Businesses can post all the warning signs they want, but unless there’s some means of enforcing them, people will ignore them. Back in the Golden Age, when there were really ushers rather than ticket takers, theaters could enforce policies like no talking, etc. Now, moviegoers are basically left alone in a darkened room with an anonymous mob that can do anything it wants. Look at some of the posts, such as for the Loews Boston Common, where the theaters are basically taken over on the weekends by their clientele.
There is technology that can block cell phones. I remember the Randolph, MA theater had signs up when it opened that cell phone signals were being blocked, but the FCC said that it would prohibit 911 calls from being made, so blocking transmitters were basically made illegal. Without any method to block them, people are going to text away.
As for bringing in food from outside, I think you’re seeing it more and more because the prices at the concession stands have become unreasonable-to-ridiculous. You can buy 10 liters of Pepsi in a grocery store for what some theaters are charging for a large drink. Likewise, you can buy two pounds of M&M for what they’re charging for a small package. The high concession prices is one of the main reasons some families stay home and watch DVDs. A family of four is looking at $50 or more just to go to a kiddie matinee!
The movie industry has played this game for decades: how high can it raise prices until a fall off in sales causes a reduction in profits. But as big screen TVs get bigger and bigger as they also get cheaper and cheaper, theater chains have to be careful. They could find their audiences staying at home, particularly during a recession.
Cinemas site acquired in Greenfield
Friday, October 24, 2008
By DAVID A. VALLETTE
GREENFIELD – A key property in the city’s Bank Row urban renewal district has been sold, and its new owners said they will embark on a renovation and redevelopment plan.
The Main Street building that houses Greenfield Garden Cinemas was purchased for $850,000 by George D. Gohl and William J. Gobeille.
Up until the sale, the two men operated the seven-screen cinema under a rental agreement with Western Massachusetts Theaters Inc., a Goldstein family corporation. The closing was on Wednesday.
Gobeille said on Thursday that they expect to pump about $250,000 into improvements on the short term, and move on from there. New seating for four of the seven cinemas that were not improved during a previous upgrade was ordered earlier in the day, and the installation will begin in January after the seats arrive.
The building’s upper floor will be prepared for commercial tenants, starting later next year, he said.
Town Councilor William F. Martin, chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Authority, said on Thursday that Gohl and Gobeille’s acquisition of the building was “thrilling” news.
He said it assured a good fate for the once-threatened cinemas, and relieved the authority of the financial burden of taking on the building itself.
Money that would have had to go to the building’s purchase can now be focused on construction of a parking garage to support all the businesses expected to result from redevelopment in the district, he said.
The authority has acquired three buildings on Bank Row, around the corner from the theater building. And it is in the process of securing the former Hapco Auto Parts building on Olive Street, located just around the other corner of the Bank Row block.
The Hapco building will be razed and used as the main entrance to the parking garage, under the authority’s redevelopment plan.
The Garden Theater was built by brothers Samuel and Nathan Goldstein 1929, and continued through the years in Goldstein family ownership, until its sale by Ronald Goldstein.
The Goldstein family once owned many theaters throughout Western Massachusetts, and have slowly sold most of them off.
In 1999, after Goldstein closed the Garden Theater, which was in disrepair, the historic building’s fate was up in the air. It was put on the top 10 most-endangered site list of Preservation MASS, a non-profit preservation organization.
Subsequently, Greenfield took the building for unpaid taxes, and repaired its roof for possibly resumption of theater operations, only to have Goldstein appeal the taking and regain the property for $136,000 to cover taxes and costs.
The building is known for its original architecture, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Along with its elaborate murals, it employed machinery in the orchestra pit that created moving clouds and twinkling stars on the ceiling.
Since the theater was carved up into seven smaller cinemas in 1986, the murals are covered and cannot be seen.
The subdivision also dropped the seating capacity from an original 1,887 to the current 1,000.
Midway Mall cinema to reopen Friday
Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA â€" Beginning Friday, movie fans will once again be able to check out first-run movies in Elyria.
Atlas Cinemas has announced the re-opening of Midway Mall Cinemas under the name Atlas Cinemas Midway Mall 8.
