The window from Theatrical release to DVD/Bluray has already become slender, and now we find out that a Video on Demand initiative is being considered to bring out first fun films in half that time at an estimated $30 price tag.
But theater chains are concerned how this will affect their financial income and are willing to forego carrying major summer tentpoles in retalliation – one such title is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!
NATO (the National Association of Theater Owners), which represents such huge regional chains as Regal Entertainment and AMC, is threatening to drop some of this summer’s biggest blockbusters in response to the recently announced Video-On-Demand plan that is being utilized by four of the six major studios.
I can understand how this would upset the theaters.
Despite being the bloodline to the studios product, and they really get the short end of the stick. The first couple weeks, the theaters give up most of the ticket income to the studios, and it isn’t until after the first month before the theaters are given a larger share of that ticket price.
Longer running titles are quite profitable for the theaters, as it is in those latter weeks that they stand to take in more than the extortion of snack prices.
To show they are serious, posters and other promotional materials are being pulled from theater lobbies in an effort to put off the studio’s distribution plans.
Could this be the start of a Civil War between the theaters and studios?
I know there is a tradition and nostalgia that the cinematic experience brings, but could this be the first volley in the extinction of theatrical releases?
Direct content releases are the inevitable future. But where does that leave the old theaters?
The price at the theater let alone the price to GET to the theater is expensive. For me I live out in the country so it’s a good 45 minutes at least to get to a quality theater. Tack the gas bill to the movie prices and you’d see it looks a lot more reasonable to stay at home to see a movie. The last movie I saw at a theater was Avatar and I went to one that did a 3D showing with a bunch of my friends (split the gas money).
However, there lies another piece to this puzzle for me because we have satellite internet (that or dial up, yea seriously) so based on our pricing tier, we’re on the highest consumer one/ not talking about business tier here, we’re only allowed a certain amount of bandwidth (18GBs for 30 ‘rolling’ days). A full 2.5 hr HD movie will skyrocket us fast up our bandwidth percentages, I mean really fast and we would not be able to download anything else in fear of going over our limit and getting throttled by our ISP. Bluray has become the solution that we’ve picked but we only buy really good movies. It’s a shame since I have a Xbox 360 and would love to stream Netflix instantly whenever I wanted where I could actually catch up on decent not great movies. So yes, I might actually look at the theater longer than someone who has working and un-shackled internet (let alone Amazon VoD). However I don’t see it absurd going with the VOD method. Seriously someone has to wise up.
I am an indie film producer in NYC – we have to also think about it on a project to project “experience” level — I believe that ALL that is happening is great for the industry and for the Creative Producers and the indie market – The audience will ALWAYS find a “good product” according to the taste they have – which means it ALL depends on the “experience” you want to have and can afford to have — First you have to think about this – some one going to dinner in a 5 Star Food experience has to pay for that and some one going to the local dinner also pays for it — The “experince” is diffrent in the Dinner from the 5 Star place – So this is happening in the entertainment industry – THEATERS have to NOT just fight with Studios, they have to step up the game and create an “high enviroment, quality” so WE as an audience are not just gonna go to screen the MOVIE but also say to our self, “oh I want to go to theater A or theater B cause the pop corn is of higher grade and the SOUND is of higher quality and I want to have the “experience” with 500 more people … serving organic food or the seating and the SCREEN is 70MM. The EXPERIENE! The WAR or CIVIL WAR will be – 1) ALL Creative Producers will have to pick up the game and produce higher quality product 2) the “experience” of the enviroment has to go up — This in my opinion is what will be the fight — cause if we focus on just THE Movie being screened, we have to really understand that the”THEATER” concept is finished , just like Blockbuster as we know it, is finished and anything that has to do with the”physical” experience of enjoying a moving picture! If we want to focus on the price of $30.00 I believe it will be diffrent depending on the region of the USA you are watching it on VOD – Imagine the Broadway Theater experience – you have tickets raging from $225 all they way to an Off and Off-Off Broadway ticket of $25 – this is exactly what is happening to the MOVIE industry – depending on the level of quality and “experience” the individiual consumer can afford and wants to spend. This is an exciting time in the industry!!!
