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Universal, AMC Theatres Forge Historic Deal Allowing Theatrical Releases to Debut on Premium VOD Early (Variety)
- Thread starter Cosmic Smash
- Start date
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Their own legal contracts aside, I think the concept of Studio-Distributor separation goes back to 20th century trust busting.
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Obviously Universal isn't trying to open its own theatre. But when theatres are no longer the only practical option to reach the consumer (and nowadays are even NOT an option given the virus), it opens up an interesting conversation.
quickwhips
Member
I mean it seems like drive ins should still exist if movie comapnies have to keep them a float.
Thaedolus
Gold Member
I don’t really give a shit about going to theaters even pre COVID...with a kid and a good home theater setup it’s just not worth the hassle/price. $20 seems alright to stay at home, wait until bedtime without paying through the nose for snacks and a sitter and maybe have a shot at the popcorn trick someday...
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MaestroMike
Gold Member
What's the popcorn trick?
ManaByte
Gold Member
Because the Theater Owners of America acts like the mafia.
MaestroMike
Gold Member
Amc is one of the biggest distributors of motion pictures and help studios make bank in the long run. Studios aren't allowed to own movie theatres so they still need each other and can't cut them out.
Throw a kernel in the air and catch it in your mouth
sol_bad
Member
This is good for the people that hate going to the movies, they get access to newer movies at a faster rate. I really highly doubt that movies like Fast and the Furious or Jurassic World are going to follow that model though. If Universal will make more money at the cinemas they are not going to release billion dollar franchises at home prematurely . Just like there are people who are happy to pay a $20 rental there are just as many other people who will say "fuck off" to an eye gouging $20 home rental fee. I'm happy to pay $20 or more at the cinemas because I'm renting their physical space, a chair, their screen and their sound, but at home I am not renting shit from them except for the film and $6 is the maximum I'll pay for a rental. That has been the standard price for 30+ years for a new release.
As for why the cinemas need to get involved. Universal are not going to make a billion dollars with VOD no matter how you cut it. When you go to the cinemas it's $10-$25 per person, on VOD it's $20 for 1-20 people, however many you want to invite over. Movie companies are losing anywhere from 50% to 200% or more per VOD rental. They make the majority of money at the cinemas so of course they need to play nice with the businesses that play their movies. It's got nothing to do with "mafia business" and everything to do with making sure both sides of the coin get a fair deal.
As for why the cinemas need to get involved. Universal are not going to make a billion dollars with VOD no matter how you cut it. When you go to the cinemas it's $10-$25 per person, on VOD it's $20 for 1-20 people, however many you want to invite over. Movie companies are losing anywhere from 50% to 200% or more per VOD rental. They make the majority of money at the cinemas so of course they need to play nice with the businesses that play their movies. It's got nothing to do with "mafia business" and everything to do with making sure both sides of the coin get a fair deal.
sol_bad
Member
How do you propose the studios make their money back?
Reallink
Member
This seems foolish on AMC's part. It's no doubt a limited time deal and Universal is all but assuredly only offering a pittance percentage. This will generate fractional revenue compared to what they'd get with an actual family of butts in their seats buying 2000% markup concessions, and it's saving them nothing on sunk overhead costs. Obviously the studios can only pay 1 chain, and the chains will now be competing with each other for similar deals with the remaining studios. The theater industry's only bargaining chip was to band together and just flat out refuse to carry films (or entire studios) that sell these day and date $20 rentals. I'm no fan of theaters (maybe see 2 movies a year), but I'm never going to pay $20 for a 24 hour rental either. If I am paying out the ass to see a new release, it would be in a premium format theater (IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Etc).
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Kenpachii
Member
Stop spending 300m for a fucking movie because u need to cramp it full with 50m actors and 200m cgi.
Sorry but has the quality increased from today's movies over past movies that spending only a fraction of that budget? not really. U want to spend 300m for a movie to be created, then start a premium streaming service where people can buy access towards those movies early and sell it for even double the ticket price and see how they care for it, they won't because they know nobody will care.
Going to the cinema was fun when internet and digital mediums weren't a thing or just upcoming because it was the only way to see something half decent, its utterly and utterly outdated concept wise now.
Just look at the cost.
20 euro ticket
22,50 euro parking
10 euro's worth of shit food and drinks.
Spend 5 hours of your time.
that's 50 euro's just to watch a movie u don't even know if u like and u gotta deal with this:
- Noise, other people, shitty chairs, shit food and expensive, can't pauze, insane loud noise to the point u never wanna sit anywhere but the middle and that shit is always taken.
And now with corona, its entirely a no go for anybody with half a brain.
With disney they should just get a disney ++ subscription that adds new movies towards it and then disney+ could simple give those movies after 4 months being on ++ added towards it.
Mihos
Gold Member
I would do it for some movies and just have people over to watch on my projector.
But others, like marvel, I would still like to see with a crowd.
They started haveing Manga and other niche viewing parties on Saturday mornings at a few theaters here, and they were a huge success before the shutdown.
But others, like marvel, I would still like to see with a crowd.
They started haveing Manga and other niche viewing parties on Saturday mornings at a few theaters here, and they were a huge success before the shutdown.
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sol_bad
Member
Oh
So you don't care about big Hollywood blockbusters and you don't support that side of the industry? You only watch things on Netflix so barely even support the industry as a whole to begin with. You say you hate going to the cinemas but also mention that you loved it prior to the internet boom. The cinema experience hasn't changed, if anything it's improved with sound and audio quality.
Why should people be forced to watch these big blockbuster films at home if they love watching it at the cinemas?
You say to release expensive movies on a premium VOD service? You mean a monthly subscription service? I just explained in an earlier post that studios won't make their money back with $20 rentals because they lose a lot of revenue that way compared to $20 per ticket. If people are paying $20-$80 a month for a premium VOD service they would lose even more money and have absolutely no chance of making their money back.
supernova8
Banned
Well the movie companies want to have their cake and eat it IMO. If they could have their own way, they'd have their movies out in cinemas AND VOD at the same time but obviously cinemas don't want this. As far as I understand it they don't really make that much money from the films themselves, it's the food and drink where they make a killing. Fewer people means less food and drink sold - less revenue. That's why they are super strict about bringing your own food/drink (to the point of even doing bag checks).
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