Crews are sprucing up the theater, which has been dark about six months, and there have been upgrades in sound, said Christopher Ross, an Atlas operations manager at another location.
Atlas Cinemas is owned by Al Saluan, who currently operates 39 all-digital screens at locations in Euclid and Mentor, Ross said. The Elyria theater is not digital; movies will be shown in film format for the time being, Ross said.
A manager has been hired and the company plans to do some additional hiring, Ross said. The company is taking applications in person at the theater. Applications can be downloaded at www.atlascinemas.net
Adult admission will be $5.75 during the day and $8.25 at night, Ross said. Children ages 3 to 11 and seniors 62 and older will pay $5 during the day and $5.75 at night, he said.
The first movies to be shown at the theater are “Body of Lies,†“Zack and Miri Make a Porno,†“Max Payne,†“Saw V,†“W,†“The Haunting of Mary Hartley,†“High School Musical 3†and “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.â€
Formerly operated first by the now-defunct General Cinemas, then by an out-of-town independent, the Midway Mall theater stopped showing films in May.
At the time, Susan Godorov, vice president of marketing for the mallâ€\s owner, Centro Properties Group, said the theater closed after owners failed to meet their lease agreement.
Centro filed a lawsuit against Midway Cinemas 8 in October 2007, claiming the theatersâ€\ owners failed to pay more than $50,000 in back rent. Centro accused the owners of not having made a payment in months.
Plans to build a 240-bedroom hotel above a cinema in London’s Leicester Square have been given the go-ahead by Westminster City Council.
Leicester Square Co-ownership Group’s bid to build the four or five star hotel above a new state-of-the-art Odeon cinema are part of plans to regenerate the south west corner of the London square.
Four cafe/restaurants and a rooftop restaurant are also included in the plans, drawn up by architects, Make, who designed The Cube in Birmingham.
Work on the new mirror-fronted building, currently on the site of the Odeon West End cinema, will start next summer.
A spokesperson for the Leicester Square Co-ownership Group said: “This will be a major focal point for Leicester Square â€" bringing new life into a neglected corner of one the London’s landmark destinations and drawing people down to the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square.
“The plans centre on a new high quality 4 star or 5star hotel, with a state of the art facility for Odeon, as well as restaurants and cafÈs where people can enjoy the surrounding open space. We also expect the rooftop restaurant, with its prime West End location and spectacular views over London, to be especially popular with residents and visitors and we are looking to start discussions with an operator shortly.â€
An article in the Boston Globe says the cinema is on track to bring in 500,000 customers this year and offers $5 tickes on “Economic Recovery Tuesdays.”
The Vue was mentioned in an article claiming it was encouraging juvenile delinquency:
Cinema accused of encouraging children to play truant to see High School Musical 3
Last updated at 12:31 PM on 20th October 2008
Teachers accused cinema bosses on Monday of encouraging children to play truant by showing High School Musical 3: Senior Year in school time.
The film is due to open on Wednesday and the Vue cinema in The Mall shopping centre in Norwich is giving a 9am screening for fans who cannot wait until the evening to see it.
The first two films in the series were extremely popular and children have been waiting weeks to see the third installment.
Cinema bosses are claiming they cannot screen it any earlier and want to be the first to show it in the city.
They argue it is better to screen it at 9am so children who would play truant to watch the film anyway will only miss the first half of their school day.
But education professionals are furious. They insist it is irresponsible to show it during the school day and cinema managers are only focused on exploiting kids to make money.
Daniel Pratt, marketing manager for Vue, said: ‘We wanted to be the first to screen it in Norwich.
‘We were planning on screening it at 7am in the breakfast club so kids could watch it before school – but due to licensing restrictions we weren’t able to.’
Mr Pratt said by showing the PG film at 9am they hoped youngsters would return to lessons for the afternoon.
He added: ‘We have still got screenings after school, the film is on general release from that day and it’s standard to show it at 10.30am. The film would have been showing during that day anyway.’
But to entice families the cinema is offering parents the chance of watching a more adult alternative film, the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, while their children watch the musical.