I am an indie film producer in NYC – we have to also think about it on a project to project “experience” level — I believe that ALL that is happening is great for the industry and for the Creative Producers and the indie market – The audience will ALWAYS find a “good product” according to the taste they have – which means it ALL depends on the “experience” you want to have and can afford to have — First you have to think about this – some one going to dinner in a 5 Star Food experience has to pay for that and some one going to the local dinner also pays for it — The “experince” is diffrent in the Dinner from the 5 Star place – So this is happening in the entertainment industry – THEATERS have to NOT just fight with Studios, they have to step up the game and create an “high enviroment, quality” so WE as an audience are not just gonna go to screen the MOVIE but also say to our self, “oh I want to go to theater A or theater B cause the pop corn is of higher grade and the SOUND is of higher quality and I want to have the “experience” with 500 more people … serving organic food or the seating and the SCREEN is 70MM. The EXPERIENE! The WAR or CIVIL WAR will be – 1) ALL Creative Producers will have to pick up the game and produce higher quality product 2) the “experience” of the enviroment has to go up — This in my opinion is what will be the fight — cause if we focus on just THE Movie being screened, we have to really understand that the”THEATER” concept is finished , just like Blockbuster as we know it, is finished and anything that has to do with the”physical” experience of enjoying a moving picture! If we want to focus on the price of $30.00 I believe it will be diffrent depending on the region of the USA you are watching it on VOD – Imagine the Broadway Theater experience – you have tickets raging from $225 all they way to an Off and Off-Off Broadway ticket of $25 – this is exactly what is happening to the MOVIE industry – depending on the level of quality and “experience” the individiual consumer can afford and wants to spend. This is an exiting time!!
The majority of low budget filmmakers are going through the direct VOD release and making a nice profit over their movies. I think the big studios are looking how this market is becoming a nice way for the consumer to easily watch their favorite movies, so why not release it on VOD on the first window?
It’s all about profit, and I guess the profit share of releasing the film at the VOD market is far more attractive.
It always helps to take a look at the ‘big picture’. You know, the one that a) takes in more than your personal experiences, and b) provides some context.
Cinemas chains used to be mostly owned by ‘the studios’. That ended with a legislated break-up. So it was all controlled by them: production, distribution, exhibition. But even putting that aside, what matters to studios…and really, the *only* thing that matters to studios…is revenue stream. If that’s consistent, if it maintains an upward trend, they wouldn’t care if they could distribute films directly to the viewer’s brain. (For a little bit of perspective here, you might want to research the breakdown of studio revenues, and take a look at just how much of this is made up from actual cinema receipts.)
We are approaching the day when there will be simultaneous releases. (Shock! Horror!) You’ll have the option of going to the cinema to see a first-day release, watching it at home, on a portable device, etc. This may seem like heresy to some…especially cinema chain owners…but I don’t think it’s a rational approach to say ‘That’ll never happen!’ Because forty-five years ago, the notion that any film could be viewed anywhere but a cinema within two years of its release was seen as absurd. Then came a more enriched approach by network television, then came VCRs, then came DVDs, then downloadable files, then VOD…then direct viewing in the brain. (Sorry, got a little carried away there.)
In the end, it comes down to revenue…and what’s sexier to the consuming public. And I believe it’s pretty indisputable as to where those two factors are leading.
if i dont see it the first month sometimes even the first week I wait until its being sold for 6.99 at blockbuster used.
i wont pay 30 bucks to watch it on demand
And there are people who wont pay $12 to see it in theaters or buy it in a bargain bin a year later at $6.99
There is a market for every type of viewer.
