A Quiet Place 2, Lovebirds and F9 delayed, no release dates announced

[Jim Cassedy]

[Scott Jentsch]

I'd like to see the studios work with theaters to institute a $5 or $6 promotional price for all movies (or at least any movie past its first x weeks of release) on all days.

Around here, Marcus offers $5 movies on Tuesdays, and it's a very popular promotion. Proof that people will go to the movies, even on a Tuesday, if the price is right.

I can imagine that such a promotion would require the participation of the studios, and I can imagine that the bean counters would hesitate to lower the price and risk their box office bragging rights, but I would think that the economics would work out in the end. They could avoid damaging the perceived value by calling it a "special promotion" or something ("pandemic pricing"?) that would indicate that once this pandemic has passed, so will the promotional pricing.

Most theaters have issued statements about limiting attendance at their theaters, with spacing between patrons and 50% max capacity admission, etc., and doing a promotion to get people to come will keep people going to the movies (so they don't get out of the habit) and the theaters have the chance to prove that they can take steps to entertain audiences while following health advisory guidelines. It would keep at least that part of our world functioning, which is a good thing for everyone involved.

Has anyone tried to do this?

[Scott Jentsch]

This is the list of movies that have been moved so far (please feel free to update me on anything I'm missing):

1. No Time to Die
2. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
3. F9 The Fast Saga
4. A Quiet Place Part II
5. Blue Story
6. The Lovebirds
7. Mulan
8. The New Mutants
9. Antlers

The stories with the details, old, and new release dates, etc. are available on the links (look for the "Journal Entries" link in the navigation).

[Armand Daiguillon]

I'd like to see the studios work with theaters to institute a $5 or $6 promotional price for all movies (or at least any movie past its first x weeks of release) on all days.

Around here, Marcus offers $5 movies on Tuesdays, and it's a very popular promotion. Proof that people will go to the movies, even on a Tuesday, if the price is right.

I can imagine that such a promotion would require the participation of the studios, and I can imagine that the bean counters would hesitate to lower the price and risk their box office bragging rights, but I would think that the economics would work out in the end. They could avoid damaging the perceived value by calling it a "special promotion" or something ("pandemic pricing"?) that would indicate that once this pandemic has passed, so will the promotional pricing.

Most theaters have issued statements about limiting attendance at their theaters, with spacing between patrons and 50% max capacity admission, etc., and doing a promotion to get people to come will keep people going to the movies (so they don't get out of the habit) and the theaters have the chance to prove that they can take steps to entertain audiences while following health advisory guidelines. It would keep at least that part of our world functioning, which is a good thing for everyone involved.

Has anyone tried to do this?

Regarding the $5 movies on Tuesday, anybody can do that. (we do it for $5.75) HOWEVER...there are some movies that we wont do it on, specifically any "event" movies (Star Wars, Avengers, etc) If your average ticket falls too low Disney gets displeased. And they have been know to charge the difference if they feel its warranted. I have not had issues with any other film companies and even with Disney I can tell what should and should not be eligible. But if you feel a "discount tuesday" (as we call it) would help you - go for it. For us its like having an extra Sunday every week.

Also speaking of Disney, they will be making some older titles available at 35% (with no minimum I believe) to "help" during this time. The following are available - Star Wars: ROS, Malefecent, Frozen 2, Ford V Ferrari, Underwater, Spies in Disguise

I personally do not think ANY of those titles will help me, especially since we still have to charge regular pricing (as of now) but - just thought y'all should know.

[Scott Jentsch]

Regarding the $5 movies on Tuesday, anybody can do that. (we do it for $5.75) HOWEVER...there are some movies that we wont do it on, specifically any "event" movies (Star Wars, Avengers, etc) If your average ticket falls too low Disney gets displeased.

But, can theaters do it every day of the week? I was under the impression that it was an agreement of sorts between theaters and studios that doing a low-cost promotion on a Monday or Tuesday was ok, but not for the big days of Friday and Saturday.

Is it just a matter of keeping up the average ticket price, so the $5 Tuesdays are outweighed by the $13 Fridays and Saturdays, so the average still works out above the minimums overall?

[Armand Daiguillon]

But, can theaters do it every day of the week? I was under the impression that it was an agreement of sorts between theaters and studios that doing a low-cost promotion on a Monday or Tuesday was ok, but not for the big days of Friday and Saturday.