Here’s an article about the renovations at the theater:
AMC Entertainment Inc. said Friday that the renovated wing of AMC Studio 30 will open to the public Oct. 31.
The Kansas City-based company said in a release that it has transformed an entire wing of the Olathe theater into Fork & Screen, which includes casual, in-theater dining and entertainment; Cinema Suites, an upscale in-theater dining and entertainment option; and MacGuffins, a bar and lounge area. AMC Studio 30 is the first AMC location in the country to feature all three test concepts under one roof.
“The Fork & Screen test concept transcends anything our guests have seen before, and we look forward to everyone in our hometown experiencing this flagship location,†AMC Entertainment CEO Peter Brown said in the release.
Fork & Screen will feature eight auditoriums reserved for customers 18 and older and minors accompanied by a parent or guardian. Customers 21 and older can upgrade to one of three Cinema Suites auditoriums featuring reserved seating.
Christie this week was bragging about premiering High School Music 3 this week on a giant 75' x 40' screen using two projectors from 125' away. Digital IMAX is using twin digital projectors too in its new builds. So you can fill any size screen you want, but it’s going to cost you. Big screens may take two projectors. Switching screen ratios will cost you for extra lenses.
You can go up in size more easily with the 4K projectors than the 2K projectors because there’s 4x more pixels, so it can be blown up more. I think the limit for the 2K projectors are about 40', and a lot of theaters only bought a single lens so they used top screen masking rather than side masking.
As for the ticket prices going up, the theater chains are already charging $3 extra for 3D presentations and $15 for “Luxe Level” seating where they also sell you dinner, drinks and snacks. The theater chains are going after rich people, and they’re making it more difficult for the rest of us to go to the movies.
I’m afraid the industry is moving toward all digital whether we like it or not. When 50% of the screens are digital, the studios will probably give theaters a deadline of three or five years saying, that’s it. No more film. You get a hard drive or nothing.
The independent movie companies will probably continue to distribute films on film for a while, but they have even more of an incentive to go to digital to save money. Quite often it costs more to market and distribute an indie film than it cost to make. Digital prints would cut both distribution costs as well as production costs. Most indie films will probably be shot, edited and distributed totally in digital.
But going digital will be a substantial cost for an indie theater, and if they take out loans to buy the cinema projectors, they may go baankrupt trying to pay back the loans, causing an indie meltdown sometime in the future. It’s a difficult situation. Going digital will certainly favor the chains, but at the same time, it has already led to higher admission prices.
By the way, responding to the other posts, in 2007, Muvico signed a deal for only the Rosemont, IL theater with Sony. Sony obviously hoped it would lead to a chain-wide rollout. This makes it official. Sony is competing with Christie, which has made a deal with IMAX, and with Barco. Christie says they’ve completed its 5,000th digital projector installation worldwide, so it seems Christie has quite a lead.
As for the digital projectors wearing out, people in the industry are only expecting a 5-10 year lifespan on them. The main problems are heat and continuous use. Obviously, motherboards and computer chips don’t like heat. No one knows how long they’ll really last, but I think the expectation is that technology will make them obsolete before they actually die.
But I’ve been in a theater when a flakey digital projector held up the movie for half an hour, and I found out the night before they cancelled a showing because of the projector, so they’re certainly not foolproof as some theater owners may think.
They have machines that stuff envelopes. I doubt anyone is going to pay someone $5 to stuff an envelope when a machine does it for pennies. Please don’t post ads here.
Universal said they wanted to invade people’s personal spaces and this is the way they came up with. I think they’re afraid of lawsuits if they actually scared someone enough to have a heart attack or die.
Universal has a deal with New Line and that’s how they have access to the characters. I guess Frankie, Drac, and the Mummy are too old school these days.
Well, it’s all about the dollars. The studios are basically going to cover the entire cost of the digital projectors, so they’ll be free. The theaters won’t need union projectionists. In fact, they won’t need anyone up in the booth. The projectors don’t go out of focus (usually). Most movies are about 200gb, so that means studios can send out a digital print on a $50 hard drive instead of a $1500 film print. Digital prints don’t scratch, get dirty or break (unless the hard drive or the projector crashes). And most audiences think digital is better. Plus, you can charge $5 more for a Miley Cyrus 3D concert or a sporting event, and $10 more for a Metropolitan Opera telecast!
