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Emulating 'Trolls', More Movies Try Bypassing Cinemas For On-Demand Releases (theguardian.com) 60

Posted by EditorDavid from the ticket-takers dept.
Trolls World Tour won't be the last major-studio release to bypass movie theatres altogether. An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian: Universal gets a greater cut of revenue from digital services than at the box office, which means the film has made the same amount of profit in its first three weeks as the first Trolls film did during its entire five-month run in U.S. cinemas.... "Universal has cast the first stone," said Jeff Bock, an analyst at research firm Exhibitor Relations. "This is exactly what the theatrical exhibition world had always feared -- proof that bypassing theatres could be a viable model of distribution for studios.

"Like it or not, the floodgates have opened. This is just the beginning, and the longer it takes for theatres to open on a worldwide scale, we're going to see the premium-video-on-demand schedule become more and more populated."

That schedule is now filling up. Universal announced last week that Judd Apatow's new comedy The King of Staten Island would scrap its planned cinema release on 19 June and premiere on-demand instead. And Warner Bros is doing the same with Scoob!, the first full-length animated Scooby-Doo film, which was meant to hit cinemas on 15 May...

The straight-to-digital strategy is only considered to be viable for mid- and lower-budget films forecast to earn at most a few hundred million at the global box office.
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Emulating 'Trolls', More Movies Try Bypassing Cinemas For On-Demand Releases More

Emulating 'Trolls', More Movies Try Bypassing Cinemas For On-Demand Releases

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  • Wait, Trolls? (Score:5, Funny)

    by lessSockMorePuppet ( 6778792 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @09:47AM (#60017472) Homepage

    You're telling me they made a movie for our kind?

  • Movie Theaters have been suffering for a long time. Big event style movies like Avengers haven't helped much because the theaters don't get to keep much because most people who are going to see those big event movies do so in the first few weeks when theaters don't get to keep much of the ticket sales. Meanwhile, home video releases have been getting pushed earlier and earlier each year. This move to digital release was inevitable, the Covid shutdowns only hastened the process that was already happening.

    • On that note, now that AMC blacklisted Universal, I guess they'll have to blacklist Warner Bros as well. Soon enough, AMC will have blacklisted every big movie studio out there.

    • Hopefully this will drive more theaters to show older movies, which are much cheaper for them. I'd rather watch an older better movie than whatever trash happens to be brand new. And the people who want brand new stuff can go get fleeced by on demand services.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kqs ( 1038910 )

        That only works if a reasonable fraction of people are willing to go see older movies in theaters. You may be willing to pay to see older movies in theaters, but unless you go almost as often as other people go to see newer movies, the theaters will still lose money.

        Old movies are already mostly viewed via streaming services.

    • The theater business isn't in ticket sales, it's in concessions. Their business is managing their local market to show the right movies and fill as many seats as possible for the studios while taking all the profit from $5 sodas sold to a largely captive audience.

      What killed theaters is their proliferation. No one wants to go to old theaters, so new theaters are built, but adding more seats means less money per theater.

      • Concession sales have fallen dramatically too. That's why they have to keep raising the prices of concessions, which makes fewer people buy them. They have fallen because ticket prices have shot up so high. Taking a family out to the movie now cost north of $50 just for the basic tickets.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jonwil ( 467024 )

          If theaters stopped charging so much for tickets (and given that theaters do exist that don't charge rip-off prices for tickets, doing so must be possible) then more people would go and they wouldn't need to keep upping the price on concessions.

          • If you are competing on ticket price, you're going to end up targeting the people who can't afford to buy concessions. It's a race to the bottom.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jonwil ( 467024 )

              The theater I go to here in Australia (or did go to before the current mess started) not only charges lower ticket prices but also concession prices that aren't obscene.

              They can be so cheap because they have low overheads (I believe they actually own the buildings their cinemas are in for the most part although I could be wrong on that).

              So it IS possible to have a cinema that has both low ticket prices AND concession prices low enough to get even cheapskates to buy.

  • Going to a movie theater is such an ordeal (Score:5, Insightful)

    by guacamole ( 24270 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @10:42AM (#60017600)

    So it takes me something like a half hour to get off my couch, dress up, and drive to the movie theater. Once I am there I need to stomach about 25 minutes of commercials and previews. Then the three hour long movie starts. And that's actually my big complaint with modern movies. What happened with smart exciting two hour long movies? Any movie with a pretension for greatness needs to run close to 3 hours, add or subtract. Once the film ends, you get out of the theater and realize, it's NEARLY 1AM. WTF? Now during those almost three hours of trying to pay attention to what's going on in the film, I am being distracted by people eating shit, unwrapping edible shit, going out to buy more shit to eat, people talking to each other loudly, and people going in and out to the restroom like all the time. And then the movie studious or distributors are wondering why so many people don't like to see film on the big screen.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Unfortunately I don't think we are going to be able to avoid the 20 minutes of commercials before the stream starts.

