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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 30, 2009
Theater admissions fall in ‘08
It certainly wasn’t a win, but a not so serious decline and current increase in ticket sales provide a bright pictures for theaters.
Theater admissions fell less than anticipated in 2008 — 2.5% — while they are up a sizeable 4.5% so far this year.
Tallies provide further evidence that moviegoing has become a favorite pastime in brutal economic times.
Industry estimates released at the end of December showed that admissions for 2008 were running 4%-5% behind 2007.
Read the full story in Variety.
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January 29, 2009
Arthur Stein, Jr passes
Arthur Stein, Jr, former General Manager of Central States Theatres of Des Moines Iowa passed away January 20th, 2009 in Rancho Mirage, California. Arthur retired from Central States at the age of 88. He is survived by his wife of 63 years Helen (Sis) and his two sons Jay and Art.
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No recession at Staten Island movie theaters
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Even with the failing economy, movie theaters haven’t taken that much of a hit, at least in Staten Island.
As they packed onto mass transit in record numbers, cemented “staycation” into the popular lexicon and just tried to hang on in a collapsing economy, Staten Island and the nation largely spared the moviehouse.
Hollywood emerged from last year with a 4 percent drop in overall attendance but with a take nearly even with that of 2007, at about $9.62 billion. At the borough’s three movie theaters, fans weren’t cutting back.
Read the full story in the Staten Island Advance.
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Movie theater seats for sale
Approx. 900 Irwin Citation theater seats will become available at the end of February 2009. Seats are located in New Jersey. They are approx. 16 years old in good condition. No cupholders. Black plastic and metal parts, maroon fabric on backs and seats.
$10.00 each. Serious inquiries only.
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January 28, 2009
Redevelopment Association honors Alameda Theatre
ALAMEDA, CA — The Alameda Theatre has won an award from the California Redevelopment Association for the steps it took to reopen and put itself in a position to be successful.
In order to make the original single-screen theater economically feasible, the city approved plans that created the adjoining smaller screens and a contiguous parking structure. These new screens are the economic engine that drives the new theater complex, providing today’s moviegoers with the variety they expect in a movie theater experience. The 341-stall garage offers convenient parking not only for the theater, but for the nearby Park Street Business District.
The city contributed $21.7 million in tax increment bond proceeds and $1.7 million in parking revenues to a project that had a final tab of $36.4 million. A Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan for $7.2 million and $5.8 million of private investments paid for the balance of the project.
Read the full story in the Alameda Sun.
(Thanks to celestialspirit13 for providing the photo.)
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Bigger Knight better than Oscar Night
Christopher Campbell discusses going to see “The Dark Knight” in IMAX and how it affects his thoughts on the Oscars.
The Academy had their say, that The Dark Knight isn’t one of the five “Best Picture” candidates for 2008. But who cares? Sure, you can’t enjoy the Batman sequel as part of AMC’s annual marathon of top Oscar contenders, but then again you can’t see any of those five films in IMAX either. What would you prefer? Personally, I haven’t decided if I like any of the Best Picture nominees any better than The Dark Knight. But I do personally prefer to see a movie as big as possible, as long as that movie is appropriate for such viewing. And not only is The Dark Knight appropriate for the size, but it was partially filmed for it. So, rather than see any of those other movies a second time, I chose to see The Dark Knight again, in IMAX.
Read the full post at First Showing.
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For Sale: Speco LP270 Platters
Speco Drive In Platters LP270. Five available, Omaha Nebraska, must move this week. Complete working units, $500 each FOB Omaha.
Call Chris 503.998.3200 or .
Thanks
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January 27, 2009
Indie cinemas pack houses
Some local independent Boston-area theatres share their keys to success after a positive 2008.
But while big studio heads will have tears falling on the sleeves of their Armani suits, local independent movie exhibitors are quite happy with the way the year played out. They had more people lining up at their ticket booths, not less.
“We saw an increase in ticket sales,” says Ned Hinkle, creative director of the Brattle Theatre. “We’re waiting to crunch the numbers for the whole year, but we believe we saw a small increase in attendance, as opposed to other years where we’d seen a number of small decreases in attendance. Now we see an up tick.”
Read more in Wicked Local.
(Thanks to KingDafy for providing the photo.)
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Paramount ponies up for 3-D deal
Paramount is throwing in money to exhibitors to entice them to convert to 3-D.
Anxious to see more theaters converted to digital 3-D screens before DreamWorks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” opens in March, Paramount is offering to pay print fees directly to exhibitors who have the means to finance the conversion.
The digital cinema transition has been hit hard by the economic collapse and the freezing of the credit markets, which happened just as the consortium repping the country’s three largest circuits — AMC, Cinemark and Regal — was trying to secure a multimillion-dollar line of credit.
There are a number of consortia repping different circuits, or independently owned theaters.
Read more in Variety.
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Prytania Theatre operators honor past, look toward future of industry
NEW ORLEANS, LA — The owner of the Prytania Theater looks at the future of the industry as he converts to digital.
After a lifetime in and around movie theaters, second-generation theater man Rene Brunet has officially seen it all.
The 88-year-old operator of the Prytania Theatre — the last of what was once dozens of neighborhood movie houses dotting the city’s landscape — has seen the industry undergo a wealth of changes. Some stuck (sound, color); some didn’t (the first generation of 3-D, Fabio).
Read the full article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.