That means that film might be relegated to art houses and independent theaters in just a few years.
Natalie Wood was drinking with Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken on Wagner’s boat anchored off Catalina Island when she apparently tried to leave by getting into a dinghy while she was wearing a down overcoat. There’s the assumption that she got tired of Wagner and Walken’s drinking and arguing, which had been witnessed earlier that day at a restaurant. She fell, hit her head, wound up in the water and the down coat dragged her down.
She had at least one major scene to shoot for the movie and her look-alike sister filled in for her in long shots and over-the-shoulder shots. The movie gets choppy in the second half, probably due to her missing scenes and having to rewrite other scenes.
The studio wanted to shelve the picture and take the insurance money, which I believe it did. Trumbull convinced the insurance company he could shoot around her and it funded its completion. The film was released two years after Natalie’s death and IMDB says it grossed about half of what it cost, which means the insurance company probably got back 25% of its money.
Unlike today where audiences turn out in droves to see an actor’s “last performance,” I think Natalie was so beloved that people just couldn’t bear to see the film after she died.
Here’s a news story posted 10/1/08 on My San Antonio News.
Old Seguin theater to be new again
Roger Croteau – Express-News
After 10 years of raising money, the Seguin Conservation Society officially broke ground Tuesday on a $2.5 million restoration of the historic Texas Theatre.
“It’s exciting for Seguin,†said Steve Tschoepe, chairman of the task force organizing the project. “Every time we open the doors, someone wanders in and tells us stories of when they were kids and they came here.â€
Harold Brodt, 88, said he remembers when the Texas opened in 1931 because the owner, Alvin Mueller, was a neighbor of his and had him dress as a cowboy and ride to the town square as part of his grand opening promotion.
“Mr. Mueller said, ‘You never have to pay a nickel,‘†Brodt said. “So I lived at the picture shows.â€
The Depression-era movie house sports a Spanish colonial motif and was noted for its star-studded ceiling, which will be part of the restoration.
The Texas is a star in its own right. A replica of the theater’s sign is displayed at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin and the theater has appeared in several films, including “The Great Waldo Pepper†and “Raggedy Man.â€
“It was never modernized,†said task force member Nancy Masterson. “These mica lamps are original. It was repainted from time to time, but always in the original colors.â€
Dan Daniels said his family purchased the theater around 1934 and ran it until it closed in the mid-90s. He sold it to the conservation society in 1996.
“I’m excited to see it being restored,†he said. “It’s a shame there’s no way to make any money with a single-screen house anymore.â€
As a result, plans call for the stage to be expanded and the theater to be used for plays, lectures and musical performances as well as movies.
But more money is needed to finish the project, said task force member Stan Ledbetter.
“It took us 10 years to raise $2 million and the budgeted amount is $2.5 million,†he said. “Construction is expected to take a year or less, so that gives us a year or less to raise $500,000.â€
Indian movies are gaining a foothold here. I’m researching a story about Pyramid Saimira, which is one of India’s largest theater chains. They bought a US company called FunAsiA which is based in Texas. They have movie theaters in Houston, Irving, and Richardson, TX and have expanded to Chicago and the Washington, DC area. They also own radio station KHSE-AM in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and a glossy magazine called DesiPages. Their goal is the “rapid expansion” into major North American markets. They’re converting all their theaters to digital projection and are also setting them up for video conferencing, wedding receptions and banquets. They’re also syndicating their radio programming into the new markets they’re entering and distributing their magazine within their theaters. And they’re looking for new ethnic groups to target.
So as India gets more American movies, we’re getting more Indian movies.
This is a great post.
Businesses can post all the warning signs they want, but unless there’s some means of enforcing them, people will ignore them. Back in the Golden Age, when there were really ushers rather than ticket takers, theaters could enforce policies like no talking, etc. Now, moviegoers are basically left alone in a darkened room with an anonymous mob that can do anything it wants. Look at some of the posts, such as for the Loews Boston Common, where the theaters are basically taken over on the weekends by their clientele.
