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Industry
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July 18, 2008
Big 3D opening weekend
“Journey to the Center of the Earth” performed big in its opening weekend in 3D. How will this affect a future rollout?
The success of Warner Bros' Journey to the Center of the Earth will likely pressure exhibitors and distributors to find ways to roll out digital presentation systems more quickly. Journey delivered an opening weekend gross of $20.58M, with 57 percent of the gross coming from theatres equipped to show the film in Real D 3D.
This Brendan Fraser family action film is the first live action, narrative Digital 3D film, and the movie performed 3.1 times better in 3D than it did in traditional 2D presentation. I spoke with Real D Chairman/CEO and Co-Founder Michael V. Lewis on Sunday, and he says that Journey delivered an estimated Per Theatre Average of $12,000 in Digital 3D this weekend compared to just $4,000 in 2D. Given the success of 2007’s Beowulf (Dreamworks/Paramount) and the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour Movie (Disney) early this year, it is fair to question why only 1,400 Real D 3D systems have been deployed.
Read the full story at Hollywood.com.
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iPhone theater search
There are new Apple iPhone applications that help you find local theaters.
Movies.app is a comprehensive movie searching application giving you Theaters in your area, movies that are in those theaters, trailers of movies, maps to the theaters, Box Office info about movies and even movies that are Opening Soon.
Read more at Apple iPhone School.
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July 17, 2008
New release shelf life
Not really news but Reuters takes a look at the state of staying power for summer flicks.
We live in a culture of instant gratification: instant-on appliances, fast food and, in some states, even day-of-registration voting.
Hollywood is not immune, especially during the summer months, when moviegoers descend each weekend on the newest movie at the multiplex like a swarm of hungry locusts.
Audiences make their likes or dislikes known instantly. The result is that hit or miss, no movie stays on theater screens for very long.
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July 15, 2008
Sumner Redstone in talks to buy out daughter
More chatter regarding Sumner Redstone buying out his daughter’s shares of Viacom/National Amusements.
Sumner Redstone is negotiating to buy out his daughter Shari’s equity interest in Viacom Inc and CBS Corp, but the two sides have not reached a deal, his spokesperson said on Thursday.
The spokesperson also denied a CNBC online report that quoted the 85-year-old media mogul saying in an interview that his daughter was not qualified to succeed him.
For a long time, Shari Redstone had been expected to take the mantle from her father as chairman of Viacom and CBS, but their public dispute over corporate governance last year has left the issue of succession unclear.
Read the full story in Reuters.
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July 11, 2008
Inside the trade magazine boycott
Simon Owens' blog, Bloggasm, has taken a closer look at the recent boycott of trade magazines due to their stealing of scoops.
In the middle of May, Variety, the trade magazine for the entertainment industry, published an article stating that Juno director Jason Reitman would be directing a new movie based on Walter Kirn’s novel Up in the Air.
In the world of film fans this was huge news; with Juno’s almost-universal critical acclaim many were waiting anxiously to find out the next project Reitman would take on. Missing from that article, however, was any reference to the journalist’s source. Also nonexistent was a mention of the movie website, Latino Review, which actually broke the story earlier that day.
Read more including interviews with people closer to the issue at Bloggasm.
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July 10, 2008
“Dark Knight” for Many Movie Theaters
The New York Times is reporting that theaters across the country are expanding the number of early morning shows they will be holding for the opening of The Dark Knight. The grosses for the latest installment of the Batman franchise should add to an already excellent summer for mainstream, first-run movie theaters across the country:
In a frenzy, fans have bought so many late-night tickets for the July 18 opening of the next Batman movie that theaters in places like San Diego, Chicago, and even Eagan, Minn., are scheduling 6 a.m. screenings for those who can’t get in at midnight or 3 in the morning. … Viewers seeking Imax screenings may have to wait. All of the first week’s showings at Lincoln Square are sold out, except for some 6 a.m. screenings, Whit Clay, an Imax spokesman, said.
Read the full story in the New York Times.
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July 8, 2008
Arizona theaters report high sales
In an article in the Arizona Republic, they claim audiences are packing in the local theaters despite a turbulent economy.
More theaters are instituting measures to help attract viewers despite rising gas and food prices. But it’s not always enough, with some already raising admission and considering concession price increases.
Still, the outlook for movie houses during this latest economic downturn seems rosy because few movie fans seem to be taking a break from one of the nation’s favorite pastimes during this summer’s blockbuster season.
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July 7, 2008
Start a volunteer program?
So many of you may be of, or personally know members of, the film industry. What about a national fundraising program for the preservation of theaters? Or, persons of all ages could spend vacation time working on buildings.
Rather like Habitat for Humanity, film enthusiasts could have working vacations where they meet new friends with similar interests. Perhaps members of SAG and/or AFTRA (is that the correct acronym?) could attend/participate. At the end of the day, put the hammers down, take a shower, then watch the pre-scheduled film and discuss it. Imagine fans of “Casablanca”, “Spiderman”, “Rear Window”, or “The Godfather” getting together for productive fun. Heck, sign me up!
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July 3, 2008
Three CT Community Colleges receive grants for CT Film Industry training program
By Dave Bonan
Norwalk, Middlesex (in Middletown) and Quinnipiac in Hamden have just received $3 million, to be equally shared, in funding for the CT Film Industry Training Program, as part of the Hollywood East Tax Force. This adds to the new infrastructure for job training for the state’s burgeoning role in the film industry, with new soundstages being built and the most lucrative tax credit in the United States.
The money was allocated by the legislature and was originally for $6 million but was whittled to the present amount. The programs will start on July 7. The Film Industry Training Program is designed for individuals who want to learn the basics of feature and episodic television film production and potentially pursue entry-level freelance work in the industry. Trainees will also learn about union membership, which is required to work on the majority of productions in the state.
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July 2, 2008
Drive-ins: An American classic reborn
An article in Time takes a look at the current state of the drive-in.
As the sun slowly set on a recent night in June, 800 cars and a crowd of viewers in lawn chairs pulled up to one of the four screens on the 25-acre green of the Mission Tiki drive-in theater in Montclair, Calif. Lovestruck teens canoodled in back seats. Parents corralled children in minivans. It was a remarkable turnout for a business, born 75 years ago, that has been teetering on the edge of extinction for the past two decades.
But tickets at the Mission Tiki have started selling again, and at $7 per adult and free entry for kids under 10, movie-goers are re-embracing the affordable luxury of a night at the drive-in. “It’s a family bargain,” says Frank Huttinger, vice president of marketing for De Anza Land & Leisure Corp., the family-owned business that operates the Mission Tiki. “It’s quality presentation. Our biggest problem is letting people know that we’re still there.”