my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Had many "Cars" walkouts? (Page 1)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: Had many "Cars" walkouts? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-13-2006 01:56 PM                        Most of us agreed that "Cars" was too long in the reviews section. Now we have this from the Internet Movie Database: IMDB Link Ticket sales for Disney/Pixar's "Cars" dropped significantly below what the company had expected on Sunday -- usually a good day for family films. As a result, the final weekend tally came to $60.1 million, rather than $62.8 million, as the studio had estimated. The drop in ticket sales seemed to suggest that word-of-mouth was not so strong as it had been for Pixar's previous animated films. (There were reports over the weekend that some parents were leaving theaters with restless kids before the movie ended.) If so, mid-week ticket sales for the movie -- usually a strong time for family fare during the first week of school vacation -- could be seriously affected. In any event, investors, sensing that Pixar may not prove to be the infallible entity that it was cracked up to be, began unloading Disney shares Monday. (At one point in early trading, they were down nearly 4 percent but then seemed to rebound, closing the day off 1.5 percent at $28.90.) In a note to clients, Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy." Banc of America analyst Doug Shapiro wrote that the lower-than-expected box-office results for Cars raised "questions about the rationale for the Pixar deal." (Disney had acquired Pixar earlier in the year for $7.4 billion.) However, Doug Mitchelson of Deutsche Bank Securities pointed out, "The movie has little competition most of the rest of the summer and could continue to see revenue through the end of August." And several analysts stuck to forecasts that the film would earn between $600 million and $650 million worldwide. ======= (Me again) As usual, this news overlooks one big factor: There have been a bunch of kid-films already this year, including the large hit "Over the Hedge" just 3 weeks ago. How much money are parents supposed to have, anyway? (I know, unlimited amounts.) Personally here, we have experienced ZERO walkouts except for one lady who thankfully removed a screamin' baby. Otherwise the kids seem vastly entertained and we're seeing repeat business from some of the teens too. How's it going in your area?  |  IP: Logged Chad M Calpito Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Apr 2006 posted 06-13-2006 02:56 PM                        From what I have seen, the movie is doing really good. Our auditoriums (#1 & #10) were pretty full, especially for the evening shows. If there were any walk-outs, I haven't seen any. From what I have heard, people are giving this movie really good reviews.  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 06-13-2006 04:12 PM                     Monday was down more than I expected after the bang up wkend it had. But weather may have had an impact. No walk-outs. Some reviewers and stock analyst's tend to have their head in the sand and can't see the big picture. And what does Wall-street know, they dump shares over the dumbest things.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-13-2006 05:29 PM                        I didn't have 'walk-outs'. I did have that one parent each show that had to bring the younger sibling out to the video games and wait for the significant other that watched the rest of the movie with the older sibling. In which case I usually gave the parent that had to miss the last reel of the film a pass to come back to another show. I had to do this about a dozen times over the weekend.  |  IP: Logged Matt Fields Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 545 From: Ohio, United States Registered: Jun 2005 posted 06-13-2006 06:49 PM                     I've had a few really small kids (under 5) wondering the lobby with a disgruntled parent, but no walkouts. Most of the comments I've heard have been positive, and its holding up well through the week. In fact, the local McDonalds brought in a group of employees to see it Monday night. - Matt  |  IP: Logged Ron Curran Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 504 From: Springwood NSW Australia Registered: Feb 2006 posted 06-13-2006 07:45 PM                        Unfortunately, too many parents equate G-rated animation with kids film and kids are all under 5 and you don't have to pay for under 5s, do you? Despite our advice, based on years of experience, parents insist on inflicting their toddlers on all audiences. This is spoiling the experience for the older siblings. Yes, we tryto dissuade them. Yes, we make an announcement before each session. People are too selfish to care about others. Although Cars is a stunning theatrical experience, this is why the DVD is the future for family films.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-13-2006 10:04 PM                        quote: Ron Curran Although Cars is a stunning theatrical experience, this is why the DVD is the future for family films. I don't really agree with this. Most people without kids are smart enough to know that you don't go to a weekend early show if you want to actually hear the movie. Our crowds for Cars the last couple of days have featured lots of adult couples. Of course there are always a couple of "movie ruiner" babies too. I'm much quicker to go ask the parents to take the kid out on weeknights when there aren't three dozen babies in the crowd.