There is technology that can block cell phones. I remember the Randolph, MA theater had signs up when it opened that cell phone signals were being blocked, but the FCC said that it would prohibit 911 calls from being made, so blocking transmitters were basically made illegal. Without any method to block them, people are going to text away.
As for bringing in food from outside, I think you’re seeing it more and more because the prices at the concession stands have become unreasonable-to-ridiculous. You can buy 10 liters of Pepsi in a grocery store for what some theaters are charging for a large drink. Likewise, you can buy two pounds of M&M for what they’re charging for a small package. The high concession prices is one of the main reasons some families stay home and watch DVDs. A family of four is looking at $50 or more just to go to a kiddie matinee!
The movie industry has played this game for decades: how high can it raise prices until a fall off in sales causes a reduction in profits. But as big screen TVs get bigger and bigger as they also get cheaper and cheaper, theater chains have to be careful. They could find their audiences staying at home, particularly during a recession.
Cinemas site acquired in Greenfield
Friday, October 24, 2008
By DAVID A. VALLETTE
GREENFIELD – A key property in the city’s Bank Row urban renewal district has been sold, and its new owners said they will embark on a renovation and redevelopment plan.
The Main Street building that houses Greenfield Garden Cinemas was purchased for $850,000 by George D. Gohl and William J. Gobeille.
Up until the sale, the two men operated the seven-screen cinema under a rental agreement with Western Massachusetts Theaters Inc., a Goldstein family corporation. The closing was on Wednesday.
Gobeille said on Thursday that they expect to pump about $250,000 into improvements on the short term, and move on from there. New seating for four of the seven cinemas that were not improved during a previous upgrade was ordered earlier in the day, and the installation will begin in January after the seats arrive.
The building’s upper floor will be prepared for commercial tenants, starting later next year, he said.
Town Councilor William F. Martin, chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Authority, said on Thursday that Gohl and Gobeille’s acquisition of the building was “thrilling” news.
He said it assured a good fate for the once-threatened cinemas, and relieved the authority of the financial burden of taking on the building itself.
Money that would have had to go to the building’s purchase can now be focused on construction of a parking garage to support all the businesses expected to result from redevelopment in the district, he said.
The authority has acquired three buildings on Bank Row, around the corner from the theater building. And it is in the process of securing the former Hapco Auto Parts building on Olive Street, located just around the other corner of the Bank Row block.
The Hapco building will be razed and used as the main entrance to the parking garage, under the authority’s redevelopment plan.
The Garden Theater was built by brothers Samuel and Nathan Goldstein 1929, and continued through the years in Goldstein family ownership, until its sale by Ronald Goldstein.
The Goldstein family once owned many theaters throughout Western Massachusetts, and have slowly sold most of them off.
In 1999, after Goldstein closed the Garden Theater, which was in disrepair, the historic building’s fate was up in the air. It was put on the top 10 most-endangered site list of Preservation MASS, a non-profit preservation organization.
Subsequently, Greenfield took the building for unpaid taxes, and repaired its roof for possibly resumption of theater operations, only to have Goldstein appeal the taking and regain the property for $136,000 to cover taxes and costs.
The building is known for its original architecture, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Along with its elaborate murals, it employed machinery in the orchestra pit that created moving clouds and twinkling stars on the ceiling.
Since the theater was carved up into seven smaller cinemas in 1986, the murals are covered and cannot be seen.
The subdivision also dropped the seating capacity from an original 1,887 to the current 1,000.
Midway Mall cinema to reopen Friday
Cindy Leise | The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA â€" Beginning Friday, movie fans will once again be able to check out first-run movies in Elyria.
Atlas Cinemas has announced the re-opening of Midway Mall Cinemas under the name Atlas Cinemas Midway Mall 8.
Crews are sprucing up the theater, which has been dark about six months, and there have been upgrades in sound, said Christopher Ross, an Atlas operations manager at another location.
