of the country/world, where it will not be possible for a tentpole to make the money it did prior to shutdown.

About the only way I can see theaters playing movies in July is by not exceeding 1/3 or maybe 1/2 of the theater (I assume it would depend on the size and spacing of the seats) and then increasing the number of screens that play a movie to compensate for the decrease in seating per theater. So a 12 screen theater will have Mulan on like 5 or 6 screens (instead of 2 or 3 screens) and then Tenet will have 5 or 6 screens and maybe one other movie gets a screen. That MAY work if people are even willing to go back to theaters but it seems like a helluva gamble for the studios to take with their $150 or $200 million movie.