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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Ground Level   » Day after Thanksgiving not what it used to be? (Page 1)

 
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Author Topic: Day after Thanksgiving not what it used to be?
Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 11-28-2008 03:49 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm curious to know if other theatres have seen the day after Thanksgiving dwindle in the last few years. It's still a busy day, but the last 2-3 years we've done about 60-70% of the business we used to do. Where we used to have nearly 600 people for the opening rush we now have less than 400.

I have a theory it's the result of increasing importance on the Door Buster sales. I thought this year might be better with people not spending as much as in the past, but the opening rush was only slightly better than last year.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 11-28-2008 04:10 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We usually do quite well the night before Thanksgiving. I think it's because moms tell their kids to "get the hell out of the house, I'm getting ready for company!"

We had a very good Friday, almost as good as opening night for the film last week. ("Bolt") Word of mouth on this movie has been very good.

I didn't get a chance to compare to last year but I think it was about the same. At that time we were playing "Enchanted." Our town has a Christmas parade which draws lots of people downtown so it probably helps.

[ 11-29-2008, 12:06 AM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]

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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000


 - posted 11-28-2008 06:28 PM      Profile for Chad Souder   Email Chad Souder   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We need another "Grinch"

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Adam Fraser
Master Film Handler

Posts: 499
From: Houghton Lake, MI, USA
Registered: Dec 2001


 - posted 11-28-2008 09:21 PM      Profile for Adam Fraser   Author's Homepage   Email Adam Fraser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We did $200 more today than we did last year, but that small difference could be purely film or weather based. I didn't look at attendance figures tonight, but I believe we had 220-240 people in for our show tonight (Bolt)based on grosses. By far the busiest night for this film yet.

The night before Thanksgiving has always been an average night here. Friday and Saturday are typically within 5-10% of each other. Sunday goes back to normal.

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Gordon Hedges III
Jealous of everyone not me

Posts: 212
From: Severn, MD
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 11-28-2008 09:37 PM      Profile for Gordon Hedges III   Email Gordon Hedges III   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Chad, why did you have to bring back those memories of 'GRINCH'?!?!? [scream]

Actually, I was just talking someone about that the other day on how THE GRINCH was probably the busiest Black Friday I have seen since I have been in the business.

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Jeremy Weigel
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1062
From: Edmond, OK, USA
Registered: Mar 2007


 - posted 11-28-2008 11:00 PM      Profile for Jeremy Weigel   Email Jeremy Weigel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We had 423 more patrons this year over last for Black Friday, but our concession per cap was down .17 even though our concession prices went up .25 across the board since last year. Over all not too shabby.

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 11-29-2008 12:32 AM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
We were up by 10-15% over last year with a strong per capita, but it still was soft compared to what we did 3-4 years ago.

For what it's worth, the biggest Black Friday I can remember was Toy Story 2. I worked at our other theatre then and at one point we had a line at the box office that was probably 300' long with all 3 stations going. Today we never came close to needing more than 1 box office station.

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000


 - posted 11-29-2008 05:09 AM      Profile for Dustin Mitchell   Email Dustin Mitchell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The Saturday after Thanksgiving when The Grinch was playing remains my theatres busiest single day ever (revenue wise).

Its hard to measure our Black Friday business year to year because we split product so don't have the prime film every year.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 11-29-2008 08:12 AM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanksgiving day business is going to be very dependent on the quality and appeal of movies being released at that time. Quantum of Solace has already been out for awhile. Twilight seems geared for a very specific demographic (look for attendance numbers on that movie to free fall soon). Bolt isn't going to draw audiences in the manner of a Toy Story 2 or Harry Potter installment.

The struggling economy could have something to do with any downturns in business. However, the movie industry often does pretty well during bad economic times.

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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002


 - posted 11-29-2008 09:31 AM      Profile for Kenneth Wuepper   Email Kenneth Wuepper   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yes, Bobby,

That is why the theatres did well during the depression!

For the small price of admission the patron could be entertained in a grand manner. Surrounded by uniformed attendants and hosted in carpeted and crystal trimmed luxury, it was a wonderful escape from their circumstances and a chance to be happy for even a short few hours.

Some movie palaces still remain and they should fare well in the coming financial times. The theatre experience is more than just the story on the screen.

KEN

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 11-29-2008 09:39 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Going back to 2001, here's a ranking of our best attended films for Thanksgiving weekend.

1. Brother Bear (2003) (See below)
2. National Treasure (2004)
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
4. Happy Feet (2006)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
7. Bolt (2008)
8. Enchanted (2007)

Bolt might climb a notch or two since I had to guess what its attendance will be for the week. The reason Brother Bear was #1 is that it only played that one week. The rest of the movies are all films we played on the break so they were in week 2. If I was to rank these by TOTAL attendance for the run, the first Potter film would be #1.

We weren't yet playing films on the break when Toy Story 2 came out. We played that film over Christmas and it did great.

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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006


 - posted 11-29-2008 10:01 AM      Profile for Jim Cassedy   Email Jim Cassedy   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The theater I'm at got really screwed becuase the newspaper mucked up some showtimes, AND also had us listed as playing a film we weren't running and to make things more fun, they dropped the listing for a film which has been bringing in great business for the past 5 weeks, causing our box office receipts to drop considerably.

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Tyler Potts
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 159
From: Anderson, SC, USA
Registered: Sep 2008


 - posted 11-29-2008 12:01 PM      Profile for Tyler Potts   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Wednesday night, all Thursday, & Friday night... we'd get a steady but low crowd then expect the real rush to come on the next set... it never came. I'm getting emails from the DM & GM to cut payroll. This is insane, this should be the one weekend where we can go crazy with staffing, but no one's coming.

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System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004


 - posted 11-25-2011 03:24 PM      Profile for System Notices         Edit/Delete Post 

It has been 1091 days since the last post.


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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 11-25-2011 03:24 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The decline of Black Friday continues. While it's still too early to say it won't be a busy day, so far it's no busier than a typical Friday during the summer. I would say our opening was about 1/3 of what it was 5+ years ago.

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