Atlas Cinemas is owned by Al Saluan, who currently operates 39 all-digital screens at locations in Euclid and Mentor, Ross said. The Elyria theater is not digital; movies will be shown in film format for the time being, Ross said.
A manager has been hired and the company plans to do some additional hiring, Ross said. The company is taking applications in person at the theater. Applications can be downloaded at www.atlascinemas.net
Adult admission will be $5.75 during the day and $8.25 at night, Ross said. Children ages 3 to 11 and seniors 62 and older will pay $5 during the day and $5.75 at night, he said.
The first movies to be shown at the theater are “Body of Lies,†“Zack and Miri Make a Porno,†“Max Payne,†“Saw V,†“W,†“The Haunting of Mary Hartley,†“High School Musical 3†and “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.â€
Formerly operated first by the now-defunct General Cinemas, then by an out-of-town independent, the Midway Mall theater stopped showing films in May.
At the time, Susan Godorov, vice president of marketing for the mallâ€\s owner, Centro Properties Group, said the theater closed after owners failed to meet their lease agreement.
Centro filed a lawsuit against Midway Cinemas 8 in October 2007, claiming the theatersâ€\ owners failed to pay more than $50,000 in back rent. Centro accused the owners of not having made a payment in months.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or
The pictures of the restored theater are beautiful!! Simply gorgeous!! I’m glad the theater was saved.
Here’s the latest news:
Plans to build a 240-bedroom hotel above a cinema in London’s Leicester Square have been given the go-ahead by Westminster City Council.
Leicester Square Co-ownership Group’s bid to build the four or five star hotel above a new state-of-the-art Odeon cinema are part of plans to regenerate the south west corner of the London square.
Four cafe/restaurants and a rooftop restaurant are also included in the plans, drawn up by architects, Make, who designed The Cube in Birmingham.
Work on the new mirror-fronted building, currently on the site of the Odeon West End cinema, will start next summer.
A spokesperson for the Leicester Square Co-ownership Group said: “This will be a major focal point for Leicester Square â€" bringing new life into a neglected corner of one the London’s landmark destinations and drawing people down to the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square.
“The plans centre on a new high quality 4 star or 5star hotel, with a state of the art facility for Odeon, as well as restaurants and cafÈs where people can enjoy the surrounding open space. We also expect the rooftop restaurant, with its prime West End location and spectacular views over London, to be especially popular with residents and visitors and we are looking to start discussions with an operator shortly.â€
An article in the Boston Globe says the cinema is on track to bring in 500,000 customers this year and offers $5 tickes on “Economic Recovery Tuesdays.”
The Vue was mentioned in an article claiming it was encouraging juvenile delinquency:
Cinema accused of encouraging children to play truant to see High School Musical 3
Last updated at 12:31 PM on 20th October 2008
Teachers accused cinema bosses on Monday of encouraging children to play truant by showing High School Musical 3: Senior Year in school time.
The film is due to open on Wednesday and the Vue cinema in The Mall shopping centre in Norwich is giving a 9am screening for fans who cannot wait until the evening to see it.
The first two films in the series were extremely popular and children have been waiting weeks to see the third installment.
Cinema bosses are claiming they cannot screen it any earlier and want to be the first to show it in the city.
They argue it is better to screen it at 9am so children who would play truant to watch the film anyway will only miss the first half of their school day.
But education professionals are furious. They insist it is irresponsible to show it during the school day and cinema managers are only focused on exploiting kids to make money.
Daniel Pratt, marketing manager for Vue, said: ‘We wanted to be the first to screen it in Norwich.
‘We were planning on screening it at 7am in the breakfast club so kids could watch it before school – but due to licensing restrictions we weren’t able to.’
Mr Pratt said by showing the PG film at 9am they hoped youngsters would return to lessons for the afternoon.
He added: ‘We have still got screenings after school, the film is on general release from that day and it’s standard to show it at 10.30am. The film would have been showing during that day anyway.’
But to entice families the cinema is offering parents the chance of watching a more adult alternative film, the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, while their children watch the musical.
Here’s an article about the renovations at the theater:
AMC Entertainment Inc. said Friday that the renovated wing of AMC Studio 30 will open to the public Oct. 31.
