Movie Theaters Reduce Hours

[Mike Blakesley]

Would they get 75%, though, or would it be something closer to 10%?

I think 10% is a little too pessimistic. I just base that thought on the fact that restaurants, bars, and churches are all drawing good crowds when open, so what would make people so scared to go to theaters when they have been proven to be safer than those other places? They keep quoting these polls saying that "most people" are scared to go to theaters, but are they polling people who actually ever WOULD go to theaters in the first place?

"Tenet" was a flawed test because (1) it wasn't a mainstream movie and (2) it was ONLY ONE movie. Now the talk is "Soul" is going to be the next big test, but again, not a mainstream movie (although more mainstream than Tenet, I guess) and it's again, only ONE title. If they really want to know how we would do, they need to release a bunch of movies over a several-month period and let us go on like normal for a while. Otherwise it's going to be a continuous game of chicken -- they are now starting to move 2021 movies into 2022, for crying out loud.

[Martin McCaffery]

Hey, it seems like everyone's got their conspiracy theory so I guess that can be mine.

Well, if we are going to, let's do it.

Instead of putting all the theatres out of business, they take advantage of the end of the Paramount Consent Decrees and start franchising theatres. No matter where you go anywhere in the country you can have the exact same corporate experience. The theater operators have to buy their movies and concessions and cleaning supplies from corporate and have to sell everything under rules set by corporate.

Hey no more booking headaches, you just show what gets pushed through. No percentage bartering, they take the same amount for everything. And when your theatre get old and worn out, well, they just license a new one, maybe to you, maybe to someone else.

Granted, a lot of movie theatres are pretty close to this already [not Mike's or Frank's], but the sooner they can kill of the fools who think that it is SHOW business, not show BUSINESS, the sooner they can get back the the vertical integration of the "Good Old Days."

[Frank Cox]

Would they get 75%, though, or would it be something closer to 10%?

I don't know about you, Mike, but these days I'm staying open pretty much just for something to do and hoping to more-or-less break even.

[Mike Blakesley]

I wish the studios would think outside of the box a little bit. They say they're waiting for New York and L.A. I'm beginning to wonder if they are now looking at this as a way to just get rid of the theater industry. "Let's just wait until they're all out of business and then we will have a FLOOD of amazing home TV releases to cash in on."

It's not like there is no alternative to what they're doing. They COULD release the movies, have 75% or whatever of their revenue and maybe be happy, but they aren't even wanting to do that. Maybe there is some ulterior motive that's only being discussed in the highest level meetings.

Hey, it seems like everyone's got their conspiracy theory so I guess that can be mine.

[Bobby Henderson]

Just saw the news that the re-make of Dune is being postponed to October of 2021. Other big movies are being kicked like the can farther down the road.

[Frank Cox]

From my personal experience here and based on what I'm reading, theatre attendance and revenue is about 10% of what it usually is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/b...-shutdown.html

This article says:

This past weekend, 2,931 U.S. movie theaters were open, about 57 percent of the country’s total. They generated a mere $12 million in box office receipts. The box office totals from the same weekend a year ago reached $150 million, buoyed by the release of “Joker,” which alone earned $96.2 million.

So I don't think my 10% overall estimate is all that far off.

I don't see how any business can survive over the medium term with only 10% of their expected revenue. Staffing levels, lease payments, auditorium numbers and sizes, operating loans and mortgages are all predicated on the business operating at the same level it has in the past. There's no way that the fixed costs of operating are suddenly going to be 10% of what they were previously.

[Buck Wilson]

We were scheduled to go 'weekend only' starting today but then got the news that the whole chain is closing so

[Bobby Henderson]

Lawton, OK is not a huge market, but the latest changes here to schedules are likely happening elsewhere.

AMC's Patriot 13 theater is now on a 3 day schedule, only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I can't tell if the showtimes are reduced on those days since this week's schedule isn't loaded on their web site yet. They had been running daily previously but with only a couple shows per day in a limited number of auditoriums. The rival theater in Lawton, the New Vision Central Mall 12, is closed since New Vision is being liquidated. AMC now has the legal go-ahead from the Dept of Justice to reacquire this theater it was forced to divest when it bought Carmike Cinemas. I strongly doubt AMC will re-open the theater considering the mall lost 2 of its 3 anchor tenants and JCPenney may end up dying soon as well. A defense technology business incubator is going to go in the old Sears building and it may expand to the abandoned Dillard's space. But I can't see an old 1970's era mall whose anchor tenant square footage is being converted into office space as something that can sustain a nearly 20 year old, outdated multiplex with tiny auditoriums. My hope is that a new (and bigger) theater gets built in the downtown area -after the pandemic ends.

Finally we have our old Vaska Theater, which hasn't been operating full time in years. It's a small miracle they were able to get a d-cinema projection system installed. They're only able to show old content, such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But they're trying and trying to make the movie-going experience fun. They've done a few "drive-in in the parking lot" screenings as an adjustment to the pandemic.

[David Bird]

We've run 4 of these "Encore Drive-In Nights" concerts. Plenty of people drinking beers or smoking weed. Certainly a lot more beer drinking than we'd ever see for movies (ie: usually we pick up one or two cans TOTAL and often none at all). You'd be surprised how many weed smokers you'll find for kids movies by the way. No irresponsible behavior, just laughs and sing-a-longs, normalcy. We tend to have a very respectful crowd usually, but we've had no problems.

