Cinema Muses by Seymore Flix

Theatrical Release Window - Death by a Thousand Cuts

Yesterday, it was announced that AMC Theaters (the U.S.'s second largest cinema chain) and Cineplex (Canada's largest chain) had reached an agreement with Paramount Pictures to screen two movies and have then be available for home viewing within 17 days after their theatrical release.

The two movies are, 'Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension' and 'Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse'  This could well be the start of the shortening of the time period between cinema exhibition and home viewing from the now four month average to just six weeks.

The idea behind the exclusive theatrical screening window is that people are less likely to go to the cinema if a movie is available to watch at home within a short period of wait-time.  Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures, Rob Moore, said that "Exhibition, for the first time, was open-minded about evolving our business instead of sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring what is happening around us.  This is all about changing the definition of the theatrical window.  Instead of starting the countdown from when a movie opens, we are starting from when it ends."

Paramount is planning to approach other U.S. cinema chains to see if they are willing to take the two movies under similar terms.  In return, exhibitors will get a cut of the rental income for 90 days after the movies theater release.

AMC's CEO, Gerry Lopez, told us that, "This is a prototype distribution model that may not be suitable for bigger titles. Exhibitors need to catch-up with their customers. Consumers know theatrical movies from their 'gotta see it now' release in cinemas, but every movie is different, and a one-size-fits-all model has never made sense."  

Paramount stated that it was in a "wait and see" on these two titles before working on more of the same deals, but stated imphatically that 'Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation' would not be included in this scheme.

As I've stated many times, the theatrical window will eventually be shut - so cinemas must be at the top of their game to keep moviegoers coming back.

MPAA 2014 Annual Cinema Report

The Motion Picture Association of America - Annual 'Report on the Cinema' was recently issued. I like to comb through the Report and look for interesting insights into what is going on in the world of the cinema.  This year's report noted the following:

Globally

The Global box office gross totaled $36.4 billion up slightly over 2013 and due solely from the Chinese market which increased by 34% to $4.8 billion in 2014.

Screen count worldwide now numbers 142,000 with over 90% converted to digital projection.

U.S. 

The United States (including Canada) recorded 1.27 billion admissions in 2014, which equated to each person going to the movies 3.7 times. Tickets sold to 40-59 year-olds were at all time highs while admissions of 60+ year-olds were the highest level in 4 years. So, older people are going to the cinema at higher rates then in the past. Surprisingly. 57% of admissions were women

Total gross was $10.4 billion down 5% from 2013.  As compared to other entertainment, cinemas ranked first to all rivals with 1.27 billion tickets sold. Theme parks had 379 million visitors while all major sports (baseball, football, basketball, and soccer) had 134 million event ticket sales.

The average price of a cinema ticket was $8.17 for 2014. Of moviegoers, 56% were Caucasians, 25% Hispanics, 10% African-American, and 9% Asian/Other.

Of all U.S. admissions, 20% were sold to the 25-39 age group, 20% to the 25-39 age group, 16% to the 18-24 age group, 14% to the 12-17 age group, and 13% each to the 40-49 and 60+ age groups. California had the most moviegoers followed by Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois. 

The top 25 movies generated 48% ($4.9 billion) of the total box office - of these films, 14 carried a PG-13 rating, while 15 were released in 2D and 3D.   Curiously, of the top 5 movies (Guardians of the Galaxy, Hunger Games, Captain America, Lego Movie, and Transformers) 57% of the attendees were women.

# of Screens - U.S.

1-7 screen venues - 6,334 screens

8+ screen venues - 33,824 screens

Total                       40,158

Screens increase by 4% in 2014  and there are now less then 1,000 screens which have not converted to digital projection and film prints are getting very scarce.

Fewer Movies/Larger Grosses

If you go to the cinema, you've most likely noticed that most multiplexes are screening the same movie on multiple screens - two and sometimes three if it's available in 3D.  This may be due to the popularity of the movie but their may be a deeper reason.

Hollywood is all about blockbusters and franchises

As of July 4th, 323 movies have been released and 117 are scheduled for release through the remainder of the year - a far cry from 2014's 707 releases. Now, this year is going to be a box office record breaker but with many fewer movies.  The answer is that the major studios are producing fewer movies. Why? Because of the studios' unwillingness to make, and pay for, 'smaller' films. Right now, producing blockbusters and franchise movies, sequel after sequel, is first, second, and third priority, all other projects are after-thoughts and marquee fillers.

This trend has fueled film-makers to move to TV, where there are now plenty of very good series being produced for broadcast, cable, and pay-per-view streaming networks.  Like cinemas, the viewer now has the ability to binge view so an entire season of shows can be watched in a short period of time - commercial free.

So, is the cinema becoming less significant as an art form and is the commercial value of movies the only criteria to getting onto the big screen?  Yes! But change is inevitable and what the cinema will evolve into is something we can not yet imagine.

Just saying,

Seymore