      • You will if you opt for the improved version available on every torrent site 5 minutes after the film is released.

      • Unfortunately I don't think we are going to be able to avoid the 20 minutes of commercials before the stream starts.

        As someone else posted, you can use a strategy many of us use... buy your ticket (hopefully in pre-allocated seat) and just turn up 20min after start time.

    • Re:Going to a movie theater is such an ordeal (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anachronous Coward ( 6177134 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @12:22PM (#60017848)

      I am being distracted by people eating shit, unwrapping edible shit, going out to buy more shit to eat

      When did they start catering to coprophages? Jeez, I can't even get a lousy beer at the theater.

      • I am being distracted by people eating shit, unwrapping edible shit, going out to buy more shit to eat

        When did they start catering to coprophages? Jeez, I can't even get a lousy beer at the theater.

        Why would you want lousy beer? Just buy a good beer.. (unless you live in a repressive hellhole of a country that doesn't allow that in cinemas)

    • @guacamole ..

      Having to wait in the foyer while the previous audience is cleared out. Since they split one big cinema into four, you get to watch one movie while listening to the other three. Then when the movie is finished being bum-rushed out of the place to make room for the next audience. (I like reading the credits). Finally, being forced to buy stale confectionary, over-priced pop-corn and cola as they won't sell you a cola on its own.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Why go there at night time? It costs more, has more people, etc. I just go there in the morning hours especially on weekdays when possible. Also, go to a good theater with reserved seats with no annoying ads. (not movie trailers).

    • Many theaters have gone to reserved seating. That means you don't have to sit through the ads; just don't bother to arrive until after they are done. Arrive in time for the previews if you wish, or come in 15 minutes after the published start time to be just in time for the actual movie. Just don't come in AFTER the movie starts; that annoys people.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

        I bet he hasn't been to a theater since the Bush administration. Maybe Clinton administration.

  • No longer any point to it (Score:4, Interesting)

    by lfp98 ( 740073 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @10:50AM (#60017622)
    In the days of single-screen cinemas and 525-line black and white TV, there was justification for physical theaters, but that time is long past. Then, to see a movie in high-resolution on the big screen was an entirely different experience. The arrival of a major new release was an event, a shared experience among all who came. In the modern cinemaplex, you sit in one of many small rooms with perhaps a few dozen people, and watch a movie on a screen not that much larger than some big-screen TVs, preceded by commercials just to make you feel at-home and remind you that it's all about profits, not art. It has the feel of a service, not an event. There's just no point to it anymore, you might as well just watch it in hi-def at home.

  • I don't like that because American cinema managers fail to keep the idiots out and their cinemas clean, which caused Americans to dislike the cinema experience,
    German cinemas, with are clean and nice and where people are quiet, will now receive a stoning aswell.
    Can't you just ... grab the opportunity, and start a *nice* cinema too?

    Then again it's more than a decade since I was last interested in any of that Hollywood crap. Only Nazi Übersoldat (translation: superhero) propaganda, US edition, and trash

    • Sounds more like the theaters (and maybe people) in your part of the country suck. Where I live my theaters are always clean and I never have problems with noise disturbances. I probably go to 2-3 movies a year and I can't even think of the last negative experience I've had going to one.

      I do remember the theaters around here (I still live in the town I grew up in) were gross when I was a child in the 80's with sticky floors and all that. Since the 90's though our theaters have all been quite nice.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by paiute ( 550198 )

      Maybe the German cinema owners should simply start their own movie studio. Although I fear Americans would hate their movies. ;)

      Hans Gruber would get to shove John McClane out the window in the reboot.

  • Studios need to realize, however...... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt AT nerdflat DOT com> on Sunday May 03, 2020 @11:01AM (#60017650) Journal

    ... that part of the reason that direct to streaming is so successful is because people don't even have the option to see something in the theatres, and there's a limited number of entertainment options available right now.

    I think once things have settled down and we can start going back to normal, I don't expect that direct to streaming movies are going to be as successful as they are at the moment. While I know there's clearly a market for it, speaking for myself, when I go to the theater, I am going for the experience that the theater will offer which I cannot replicate at home, even though I actually do have a fairly large TV with surround sound in my living room. And if I'm going to have to pay to stream it anyways, I might as well just wait and buy the DVD when that's available because the experience will be the same.

    • At some point releases won't go to DVD and BD. It will be streaming only for home watching.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mark-t ( 151149 )

        At which point I shall likely stop buying movies altogether.

        Not that I expect that will make the slightest difference... but I buy DVDs because I want to *own* them, not because I want to rent them until the streaming service decides not to carry it anymore.

      • Yep, and the rich people have DMR in their homes already.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by jjbenz ( 581536 )
        Good luck with that when things start getting pulled from streaming services and you have to subscribe to 5 or 6 of them to fulfill your viewing needs.

