Times are now out. They will get three new movies, pretty good for them even considering that they’re all August-dump films. LOTTERY TICKET gets Grauman’s and PIRANHA 3D will join VAMPIRES SUCK in the mall.
I think ArcLight Hollywood just hasn’t posted times yet, Brad. (THE SWITCH was pre-selling for a couple of weeks, the rest of the bunch were just added for Sherman Oaks today.) Three screens at the Chinese 6 are already taken up for the LA Latino Film Festival this weekend, and VAMPIRES SUCK is getting two screens. This means they only have one screen + Grauman’s for new content over the weekend, which probably only means one movie. My guess: PIRANHA 3D takes both.
“Eat Pray Love” would certainly appear to be doing very well there; it sold 52 Internet tickets for the prime showing tonight, which is the most I’ve ever seen. (The website isn’t very well advertised and tickets come at a $3 premium online.)
The other interesting element on that note: “…the Julia Roberts drama ‘Eat Pray Love,’ between Aug. 13 and 19.” Does this mean that Bucksbaum will be in charge for just one more week? That would seem to indicate the new operator will continue to run films, as presumably the movie comes with a two-week contract. I guess he could’ve wheeled and dealed and it could move to AVCO after just a week, but that seems doubtful. Then again, maybe the writer of the article was providing an inaccurate timeline.
Given the hints that the place has operated at a loss for a lot of Bucksbaum’s ownership, I doubt we’ll see anything so extravagant, Chris! I have actually found the seats there pretty comfortable.
The Crest will be closed this coming week for “cleaning and renovations.” Curious if that just means the typical stuff or we’ll notice a difference. They’ll re-open on the 13th with “Eat, Pray, Love”.
I just noticed the Avco seems to have lost its digital projector this past weekend. Think this is significant of anything other than the fact that it isn’t a very high-grossing location? Probably not, but I wonder if Avco’s closing would improve the bookings Village/Bruin/Crest are able to get.
I’m not sure the quality of films being booked here is as important as the fact that hardly any new product is being booked at all. If Grauman’s changed movies every three weeks, consistently, I think we’d be fine. Not happy, but fine.
Here’s my question: why don’t they just put some second-run stuff into the big house if they’re going to keep going like this? When they took “Iron Man 2” from the ArcLight, they continued to play “Splice” in Grauman’s for Weeks 4 and 5. I’m sure they weren’t obligated to play that relatively low-grossing film in the big house for THAT long per their contract. And I don’t think “Iron Man 2” headlining on Hollywood Blvd over two months into its release would be any more embarrassing than a box office bomb over a month into its own. I’m pretty sure those who missed the movie or those who like the Chinese in general and wouldn’t mind seeing it again would have shown up… at least in greater droves than they did for “Splice”.
I can’t confirm Nolan was present, but I did hear from friends on another forum that this did indeed happen. I guess some stayed and watched it in the extremely hot room, and everybody was issued passes. But these folks weren’t happy.
PREDATORS tickets are now up for pre-sale at the Chinese, thankfully. (However, this unfortunately means they won’t be getting INCEPTION, which is the only predicted big-hit they had a shot at.) I’d be curious to know how many people are still watching SPLICE there — maybe a dozen per show at best? The movie had a marginal per theater average opening weekend, can only imagine what it’s like now. Let’s pray the next movie they get is not CATS & DOGS 2.
Midnight shows return to Westwood! They’re posted on the Regency website, tentatively scheduled for the Bruin with the possibility of moving to the Village — http://regencymovies.com/main.php?theaterId=28
Speaking of older multiplexes in LA closing, I heard a rumor on Twitter that the Magic Johnson in Crenshaw is closing in a couple weeks. Anybody got word on that?
Was it intentional or a coincidence that the last show ever will be HOT TUB TIME MACHINE? I can think of no more fitting way for the theater to go out than to go back to the 80s where it began. Hope it gets shifted to Theater #1?
Even considering how maligned this place came to be, it’s hard to imagine LA moviegoing without it.
I never experienced it in its glory days, but I still have a soft spot for it. My first day living in LA, I headed for the overhyped Grove, only to not find a place to park in time for the show. Aimlessly driving around trying to find my way back to the freeway, I stumbled upon the Bev Center and remembered there was a theater inside. Sure, it was essentially a nasty Mann-years experience—the print was scratched and there were some creepers there for the late set—but there was something special about seeing my first film as a Los Angeles resident not in one of the city’s many palaces, but a 40-something seat shoebox.
Unfortunately, we still might not know. The 3D on CLASH OF THE TITANS is being universally condemned as the worst implementation of the technology to date, with many reviewers commenting it’s so minimal you can watch it without the glasses and barely notice the blurring.
They probably won’t crop with a digital projector, instead opting for black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. This is how UltraStar has rigged their DLP on many of the old fixed-aspect ratio Edwards locations.
They really do appear to be going full-speed ahead with digital conversions, even at the lesser sites. The Broadway 4 in Santa Monica also now had a digital projector. I’d assume 3D is not far behind, just takes a few more weeks to put into action.
I’d bet it’s the same reason most other theaters do it in mid-range auditoriums: because if you want to keep a 3D movie in Week 4 or 5, it sucks to have to use the biggest auditorium for it.
BOOK OF ELI continues this next week, as we expected. My new guess is the next film that will be booked at this theater will be the next Denzel Washington film.
Times are now out. They will get three new movies, pretty good for them even considering that they’re all August-dump films. LOTTERY TICKET gets Grauman’s and PIRANHA 3D will join VAMPIRES SUCK in the mall.
