
A Good Movie Is a Good Movie No Matter Where It's Seen
Andy Marken July 18, 2024
0 Comments
The life we enjoy is very much worth the sacrifice. - Rudolf Hoss, Zone of Interest, A24, 2023
Shortly after the end of CinemaCon, we were chatting with a friend down in SoCal about the roll-out of A24's action film Civil War because the build-up hype made it a project we both were determined to see.
The big question was how, when do we see it?
At the time of our discussion, it was going to hit the theaters right after the NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) week-long movies for movie houses event, but the thought-piece project was also scheduled to be available later for people to buy for their permanent home library (PVOD). Then, Warner was going to encourage folks to sign up for their Max streaming service to build their subscription base.
Then, at some time in the distant future, it will probably be made available on Prime then Pluto and/or Tubi.
Yeah, we both decided we'd wait to see it on our own screens with our own home popcorn.
And that just about summed up the shape of the movie-going industry, despite the optimism that Michael O'Leary, the new head of NATO, the studio executives and theater owners are facing.
Even O'Leary had a tough time believing the industry was prepared for a revival when he said, I believe the future of the theatrical industry is limited, and then quickly corrected himself and said limitless.
Yes, it's been tough for the movie house industry in recent years.
First, we had the pandemic shutdown that put padlocks on theaters around the globe and then just as they were struggling to reopen and entice people to come back and put their seats in seats, the creation industry had the double six-month SAG-AFTRA/WGA strikes.
Studios had to make a hard call - shift the most expensive projects to 2025 or push out as many projects as possible and beef up the potential for their streaming services to gain subscription numbers/profits.
Since they are all hustling to improve their bottom line, they did both without a huge bright outlook for theater owners who need a steady flow of great video content and ticket buyers.
Don't get us wrong, the theater industry isn't going to head in the same direction Peak TV seems to be moving toward, but it is going to have to reassess and realign its future.
AMC's CEO Adam Aron sorta set the tone late last year when he tweeted that AMC didn't fall into bankruptcy, that the company is still here and, in his words, is blazing new trails. In addition to investing in a gold/silver mine, it's offering its AMC-branded popcorn in grocery stores, and even selling popcorn holder collectables.
Collectors' Item - AMC has tried almost everything to attract folks to put seats into seats, including collector popcorn specialties. The Dunes Part 2 limited edition package even attracted the Utah legislature that probably never saw the movie.
Of course, the Dunes Part 2 popcorn bucket may have gone a little too far because the Utah state legislature banned it because it might give young men impure thoughts.
Maybe; but you kinda wonder what they thought when they first saw it, but the added drama probably did help sell added tickets and expensive buckets of popcorn.
But more importantly and professionally, they also signed direct deals with Taylor Swift and Beyonce to show their concert films in their theaters.
Now that and other modest events AMC is probably also exploring shows how thinking outside the box can rejuvenate the industry and was well worth Aron's salary bump to $25M plus!
Depending, of course, on the ups/downs of Wall Street.
Changing Habits - It takes planning and money to go out to the movies but on a whim, you can sit at home and watch what you want, when you want it. Tough choice.
The theater industry has been rearranging the lifeboats since 2002 when it had its true peak ticket sales.
Since then, people have been steadily turning to their home/personal screens as the cost and hassle of going out for a special evening became special.
Ups, Downs - Theater ticket sales may be down but the box office for theater owners remains healthy. Volume will take time to return with more, easier film viewing options.
With fewer seats in seats, theater chains made up the difference by raising ticket prices which helped their grosses but didn't do much to entice more folks to visit their houses.
Big Budget - Going to the movies on an impulse is becoming more difficult with the costs continuing to rise especially since the cost of one ticket can give you a month's of streaming enjoyment.
Since that didn't help much, they figured the next best thing was to improve the cost of the concessions which enabled them to brag about steady box office increases rather than a growing number of folks in the seats.
That helped them but didn't do a thing for the studios that had to foot all the marketing costs of the films that were gracing the huge screens but still only gave them a share of the actual ticket sales.
When tech giants like Netflix and Prime showed folks they could enjoy good to great films/shows without leaving their living/family rooms and that they could pay for a whole month of home entertainment for about a quarter of their burdensome cable bill, they caught the attention of consumers.
Delicious, Filling - A big tub of fresh, greasy popcorn at home may cost a dollar so at the movie theater, you need to savor every expensive bite.
But then Wall Street jumped into the picture and said after showing their movies/shows in the theater and on their networks, renting content to the techie streamers rather than going direct to the consumer themselves would be a lot more profitable.
After all, studios were great at pr
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...