The Kansas City-based company said in a release that it has transformed an entire wing of the Olathe theater into Fork & Screen, which includes casual, in-theater dining and entertainment; Cinema Suites, an upscale in-theater dining and entertainment option; and MacGuffins, a bar and lounge area. AMC Studio 30 is the first AMC location in the country to feature all three test concepts under one roof.
“The Fork & Screen test concept transcends anything our guests have seen before, and we look forward to everyone in our hometown experiencing this flagship location,†AMC Entertainment CEO Peter Brown said in the release.
Fork & Screen will feature eight auditoriums reserved for customers 18 and older and minors accompanied by a parent or guardian. Customers 21 and older can upgrade to one of three Cinema Suites auditoriums featuring reserved seating.
Christie this week was bragging about premiering High School Music 3 this week on a giant 75' x 40' screen using two projectors from 125' away. Digital IMAX is using twin digital projectors too in its new builds. So you can fill any size screen you want, but it’s going to cost you. Big screens may take two projectors. Switching screen ratios will cost you for extra lenses.
You can go up in size more easily with the 4K projectors than the 2K projectors because there’s 4x more pixels, so it can be blown up more. I think the limit for the 2K projectors are about 40', and a lot of theaters only bought a single lens so they used top screen masking rather than side masking.
As for the ticket prices going up, the theater chains are already charging $3 extra for 3D presentations and $15 for “Luxe Level” seating where they also sell you dinner, drinks and snacks. The theater chains are going after rich people, and they’re making it more difficult for the rest of us to go to the movies.
I’m afraid the industry is moving toward all digital whether we like it or not. When 50% of the screens are digital, the studios will probably give theaters a deadline of three or five years saying, that’s it. No more film. You get a hard drive or nothing.
The independent movie companies will probably continue to distribute films on film for a while, but they have even more of an incentive to go to digital to save money. Quite often it costs more to market and distribute an indie film than it cost to make. Digital prints would cut both distribution costs as well as production costs. Most indie films will probably be shot, edited and distributed totally in digital.
But going digital will be a substantial cost for an indie theater, and if they take out loans to buy the cinema projectors, they may go baankrupt trying to pay back the loans, causing an indie meltdown sometime in the future. It’s a difficult situation. Going digital will certainly favor the chains, but at the same time, it has already led to higher admission prices.
By the way, responding to the other posts, in 2007, Muvico signed a deal for only the Rosemont, IL theater with Sony. Sony obviously hoped it would lead to a chain-wide rollout. This makes it official. Sony is competing with Christie, which has made a deal with IMAX, and with Barco. Christie says they’ve completed its 5,000th digital projector installation worldwide, so it seems Christie has quite a lead.
As for the digital projectors wearing out, people in the industry are only expecting a 5-10 year lifespan on them. The main problems are heat and continuous use. Obviously, motherboards and computer chips don’t like heat. No one knows how long they’ll really last, but I think the expectation is that technology will make them obsolete before they actually die.
But I’ve been in a theater when a flakey digital projector held up the movie for half an hour, and I found out the night before they cancelled a showing because of the projector, so they’re certainly not foolproof as some theater owners may think.
They have machines that stuff envelopes. I doubt anyone is going to pay someone $5 to stuff an envelope when a machine does it for pennies. Please don’t post ads here.
Universal said they wanted to invade people’s personal spaces and this is the way they came up with. I think they’re afraid of lawsuits if they actually scared someone enough to have a heart attack or die.
Universal has a deal with New Line and that’s how they have access to the characters. I guess Frankie, Drac, and the Mummy are too old school these days.
I’m sorry, the Website is changing my links. Try this:
Read here.
I’ll try it again. Read more here.
Here’s a better article. Read here.
The city wants to knock down the theater and build a medical center.
You can read more here.
And now, it’s closed.
Read more here.
The city is looking for someone to run the theater. Otherwise it closes on Oct. 23rd.
You can read more here and here.