Is it just a matter of keeping up the average ticket price, so the $5 Tuesdays are outweighed by the $13 Fridays and Saturdays, so the average still works out above the minimums overall?

No, definitely not on any other day of the week. Tuesdays have become "the standard" but anything else and you'd not only be charged the difference, you'd probably lose product altogether.
If you're charging $5/$6 but the competitors charge regular price ....everybody goes to you and then film company loses out. Certain market based average ticket prices must be maintained.


Also regarding the Disney movies they are making available, i've been told they "may" allow some discounting - i'll know more on Monday.

[Frank Cox]

I used to have "sheep night" on Thursdays. I put my sheep on the ticket counter:

20200315_132902.jpg

Still have him on the shelf, just brought him out so he could get his picture taken.

Anyway, on "sheep night" everyone got in for the child admission price.

I stopped doing that several years ago since the only thing it seemed to accomplish was to cost me money when people just waited for "sheep night" instead of coming to the show earlier in the week.

[Sarah Treichel]

We're hoping that some of the smaller films, like Emma or I Still Believe, will expand more quickly now and get to our tiny market in time for us to keep offering fresh films for a few more weeks. With tent poles going down left and right, doesn't it seem like a good opportunity for smaller films to fill in the gaps and snatch up whatever eyeballs are available?

[Mike Blakesley]

Long ago, we did "Ladies night" on Monday and "Men's night" on Tuesday. This was because the men's bowling league met on Monday and the ladies on Tuesday.

Then that got to where it wasn't really drawing much of a crowd (and the bowling leagues shrunk, too), so we changed it do just "Discount night" on Monday. All tickets were $5, as I remember.

After a while it became obvious that nobody came to the movies just because it was Discount Night. They came because they wanted to go to the movie, no other reason. Iin fact, some people expressed surprise when told their tickets were cheaper than they expected.

So, eventually we decided to scrap Discount Night. It's been gone about 10 years, at least. No complaints received, outside of the occasional "didn't you use to have a discount night?" questions. We tell people film rent has gotten high enough that we can't afford the discounts anymore (which is true).

[Mark Lane]

Around here, Marcus offers $5 movies on Tuesdays, and it's a very popular promotion. Proof that people will go to the movies, even on a Tuesday, if the price is right.

Scott, the studios can't tell you want to charge. Check your contracts that you signed with each studio. If you wish to lower your prices you would be able to do that, but you might need to be consistent with it. In the contract I signed it said I could have one discount day. Our discount day is Wednesday.

When we have a movie that is not opening week, we still tickets for a Wednesday showing for $1.00. This Wednesday we will show Overboard for a dollar or for a roll of two-ply toilet paper. We showed Spies in Disguise for free with Disney's approval. We waved our percentage and a local business picked up Disney's percentage. As long as Disney was not cut out of their share, they didn't have a problem with it.
The amount you make for the studio will help determine your ranking. The more you make for the studio the happier they are with you and your ranking goes up. I have found the studios are mainly bottom line companies.
It might be different for different markets or different movies. Each rep might have a different view on these type of things, but if you want to be creative with your pricing, called your studio rep and tell them your ideas and see what they say. While Disney often tells me "NO" they are always nice and professional about it. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[Martin Brooks]

Especially in cities, I'll be surprised if theaters aren't forced to close completely for a while. AMC sent a letter to members of their subscription program stating that they're going to limit capacity to 50% of a theater's capacity and in no case let in more than 250 people per screen. I find that a little bit funny because AMC only averages 92 ticket sales per screen per day across the entire chain. The only time such capacity might need to be limited is on Friday and Saturday nights, but what's more important is the mindset of people who might want to go to the movies. People are very paranoid about the Coronavirus and I think theaters are going to be empty for at least the next few weeks and that's if they're not forced to close.

After resisting, Broadway theatres are now closed.

[Sarah Treichel]

Reading about what's happening overseas, and knowing the US is just a little ways behind in the course of this thing, it seems irresponsible to be booking films to show. I think maybe the right thing to do is just close. Luckily, our few employees at the moment are all kids who can do without pocket money, but we're already struggling to pay bills and behind on our taxes. How do we go on with no income from showing movies? Our interruption of business insurance doesn't cover this. A terrorist attack would have been better. If we're bombed, insurance will pay.

[Mark Lane]

We have been ordered to close today and stay closed through Monday March 30th. Don't know what to do about getting a movie for week of April 3rd. Hate to book and pay for a movie only to find out the order to close has been extended.

[Sarah Treichel]