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Industry
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November 13, 2008
Showcase Cinemas may sell some theaters
National Amusements, which operates Showcase Cinemas, may have to sell some of its theaters because the company has to come up with an $800 million debt payment next month.
Owner Sumner Redstone is trying to restructure $1.6 billion in loans used to build new theaters. Last month he had to sell $233 million of stock in Viacom and CBS Corp. to meet debt payments.
Redstone has vowed not to sell anymore of his shares. He has said he is no longer bullish on the future of the cinema business.
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The Moviegoer on Vacation
Christopher Campbell details his travels to South America and his thoughts on squeezing in a film into a trip.
It was partly my love for Argentine cinema that influenced my decision to vacation in Buenos Aires and Patagonia last month. Yet I didn’t watch a single film during the two weeks I was there. I’m just not much of a moviegoer when I’m on vacation. Sure, there’s the occasional trip to the movies when I’m out of town visiting family, and then there was the time I went to Sundance, which was basically a vacation despite the fact that I was there working with a press pass (I somewhat covered the festival for a zine, but the trip was mostly a big holiday from my regular “day job”). However, when truly traveling, particularly in another country, I just can’t find the time – or bear to make the excuse – to go to the movies at all.
Read the full account at First Showing.
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November 7, 2008
AMC shelves plan for an IPO…again!!!
Last week, AMC Entertainment held off plans for an IPO despite an economic crisis that is hitting movie theaters really hard this weekend. Read the story by clicking on this link courtesy of the LA Times
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November 4, 2008
Romanian moviegoing has fallen on hard times
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Romanian movie theaters have fallen on hard times. In a country which use to have 300 cinemas, it now has just 70 mainly dilapidated theaters.
This comes at a time when Romanian filmmakers are winning awards at festivals around the world.
Many theaters are unheated, with poor sound systems installed in the 1960s, and uncomfortable seats. Romanians say going to the movies is not worth the trouble.
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So Tier/Central NY theaters?
In further preparation for the THS reprint of Great American Movie Theaters, we’re planning a “ramble” to theaters in the Southern Tier and Central NY section of New York State in the next couple of weeks. Any suggestions? We plan to stop in Johnson City, Binghamton, Owego and possibly Cobleskill. (Not necessarily in that order.)
Any other out of the way theaters, opera houses or cinemas that we should check out? Remember that they must have shown movies at some point in their history in order to qualify for consideration.
Thanks for any help you all can give!
Karen Colizzi Noonan, THS President
Suzanne Leworthy, THS International Director -
October 29, 2008
Signs go up as well as prices
It seems that most Regal Cinemas have revised their ongoing requests to cell phone abusers during showtime. New, large print signs, have now been posted at the entry doors to all auditoriums. Sprint and Regal have clearly stated the fact to patrons about silencing phones and, in bold print NO TEXTING. But the problem is still oblivious to many youngsters!
And now, just when times are getting financially worse for almost everyone, Regal recently increased their admission prices as well as those hard-to-resist drinks and munchies from the concession stand.
Meanwhile, as an usher at the Regal-9, Wilsonville, Oregon, this reporter has noticed a steep increase of outside food and drinks being sneaked into auditoriums. The leftover bottles, cans and candy wrappers are there as evidence after the show concludes. Even though small, yet almost unseen signs are on the bottoms of the lobby doors and box office windows, movie fans will do what they will to see their favorite stars and save a buck.
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October 27, 2008
Netflix and Samsung partner to instantly stream movies
With a new deal, Netflix can now offer subscribers instant downloads to certain Bluray players.
Netflix, Inc., the world’s largest online movie rental service, and Samsung Electronics America, a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced a broad partnership to offer consumers the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from the Netflix Web site directly to their living rooms via Samsung’s BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray disc players. The companies also said they are collaborating to enable Samsung to integrate instant streaming from Netflix into a range of home entertainment products.
Read the full story in Market Watch.
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October 23, 2008
Green theater initiative
There’s a push now for theaters on Broadway to become greener with the Green Theater Initiative.
Sure, theaters were getting greener on their own, thanks to the efforts of some progressive proprietors and forward thinking designers. But now there’s an entire initiative looking to sweep Broadway with unifying green policies. It’s the Green Theatre Initiative, and it just launched its comprehensive website last week. So what’s its impact?
The Green Theater Movement
The initiative’s aim is both to inspire theaters around the world to adopt more environmentally friendly policies, and to lessen their impact and increase sustainability. It will also offer a network of support, via the website’s forums and a bi-weekly newsletter to better create a community of green minded participants.Could its success lead to these practices carrying over to cinemas? Read more at Tree Hugger.
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October 22, 2008
Teachers accuse cinemas of exploiting kids
NORWICH, UK — Teachers are accusing cinemas of encouraging children to play hookey on Wednesday when “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” opens.
The Vue cinema will play the film starting at 9 am. The theater manager said he wanted to be the first in the city to screen it.
At the same time, he’s offering the Coen Brothers' movie “Burn After Reading” for the parents who bring their children to the movie.
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October 15, 2008
THSA to re-publish “American Theaters of Today” and seeks sponsorship support
The Theatre Historical Society of America will publish a new limited edition of the classic book, “American Theatres of Today,” in connection with the organization’s 40th anniversary next year, and it is seeking Sponsors to help support the project.
Originally issued as two volumes in 1927 and 1931, the book by R.W. Sexton and B.F. Betts is one of the very few theatre reference works published when movie palaces were still being built. It features hundreds of wonderful theatre photographs, plans and descriptions, and an introduction by famed showman S. L. “Roxy” Rothafel. Original copies are extremely rare and sell for many hundreds of dollars. Even the 1977 single-volume reissue, also long out of print, is hard to find and expensive.