ATTENDANCE UP, TICKET PRICES UP — WHY NOT REVENUE, TOO?

Attendance at movie theaters may be up 9.2 percent from last year, but that percentage is not reflected in ticket-sales revenue of theater chains, reports have indicated. That anomaly left industry watchers scratching their heads even more on Friday when the National Association of Theatre Owners disclosed that the average price of a movie ticket […]

3D MOVIES DECLINE AT BOX OFFICE

The latest revival of 3D may have turned out to be another flash in the pan. While a record 47 movies were released in 3D last year, revenue from 3D movies dropped 18 percent to $1.8 billion in 2011 versus $2.2 billion in 2010, according to figures released Thursday by the Motion Picture Association of […]

WEINSTEIN TAKES THE BULLY PULPIT

Harvey Weinstein is ratcheting up his battle with the MPAA and theater owners over the R rating his soon-to-be-released documentary Bully has received because of language. On Tuesday Weinstein responded to a letter from John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, who wrote that if Weinstein refuses to submit future films to […]

NATO CHIEF SUPPORTS NC-17 MOVIES, CALLS FOR MORE

Persistent reports that newspapers will refuse out-of-hand to run advertisements for NC-17 movies and that many theaters will likewise refuse to screen them are perpetuating a “myth,” according to John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners. In an interview with the Associated Press, Fithian hailed Fox Searchlight for its decision not to […]

THEATER OWNER BALKS AT $60 VIDEO-ON-DEMAND

It’s hard to imagine that any theater chain would feel threatened by Universal Pictures’ announcement on Wednesday that it plans to release the Eddie Murphy-Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist on “Premium Video-on-Demand” two weeks after it hits theaters in two test markets, Portland, OR and Atlanta, for $60. But the Cinemark chain wasted no time […]

NATO ADMITS U.S. SOLDIER KILLED BBC REPORTER

After initially maintaining that a BBC journalist covering a NATO operation in Afghanistan in July had been killed by insurgents, NATO acknowledged on Thursday that the reporter, Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, had been shot by a U.S. soldier who, it said, mistook him for a suicide bomber. According to the NATO report, the soldier saw the […]

NATO ASKS: IS ANYONE PAYING $30 FOR PREMIUM VOD?

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) wants to know whether consumers have been willing to spend the $30 or so being charged to rent movies via so-called premium video-on-demand. In a statement released today (Wednesday), NATO asked the studios that are participating in the VOD experiment — they’re releasing some films 60 days after […]

THEATER OWNERS GAIN BACKING FROM DIRECTORS IN VOD FIGHT

The National Association of Theatre Owners has mustered an impressive list of movie directors and producers to back the exhibitors’ efforts to persuade the movie studios to abandon their plans to roll out premium video-on-demand on cable, satellite, and the web. On the same day that DirecTV introduced its own Home Premiere package with Just […]

AL-JAZEERA’S MAN IN CHINA BLASTS CHINESE COVERAGE OF LIBYA

Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Beijing has posted a lengthy essay on his personal blog condemning Chinese news coverage of the revolt in Libya and the Western response to it. Writing in Chinese, Ezzat Shahrour said that the Chinese media have continued to present a one-sided picture of the conflict, presenting the opinions of Libyan strongman […]

FDA MAY WARN: GOING TO THE MOVIES MAY MAKE YOU FAT

The nation’s movie chains are up in arms over proposed FDA regulations that would require them to disclose the calorie count of snacks sold at their concession stands, the Los Angeles Times reported today, noting that a ruling could come as early as today (Wednesday). The ruling would in effect lump movie theaters together with […]

Next Page »