BLACK FRIDAY WAS GREEN AT BOX OFFICE

With shopping malls packed on Black Friday, just about every film in the top ten more than doubled the amount it brought in on Thursday, when those malls were virtually barren. Demonstrating once again how dependent the film industry is on the vitality of the general retail trade — movie multiplexes are the anchor tenants […]

DIGITAL PROJECTION MAY FINALLY DO IN DRIVE-INS

A report in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times about the impact of the transition to digital projection on drive-in theaters included the surprising statistic that 368 of them still survive in the U.S. According to the Times report, the switch to digital distribution of movies, which is expected to be completed before the end of the […]

ADVERTISERS FINDING CAPTIVE AUDIENCE IN MOVIE THEATERS

Advertisers are learning that commercials shown in movie theaters are more effective than those shown on television. One reason, of course, is that there are no remotes with fast-forward buttons attached to theater seats. But another reason, according to a study commissioned by NCM Media Networks and reported today (Tuesday) by MediaPost, is that ads […]

IPHONE IS KILLING MOVIES, SAYS NY FILM CRITIC

In an opinion piece that appeared in the New York Post‘s Sunday edition, the newspaper’s film critic Kyle Smith made the case that the iPhone is quickly destroying the experience of going to the movies. Smith commented that until the advent of the device, “a trip to the movies … was just about the last […]

CHINESE GROUP TO SPEND $10 BILLION ON MOVIE BIZ

Buying AMC Entertainment — the second-largest U.S. theater chain — for $2.6 billion is just “the first step” of a $10-billion investment in the U.S., which will likely include the purchase of additional theaters, a joint venture in film production, hotels and retail stores, the head of China’s Dalian Wanda Group said at a news […]

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 […]

AMC THEATRES IMPOSES DRESS CODE IN WAKE OF SHOOTING

The AMC theater chain on Friday banned face-covering masks and “offensive” costumes at its theaters in the wake of the shooting at a Colorado theater where The Dark Knight Rises was being shown. The theater’s action came after eyewitnesses told of seeing the alleged shooter dressed in black and wearing a mask and body armor […]

THEATERS BEEFING UP SECURITY IN WAKE OF SHOOTING

Theater chains quickly acted to beef up security following the early morning shooting at an Aurora, CO theater showing The Dark Knight Rises that left at least 12 dead and as many as 50 injured. The Boston Herald quoted a spokesperson for one popular local theater, CinemaSalem, as saying that it was making sure that […]

MPAA CHIEF CHRIS DODD URGES THEATERS TO “ADAPT”

MPAA chief Christopher Dodd has called on movie theater owners to “adapt” to the new digital age of smartphones and tablet computers. “This new age of the connected consumer is here, and so we must adapt,” he told the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. He noted that although revenue is up 17 percent from last […]

TEXTING IN THEATERS? MANY WANT IT

People texting in theaters during a movie is one of the reasons often cited for the continued decline in attendance in recent years. Many theaters now precede movies with announcements asking patrons not to text, not to talk, and to turn off their cellphones and pagers. Some chains have even thrown out moviegoers who ignore […]

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