If this keeps on, theaters will simply vanish . People won’t be so eager to line up to buy tickets to their favorite movie. This VOD thing takes away the excitement of going to a flick you’ve been anticipating for months.
This is a fight the theaters will lose if the studio’s decide to play hardball. The studio’s could decide to go straight to VOD and not release Deathly Hollows theactrically. At 30 or even 40 bucks people will pay through the nose to see that movie. Like Rodney said earlier home movie setups are quite good these days, you have surround sound, HD,3D and some many other options that the theater has become an after though.
The studio’s could release straight to VOD and later release to DVD in a shorter time frame and pretty much keep all the money. I think theater owners are putting to much weight on what they offer. They haven’t’ noticed tickets sales are down? They shouldn’t play hardball with no leverage, they should meet with studio reps and see if they can come to some agreement, and maybe get a small percentage of VOD money from major releases.(tent pole movies)
You would still have to wait 2 months after the films come out in the theaters to see it on VOD. So the theaters should still be able to make money. Besides you don’t see a lot of new releases lasting 2 months in first run theaters.
You may not notice them, but two months down the line you can still see most movies in theaters. It is the smaller theaters that have fewwer screens that push titles aside quicker, and those are the ones that suffer most.
The issue with the theaters’ side of the argument is that if this is a valid source to see the film and it costs less than they are charging, they lose out on the ability to make money on the handful of people who may attend these films after the first month.
The theater doesn’t make much off the ticket prices until after the fourth week of release.
Playin’ Hardball. Hope they just dont cut their nose off to spite thier face.
Theatres are everything the Hollywood Studios are about.
Silver Screen used to stand for something.
even though they have no say, I’d wonder what the Actors think about this. cause if they kill off the theatres then those “Movie Stars” are just T.V. personalities! LOL
I do not mind having to wait a while to get a film on DVD or Blue Ray I enjoyed in theaters and if its great enough i will see more time in theaters such as Dark Knight I watched 7 times in theaters 5 being in IMAX I just don’t like this video renting from your house and downloading legal or illegal. It takes away from going to the video store or theater where I can run into people I know or talk to people about what they have watched and enjoyed or did not like. So when It comes to internet being to new way of communicating and socializing I am against it. Not completely but you can do it all.
This is contributing to all the fat asses in America staying indoors not moving from there sofa or computer just living through their internet devices.
WALL E has our future down.
Why would anyone pay $30 for vod instead of seeing the movie in theaters? $30 is an outrageous price. I don’t think the theaters have much to worry about with this.
As discussed in the first article $30 is reasonable for what they are offering.
With outrageous prices on food and ticket prices themselves it costs $100 for me to take my wife and kids to the theater for a night. And I am the general audience they are appealing to.
And home theaters are quite advanced and I find MORE comfortable and visually appealing with my modest setup than the theater experience (some cult films and big film excitement aside – there is still value to the theater experience)
It would cost more than $30 for a couple to go on a date to see the movie, so staying in to watch it on your home theater would still be more affordable and you are still seeing a movie that is still new.
Even a group of friends could split the cost and it’s still reasonable for 3-4 of your friends to see a new film, fresh run in the comfort of your own home without obnoxious teenagers and other disruptions.
Its not unreasonable unless you are comparing it to a single person paying for his own ticket and no snacks. And how often do people go to a movie by themselves?
This $30 is a VERY reasonable price to view a film. And just like the alternative is to wait longer and buy a $20 DVD, people still over pay to see it first.
$30.00 is not high at all.
for all the reasons you’ve mentioned, I fall in their demographic as well.
The Big Plus to watching at home. HDTV! no more blurry/darker images.
You’re right about the food prices, but I never buy anything in the theater anyway. $100 seems pretty steep. I’m in a family of five, and we saw battle la matinée for around $35 opening weekend. Sure the living room may bed more comfortable than the theater, but it isn’t the same. Why not just wait another 2 or 3 months and just rent the movie?