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The latest movie theater news and updates
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October 8, 2008
NATO calls for equity for independent theaters
Following the agreement five movie studios signed with the three largest theater chains to pay virtual print fees to help defray the cost of buying digital cinema projectors, the National Association of Theater Owners called on the studios to sign a similar agreement with the hundreds of independent cinemas around the country.
The theater chains, AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark and Regal Entertainment Group negotiated the agreement with 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Studios.
The studios will pay a vitual print fee of $800 to $1,000 per film to help the chains convert to digital projection. The average film print costs the studios $1000-to-$1500 plus shipping while a digital print can be sent on a $200 to $300 hard drive which can be used again. Digital projectors cost $70,000-to-$100,000 twice as much as 35mm projectors. The studios are promising to refund the chains their savings over film prints for the next three-to-five years, or until the projectors are paid off.
Financing through JP Morgan and the Blackstone Group will allow the three chains to quickly convert up to 20,000 screens, or more than half the country’s 38,000 auditoriums.
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Indian film industry on strike
The Indian film industry is on strike as members of 22 unions representing 147,000 workers, including actors, technicians and directors, stayed home on Tuesday and continued to stay away.
Workers are looking for better pay, shorter hours and improvements in safety.
About 40 TV and movie shoots were affected.
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Roosevelt torn down
KENOSHA, WI —
The Roosevelt Theatre: December 25, 1927 – October 6, 2008.
Its career as a showplace ended in mid-March, 1985.
Demolition began Monday morning. RIP -
Grangetown Lyric remembered
The Lyric Theatre, Grangetown was destroyed in a spectacular fire in May 1995. There were no injuries and the site is now a playground. The old cinema is recalled in this recent article in the local press, with some amazing pictures of the intense blaze, which have just surfaced as well as earlier shots.
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October 7, 2008
Air base theater to reopen
MISAWA AIR BASE, JAPAN — The base movie theater closed late last month and is currently undergoing renovations. Civil engineers are installing a new heating and air conditioning system and new seats in the Richard Bong Theater.
A grand opening is planned for November 26th, but Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials expect the theater to be opened before then.
Read more in Stars and Stripes.
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Multiplex battles landlord over termination payment
MEMPHIS, TN — The Muvico Peabody Place 22 & IMAX theater may have closed last June because of lack of business, but Muvico Cinemas is locked in a federal lawsuit with the owner of the downtown mall it was in over a $700,000 escape clause that the theater company says it was tricked into signing.
Business at the Peabody Place mall had been slowly drying up as virtually all the tenants on the shopping center’s second floor, where the theater was located, closed down.
Vacancies were not being replaced, and Muvico actually returned eight of its 22 auditoriums back to the owner two years ago as attendance dropped off. In its brief seven-year history, the theater had gained a reputation for being a hangout for unruly teenagers which drove away older patrons.
During the negotiations to give back some of the theater’s massive 110,000 square feet, the landlord included a $700,000 early termination clause. Muvico said they agreed to it because the landlord assured them that Peabody Place would continue to be a shopping mall. However the owner announced last summer he wanted to to turn the mall into a luxury hotel which Muvico says breaks their 20-year lease. The landlord disagrees and is suing for the $700,000.
Read more in The Daily News and CommercialAppeal.com.
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North Riverside Park Theater under new management
NORTH RIVERSIDE, IL — The North Riverside Park Mall movie theater will reopen later this month under new management. The operator, Village Theatres, was evicted by the mall owners on Sept. 28th. Classic Cinemas is the new operator.
Classic Cinemas will redecorate and remodel the theater with upgraded seating and updated projection.
The company will also remove signage for Cineplex Odeon which went out of business in 1998.
Village Theatres took over the six-screen multiplex in 2006 from AMC Entertainment, which had inherited it from Loews earlier that year.
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October 6, 2008
National Popcorn Month
October is National Popcorn Month and Classic Cinemas, which has 12 theaters and 88 screens in northern Illinois, will offer a free 46-ounce popcorn to people who sign up to receive their promotional emails. Refills will be free and Tuesdays will feature buckets for only 75 cents.
The promotion also coincides with the company celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The chain goes through three tons of popcorn a month and pops its popcorn fresh daily in $10,000 poppers.
You can read more in The Courier News.
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Drexel Grandview (finally) closes
COLUMBUS, OH — The single-screen Drexel Grandview finally closed Tuesday night after a valiant effort by Jeff Frank, the owner of the Drexel Theatres Group, to keep it open.
In an e-mail sent to the press, Frank explained, “After the windstorm that closed Drexel East and Radio Cafe for most of five days, we tried hard, but unsuccessfully, to reach agreement with the Grandiew property owner so we could keep the theater open longer for a closing-night party.”
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Wall Street financing massive digital conversion program
Wall Street will raise over $1 billion to help fund the conversion of 20,000 movie screens to digital projection in a deal announced Wednesday.
Blackstone Group LP and JPMorgan Chase & Co are arranging financing for Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc and AMC Entertainment Inc to install 3D digital projection for up to 20,000 movie screens.
The three theater chains have reached agreements with Lionsgate, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures where the studios will pay a “virtual print fee” each time a digital movie is shown. The fee will be used to pay off the cost of the equipment.