Well, it’s all about the dollars. The studios are basically going to cover the entire cost of the digital projectors, so they’ll be free. The theaters won’t need union projectionists. In fact, they won’t need anyone up in the booth. The projectors don’t go out of focus (usually). Most movies are about 200gb, so that means studios can send out a digital print on a $50 hard drive instead of a $1500 film print. Digital prints don’t scratch, get dirty or break (unless the hard drive or the projector crashes). And most audiences think digital is better. Plus, you can charge $5 more for a Miley Cyrus 3D concert or a sporting event, and $10 more for a Metropolitan Opera telecast!
That means that film might be relegated to art houses and independent theaters in just a few years.
I agree. Cambridge, MA would be a perfect place for something like this.
Natalie Wood was drinking with Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken on Wagner’s boat anchored off Catalina Island when she apparently tried to leave by getting into a dinghy while she was wearing a down overcoat. There’s the assumption that she got tired of Wagner and Walken’s drinking and arguing, which had been witnessed earlier that day at a restaurant. She fell, hit her head, wound up in the water and the down coat dragged her down.
She had at least one major scene to shoot for the movie and her look-alike sister filled in for her in long shots and over-the-shoulder shots. The movie gets choppy in the second half, probably due to her missing scenes and having to rewrite other scenes.
The studio wanted to shelve the picture and take the insurance money, which I believe it did. Trumbull convinced the insurance company he could shoot around her and it funded its completion. The film was released two years after Natalie’s death and IMDB says it grossed about half of what it cost, which means the insurance company probably got back 25% of its money.
Unlike today where audiences turn out in droves to see an actor’s “last performance,” I think Natalie was so beloved that people just couldn’t bear to see the film after she died.
There’s a news story about Classic Cinemas taking over the theater here.
Here’s a news story posted 10/1/08 on My San Antonio News.
Old Seguin theater to be new again
Roger Croteau – Express-News
After 10 years of raising money, the Seguin Conservation Society officially broke ground Tuesday on a $2.5 million restoration of the historic Texas Theatre.
“It’s exciting for Seguin,†said Steve Tschoepe, chairman of the task force organizing the project. “Every time we open the doors, someone wanders in and tells us stories of when they were kids and they came here.â€
Harold Brodt, 88, said he remembers when the Texas opened in 1931 because the owner, Alvin Mueller, was a neighbor of his and had him dress as a cowboy and ride to the town square as part of his grand opening promotion.
“Mr. Mueller said, ‘You never have to pay a nickel,‘†Brodt said. “So I lived at the picture shows.â€
The Depression-era movie house sports a Spanish colonial motif and was noted for its star-studded ceiling, which will be part of the restoration.
The Texas is a star in its own right. A replica of the theater’s sign is displayed at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin and the theater has appeared in several films, including “The Great Waldo Pepper†and “Raggedy Man.â€
“It was never modernized,†said task force member Nancy Masterson. “These mica lamps are original. It was repainted from time to time, but always in the original colors.â€
Dan Daniels said his family purchased the theater around 1934 and ran it until it closed in the mid-90s. He sold it to the conservation society in 1996.
“I’m excited to see it being restored,†he said. “It’s a shame there’s no way to make any money with a single-screen house anymore.â€
As a result, plans call for the stage to be expanded and the theater to be used for plays, lectures and musical performances as well as movies.
But more money is needed to finish the project, said task force member Stan Ledbetter.
“It took us 10 years to raise $2 million and the budgeted amount is $2.5 million,†he said. “Construction is expected to take a year or less, so that gives us a year or less to raise $500,000.â€
Indian movies are gaining a foothold here. I’m researching a story about Pyramid Saimira, which is one of India’s largest theater chains. They bought a US company called FunAsiA which is based in Texas. They have movie theaters in Houston, Irving, and Richardson, TX and have expanded to Chicago and the Washington, DC area. They also own radio station KHSE-AM in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and a glossy magazine called DesiPages. Their goal is the “rapid expansion” into major North American markets. They’re converting all their theaters to digital projection and are also setting them up for video conferencing, wedding receptions and banquets. They’re also syndicating their radio programming into the new markets they’re entering and distributing their magazine within their theaters. And they’re looking for new ethnic groups to target.
So as India gets more American movies, we’re getting more Indian movies.