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-13-2006 10:12 PM                        I'm much more forgiving of audience chatter in a movie like "Cars", especially from kids. I know what I'm in for if I go to a matinee for a Pixar/Disney film. There were a few noisy kids at the showing I attended, and the obligatory screaming baby. Normally I wouldn't put up with it but for "Cars" it didn't bother me much. Mike has the right idea - On a weeknight with mostly adults, a single screaming kid is a more serious problem then a Saturday morning when there's lots of families with young kids making noise.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 06-14-2006 08:00 AM                    I agree with the weather being a big factor on this. Another factor possibly... has anyone mentioned "Cars" to someone you know only to get a "Huh? What's that?"?? I've gotten that a couple of times from relatively savvy movie goers that I know. I have no idea how they hadn't heard of it before I told them about it. I thought that was odd, and not a good sign for the movie. We play ours good and loud, and by the end of the movie, everyone is laughing loudly, and occasionally they clap and cheer at the end of the last race. No walk outs that I know of. Usually everyone leaves smiling and talking about what they just saw. We were scheduled to interlock our print, which we did, but I'm not sure that we needed to. I'm hoping this movie picks up, or at least holds on for quite a long time.  |  IP: Logged Paul Konen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 981 From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-14-2006 09:33 AM                     Had some people complain about the Flicka trailer because of the word [INSERT DRUM ROLL] "DAMN". We took them off after numerous complaints on Sunday. Fox is supplying a new version this week without that word in it.  |  IP: Logged Gregory Brannon Film Handler Posts: 28 From: McKinney, TX, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-14-2006 10:19 AM                     When I saw the running time of Cars, I had concerns that it may be too long for younger kids. I think all kid/family oriented feature should be 90 mins to 100 mins max. Another thing that I initially had some concerns about is whether this the title/theme of the movie may deter some of the female younger audience by thinking that it's boy oriented movie. However no one in the media hasn't questioned this. I remember when Dreamworks "Small Soldiers" came out years ago that was one of the concerns pointed out by industry analyst as something that could affect box office.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 06-14-2006 12:24 PM                     quote: Mike Blakesley Of course there are always a couple of "movie ruiner" babies too. Mike, This doesn't apply to movies like "Cars" which are kids movies and people know to expect this (and avoid the times where it is likely to be a problem), but why don't you ban babies from adult shows? I mean, for PG-13 and especially R rated movies, people shouldn't have the right to bring babies in to ruin the show for everybody else.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-14-2006 01:03 PM                        There have been a few companies that have enforced two 'baby' rules: No small children under 5 are allowed into the last evening show. No small children allowed into R rated movies. While in theory - they are great rules - you are always going to have that one exception. Hence the reason most companies have stopped enforcing those type of restrictions on their films. Any rule that bars people from seeing a film is bad news for business. That is why the PG-13 rating is so popular now - Anyone can get into one of those films! Seriously - at my location, I try to be on the lookout for little ones in R films or in the last evening shows. If I feel it necessary - I say something to the parents.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-15-2006 12:17 AM                     I was surprised to see the trailer for How to Eat Friend Worms... that was hilarious, I can't wait to see it. It got alot of reaction too.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-15-2006 04:28 AM                        quote: Lyle Romer This doesn't apply to movies like "Cars" which are kids movies and people know to expect this (and avoid the times where it is likely to be a problem), but why don't you ban babies from adult shows? Well first of all, "Cars" really is a movie that's just as much for adults as it is for kids, and we've had lots of adults without kids come to it. I cannot for the life of me figure out why all these otherwise-intelligent people bring their 1-year-olds to see ANY movie. As if the kid is actually paying attention. More often than not the mom winds up pacing the lobby for half the film. As for the question -- people drive in from neighboring towns to come to our theatre, so it would be pretty hard to tell someone who just drove 30 miles that they can't bring little Junior in to the movie. I would LOVE to implement such a rule but I think it would be economic suicide in a small town like ours. (I would also like to charge, say, $10 for babies but I'm chicken to try that unless someone else does it first!)  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.