[Leo Enticknap]

Just a guess, but at a live (via CCTV) concert, you are are more likely to be drinking adult beverages which could lead to more reckless behavior.

Hmm ... I'd be surprised if this is an actual, significant risk, though not at all surprised that five politicians sitting in a room, who have likely never visited a drive-in in their lives, might perceive it to be. Fixing things that ain't broke (and breaking things that work) is basically the job description of a politician, after all.

Since the C19 crisis started, I've done a few screening support shifts for a drive-in south of LA, for some movie premieres and live, satellite concerts - basically, hanging out in the booth, ready to act in case anything breaks down or blows up. Even at a live stream Garth Brooks gig, where you might expect that sort of thing to happen, there appeared to be no crowd issues at all. There was applause and horn honking at the end of each song, but that was it.

Around half the customers at a drive-in show will be drivers (and so won't be drinking anyways), and the venue itself doesn't sell booze. There is little you could do to stop people smuggling it in, I guess, but I haven't seen any evidence that this is an actual problem, as distinct from a hypothetical one.

[Terry Monohan]

On the news yesterday they showed a few CineMark/Century Theatres South of San Francisco opening this past week and selling the whole auditorium out to private rich kids birthday parties. I wonder when you buy out a movie space do they make you sit apart or can you sit all over the cinema?

At $12 per matinee seat and you have 25 paid party people It's not a bad deal to watch a private movie and have the whole screen to your group. Hope no one is sick in the crowd.

The lobby refreshment counter loves the extra private candy/drink/popcorn business these rental movie parties bring in. The larger the cinema space the more people can join in.

It can be fun as most people know one another It can get a little noisy during parts of a film.

[Jim Cassedy]

Here in San Francisco, theaters have finally been given the OK to open next week (Oct 7, Y2k20) but if it's anything like the last few 'opening' announcements they've made, if too many people cough or sneeze between now & then, the openings could be put on "hold" again.
A couple of small theater operators told me that just because they "could' open, didn't mean that they would. The wanted to take a "wait and see" attitude and let the bigger chains open first since 1) there's really not a lot of product; 2) they weren't sure if people in general were comfortable coming back into a theater environment yet, and so they wanted to wait & let the big chains open first and absorb the risk.
A few told me that at this point they felt they'd be losing less money by staying closed than by incurring the extra labor & materials costs of re-opening and complying with all the the covid regulations and restrictions, AND, to quote one of the the re-opening rules posted in both the SF Chronicle and on DEADLINE on Sept 29th, "Theaters, when they re-open, can't sell concessions" Also, as on e theater owner put it- - he wanted to wait and see if there was any ""up-tick" in covid cases once theaters re-opened. "You know how vicious social media can be'; he said to me; " all we need is for one patron to claim they got sick at my theater (whether it's true or not) and that will be it for my business. I might as well just burn the building down"
(I suggested he let me know if & when he does that so I can get a few of my things outta the booth...)

> Also, one theater operator told me that he had been offered a 35mm print of "TENET" if he re-opened a couple of weeks ago. I told him that's the first time I'd head of any 35mm prints made. So, I don't know if there actually are, or aren't, any 35 prints, but that's what he told me earlier this week when I ran into him on the street and we were discussing the re-opening situation for a few minutes.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

> And the live entertainment ban: why are you more likely to catch C19 sitting in the bed of your pickup watching a guy play a guitar 150 feet away than you are sitting in the bed of your pickup watching a movie on a screen 150 feet away?!

Just a guess, but at a live (via CCTV) concert, you are are more likely to be drinking adult beverages which could lead to more reckless behavior.

[Leo Enticknap]

And the live entertainment ban: why are you more likely to catch C19 sitting in the bed of your pickup watching a guy play a guitar 150 feet away (which would be CCTV-ed to the movie screen anyway), than you are sitting in the bed of your pickup watching a movie on a screen 150 feet away?!

[David Bird]

I continue to be baffled by the "whack-a-mole" regulations put forth by these officials who never seem to actually speak to operators to ask what they can do to make customers safe. Also the double-standards of allowing things one place but not another. Food trucks would be a perfect solution for these venues, live performances as well. It might allow people who can't operate their regular location to team up with a drive-in location and save their businesses. Here in Ontario, we were the last province to be allowed to open drive-ins, but only after shaming the government for weeks in the press. We'd all spent thousands to alter our food service to honestly "safer" standards than the food courts already operating, but we weren't allowed to sell food. We figured out we were the ONLY places who couldn't. Eventually we all just opened our food service because we exceeded any distance and operational guidelines in place at any other food outlet. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and all the other big boys chugged along, with most independent outlets closed, they grabbed all the business and were more crowded than ever. I'm not at all sure how gov'ts back themselves out of this corner having scared everyone to death over something that won't go away and is unlikely to have some magic cure either.

To me there needs to be more thought given to the consequences of these ever-changing dictates. Thinks like you see in the UK where all of a sudden they decide the pubs have to close at 10. All at once. So you get a street party instead of small groups of friends drinking in small pubs until they get tired at random times and go home. These things make no sense to me, just not practical.