  • Theater model is (mostly) broken anyway (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Oh really now ( 5490472 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @11:16AM (#60017676)

    There used to, a LONG time ago, be a compelling reason to go to the theater. It was a reasonably priced way to see a feature film on a big bright screen, with great audio, and readily available tasty snacks. There was an air of excitement. People were smiling. It was fun!

    Today you go to the theater simply because you don't want to wait to see the film. The theaters have a dark and dingy feel. Some smell like mildew (maybe just here, we've had a few hurricanes and floods). A tub of popcorn and a drink is almost as pricey as a new car. Staff are barely awake. You now go begrudgingly, rather than getting excited to go. Home theaters now have certainly good enough quality to enjoy the movie, and buffs probably have just as good a setup as the theater does. So other than "I don't want to wait" what do theaters have to offer?

    The only theaters I've seen innovating, and this is definitely where we go, is a place like Studio Movie Grill or Star Cinema where you can get real food, real drinks, table service, and the place doesn't smell like an old shoe. Their model is so significantly different, we find ourselves again choosing to go to the theater first and checking out which film second. It's more along the lines of "lets get dinner and a couple drinks and be entertained for a couple hours while we're at it." It's great for a quick night out. I can spend $50 or $60 at AMC and leave feeling like I spent a lot of money and not be very happy about it. Or I can go to one of the other places, spend $100+ but leave feeling like I got something for my money.

    So for AMC to dig their heels against Universal? Good luck with that, they're likely digging their own grave.

    • It's not just the cinema getting any worse: It's the alternative getting better. We've gone from tiny, low-resolution CRTs to big DLPs to giant flat screens showing HD videos. Throw in some good speakers - perfectly affordable consumer technology - and you've got a home cinema: A viewing experience every bit as good as the cinema can provide. The difference in experience between what the home viewer could afford and what the cinema could provide has narrowed.

  • The next logical step (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Mozai ( 3547 ) on Sunday May 03, 2020 @11:43AM (#60017746) Homepage
    Movie studios have made it progressively hellish to run movie cinemas -- with conditions about what other movies can be shown at the same venue, what trailers to display, how to arrange promotion material inside the venue, hiring extra staff to screen audience members, secret-shoppers to catch non-compliance, taking up to 100% of the admission income for the first 1-3 weeks of showing -- shunning cinemas entirely is the next logical step.
  • I don't care how huge a TV set you buy, it's never the same as going to a movie theatre, and never will, not even if you were hideously rich and had a movie theatre built inside your house.

    • I don't care how huge a TV set you buy, it's never the same as going to a movie theatre, and never will, not even if you were hideously rich and had a movie theatre built inside your house.

      It doesn't need to be. I can watch it on my 720p or 1080i TV with a soundbar and not leave the house, start the film whenever is convenient for me - not at a time dictated by the theatre, pause it whenever I want to use the bathroom, and not spend a fortune on a drink and something to eat.

      If you still want to go to a theatre because you think it's a superior experience, by all means, have a blast - but not all of us agree and should be shoehorned in to your way of watching a movie.

      • I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey last year, and there is absolutely no way you're going to experience that at home. In the theater, it was grand. I have a great stereo at home, but I'd never reproduce that audio. And of course the size of the screen is grand, this was the IMAX theater, and I don't have to be 5 feet from a 100 inch screen to fill my peripherals.

        Otherwise, the movie theater has many advantages. Nobody's going to come into the room and start talking to you, screwing up your immersion. Th

      • Then I don't think you understand how they make movies. They're *made* for a screen that size and many don't translate well to a small screen even if the aspect ratio is the same. Unless they started making movies solely for release to video, which, again, would be sad. Don't dismiss what I'm saying until you realize what it is you're really dismissing.
  • AMC said that they will not play troll because of this.
    Will they simply quit playing Western made movies and go to Chinese made only? After all, AMC is a Chinese owned company.
  • Many decades ago, an anti-trust decision made it illegal for any movie studio to own a significant number of theaters. This has led to a situation where the interests of theaters conflict with the interests of studios. If studios owned theaters, the studios would try to keep theaters profitable.
  • Theatres create a sens of occasion that encourage audiences to sit still and watch a movie in its entirety. No getting up for a walk in the boring bits etc. Its always been a social climb to attend an upmarket Theatre.

  • On-Demands Today, On The Pirate Bay Tomorrow.

  • ads (Score:2)

    by Geekbot ( 641878 )

    But won't the streaming services force us to watch annoying ads in order to view their content?
    Oh wait...

    I hate going to the movies. Maybe I'm just old. I hate picking out my seats ahead of time, I hate the annoying kids running around the lobby, I hate the drunks in the theater, i hate the 45 minutes of ads, I hate the people on their cell phones, I hate the stupid kids sneaking in halfway through from another theater that wont shut up and sit down, I hate $13 popcorn and $5 pop, and I hate being out of

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