
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 ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
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...
18/09/2026
IBC 2026 Tech Moves Beyond the Gloss and Into the Rack If you spent any time in the halls of the RAI this year, you noticed a clear shift in conversation. The c...
18/09/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
18/09/2026
Qvest has appointed Jens Miedek as Senior Vice President Sales, Media and Entertainment. Before joining Qvest, Miedek spent 16 years at Riedel Communications an...
18/09/2026
Fonn Group has acquired full ownership of everviz, a cloud-native platform for interactive charts, maps, and data-driven graphics, and will rebrand it as Teikna...
18/09/2026
Other World Computing (OWC) has announced the acquisition of OpenDrives, a provider of software-defined video and rich media storage management solutions. The a...
18/09/2026
Kaltura and Verimatrix have announced a partnership integrating Verimatrix's Digital Rights Management and security capabilities into Kaltura's Cloud TV...
18/09/2026
The sixth edition of the World Nomad Games combined traditional sports, large-scale cultural performances, and some decidedly modern broadcast technology. Held ...
18/09/2026
DAZN and Super League Basketball (SLB) have extended their partnership for the 2026-27 season. Every Championship, Cup, and Play-Off fixture will be available l...
18/09/2026
Nielsen has announced that its Streaming Content Ratings (SCR) product will move from weekly to daily data delivery, with clients now receiving viewership data ...
18/09/2026
ESPN will present LALIGA's ElCl sico on ABC for the first time, with FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid airing Sunday, October 25 at 4 p.m. ET. A one-hour pre-mat...
18/09/2026
The University of Pennsylvania's Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate ...
18/09/2026
The Charlotte Hornets have announced DAZN as their exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the 2026-27 NBA season. The service launches immediately, ...
18/09/2026
Broadcast sports' original medium will let drivers keep on hearing the plays thanks to a new bill set to pass the Senate....
18/09/2026
Fourteen iPhone 18 Pro devices - eight connected over a T-Mobile Private 5G Netw...
18/09/2026
The Minnesota Lynx have announced that their final local broadcast of the 2026 regular season will air free on FOX 9 following the shutdown of Victory . The Ly...
18/09/2026
Monumental Sports Network (MNMT) has announced that its Monumental+ streaming service is now available as a subscription through Prime Video, giving Capitals an...
18/09/2026
WTGL, the women's team golf league created by TMRW Sports in partnership with the LPGA, has announced its inaugural season schedule. The season premieres Su...
18/09/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
18/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them, ...
18/09/2026
10 new voice models join line-up
The latest expansion for IK Multimedia's AI-powered vocal-modelling software has arrived, delivering a set of 10 new vo...
18/09/2026
A day of hands-on synthesis, sound design & performance
On Saturday 26 September 2026, The Museum of Synthesisers will be hosting a full day of hands-on syn...
18/09/2026
HPA is supporting Fix It or Risk It, a non-commercial, industry-wide public-service campaign helping organizations across the media and entertainment supply cha...
18/09/2026
AgileTV has successfully wrapped up its participation at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam, following four days of conversations with customers, partners and industry profe...
18/09/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, invites its shareholders and investors to a Virtual Investor Conference on Tuesday, September 29th, 2026, at 11.00 am.
...
18/09/2026
DHD reports a high level of interest in its range of audio production equipment on all four days of the September 11-14 International Broadcasting Convention in...
18/09/2026
Sonnet Announces Thunderbolt 5 eGPU With 850-Watt Power Supply and Integrated Do...
18/09/2026
DeckBridge adds live Resolve playback and Fairlight controls to Stream Deck
Brie Clayton September 17, 2026
0 Comments
DeckBridge starting profiles ac...
18/09/2026
Learn to arrange tracks using Color With Live's Free Stencil Pack
Brie Clayton September 17, 2026
0 Comments
Stencils are Color With Live's or...
18/09/2026
Berklee Establishes Susan Tedeschi Scholarship in Honor of Grammy-Winning Alumna The scholarship is announced as Tedeschi returns to headline the Berklee Bloc...
18/09/2026
The inside scoop on attention-grabbing market assets from those in the know 17 September 2026
(L-R): Sophie Green, Todd Brown and Edwina Waddy
Find this episo...
18/09/2026
Friday 18 September 2026
The new iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch ...
18/09/2026
Senior Colorist Siggy Ferstl of Company 3 has been grading The Boys since the sh...
17/09/2026
Lions vs. Bills will also be the first regular-season game at new Highmark Stadi...
17/09/2026
Teradek has announced Bolt 7, a wireless video and data system that adds an integrated 900MHz radio to the Bolt's zero-delay video pipeline. The 900MHz chan...
17/09/2026
DAZN has announced three appointments to its executive leadership team, all reporting to CEO Shay Segev effective immediately.
Patrick Delany has been appointe...
17/09/2026
Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE) has announced a leadership restructuring. Zach Leonsis has been named President and Vice Chairman, a newly created pos...
17/09/2026
CP Communications has been named Best of Florida for Audio-Visual Services, and its subsidiary Red House Streaming has been named Best Movie and Recording Studi...
17/09/2026
Scripps Sports and ION have announced a broadcast partnership for the Shriners Children's East-West Bowl, the nation's oldest college all-star football ...
17/09/2026
The 17th annual espnW: Women + Sports Summit, presented by Toyota, will take place October 14-16 at the Ojai Valley Inn in Ojai, California, with virtual attend...
17/09/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
17/09/2026
Lithuanian broadcaster LNK Group has completed a migration of playout and media management for its five national television networks - LNK, BTV, TV1, InfoTV, an...
17/09/2026
Net Insight has announced a pan-Asian live media network created with its regional partners, giving broadcasters, production companies, and media service provid...
17/09/2026
After a high school football injury, the Orlando native found a new path in video production, gaining experience on ESPN college football broadcasts, Tampa Bay ...
17/09/2026
Popular DAW gains free pitch-correction tool
Image-Line have teamed up with Antares to kit their popular DAW software out with a built-in pitch-correction p...
17/09/2026
Promises unprecedented realism, dynamic nuance and clarity
Gibson have teamed up with acoustic pickup experts Baggs, creating a next-generation' pickup...
17/09/2026
Two new libraries join percussion line-up
VSL (Vienna Symphonic Library) have just launched two new libraries that bring some intriguing new instruments int...
17/09/2026
Hardware & plug-in versions gain new features
Arturia have just released a free update that brings some significant new features to their MiniFreak synthesi...