I think ArcLight Hollywood just hasn’t posted times yet, Brad. (THE SWITCH was pre-selling for a couple of weeks, the rest of the bunch were just added for Sherman Oaks today.) Three screens at the Chinese 6 are already taken up for the LA Latino Film Festival this weekend, and VAMPIRES SUCK is getting two screens. This means they only have one screen + Grauman’s for new content over the weekend, which probably only means one movie. My guess: PIRANHA 3D takes both.
“Eat Pray Love” would certainly appear to be doing very well there; it sold 52 Internet tickets for the prime showing tonight, which is the most I’ve ever seen. (The website isn’t very well advertised and tickets come at a $3 premium online.)
The other interesting element on that note: “…the Julia Roberts drama ‘Eat Pray Love,’ between Aug. 13 and 19.” Does this mean that Bucksbaum will be in charge for just one more week? That would seem to indicate the new operator will continue to run films, as presumably the movie comes with a two-week contract. I guess he could’ve wheeled and dealed and it could move to AVCO after just a week, but that seems doubtful. Then again, maybe the writer of the article was providing an inaccurate timeline.
Given the hints that the place has operated at a loss for a lot of Bucksbaum’s ownership, I doubt we’ll see anything so extravagant, Chris! I have actually found the seats there pretty comfortable.
Unfortunately, William’s probably dead on.
The Crest will be closed this coming week for “cleaning and renovations.” Curious if that just means the typical stuff or we’ll notice a difference. They’ll re-open on the 13th with “Eat, Pray, Love”.
I just noticed the Avco seems to have lost its digital projector this past weekend. Think this is significant of anything other than the fact that it isn’t a very high-grossing location? Probably not, but I wonder if Avco’s closing would improve the bookings Village/Bruin/Crest are able to get.
I’m not sure the quality of films being booked here is as important as the fact that hardly any new product is being booked at all. If Grauman’s changed movies every three weeks, consistently, I think we’d be fine. Not happy, but fine.
Here’s my question: why don’t they just put some second-run stuff into the big house if they’re going to keep going like this? When they took “Iron Man 2” from the ArcLight, they continued to play “Splice” in Grauman’s for Weeks 4 and 5. I’m sure they weren’t obligated to play that relatively low-grossing film in the big house for THAT long per their contract. And I don’t think “Iron Man 2” headlining on Hollywood Blvd over two months into its release would be any more embarrassing than a box office bomb over a month into its own. I’m pretty sure those who missed the movie or those who like the Chinese in general and wouldn’t mind seeing it again would have shown up… at least in greater droves than they did for “Splice”.
I can’t confirm Nolan was present, but I did hear from friends on another forum that this did indeed happen. I guess some stayed and watched it in the extremely hot room, and everybody was issued passes. But these folks weren’t happy.
PREDATORS tickets are now up for pre-sale at the Chinese, thankfully. (However, this unfortunately means they won’t be getting INCEPTION, which is the only predicted big-hit they had a shot at.) I’d be curious to know how many people are still watching SPLICE there — maybe a dozen per show at best? The movie had a marginal per theater average opening weekend, can only imagine what it’s like now. Let’s pray the next movie they get is not CATS & DOGS 2.
Midnight shows return to Westwood! They’re posted on the Regency website, tentatively scheduled for the Bruin with the possibility of moving to the Village — http://regencymovies.com/main.php?theaterId=28
Speaking of older multiplexes in LA closing, I heard a rumor on Twitter that the Magic Johnson in Crenshaw is closing in a couple weeks. Anybody got word on that?
Was it intentional or a coincidence that the last show ever will be HOT TUB TIME MACHINE? I can think of no more fitting way for the theater to go out than to go back to the 80s where it began. Hope it gets shifted to Theater #1?
Even considering how maligned this place came to be, it’s hard to imagine LA moviegoing without it.
I never experienced it in its glory days, but I still have a soft spot for it. My first day living in LA, I headed for the overhyped Grove, only to not find a place to park in time for the show. Aimlessly driving around trying to find my way back to the freeway, I stumbled upon the Bev Center and remembered there was a theater inside. Sure, it was essentially a nasty Mann-years experience—the print was scratched and there were some creepers there for the late set—but there was something special about seeing my first film as a Los Angeles resident not in one of the city’s many palaces, but a 40-something seat shoebox.
Unfortunately, we still might not know. The 3D on CLASH OF THE TITANS is being universally condemned as the worst implementation of the technology to date, with many reviewers commenting it’s so minimal you can watch it without the glasses and barely notice the blurring.
We’ll have to wait and see what kind of bookings they can get.
Regency will be the new operator of the Village and the Bruin, according to their website, www.regencymovies.com
OH MY GOD. It’s REGENCY! It’s REGENCY! http://regencymovies.com/
They probably won’t crop with a digital projector, instead opting for black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. This is how UltraStar has rigged their DLP on many of the old fixed-aspect ratio Edwards locations.
They really do appear to be going full-speed ahead with digital conversions, even at the lesser sites. The Broadway 4 in Santa Monica also now had a digital projector. I’d assume 3D is not far behind, just takes a few more weeks to put into action.
If Fandango does not have a misprint—questionable—then AMC has equipped the place with a digital projector. Must not be doing TOO poorly if true.
You win the opportunity to tell us the real reason, then!
The whole “Clash” thing makes sense because ArcLight’s 3D screen(s) will be occupied with “How to Train Your Dragon”, which releases a week before.
I’d bet it’s the same reason most other theaters do it in mid-range auditoriums: because if you want to keep a 3D movie in Week 4 or 5, it sucks to have to use the biggest auditorium for it.
BOOK OF ELI continues this next week, as we expected. My new guess is the next film that will be booked at this theater will be the next Denzel Washington film.