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On paper, you have a good point, Robert. In practicality, it can kill an indie long before he develops enough clientele to support his theatre (if he does at all).

A case in point is our own area here. The old Charleston Cinema was leased by a couple that tried the art/indie route. They're the ones who gave it it's distinctive purple color scheme (before the present owners changed it). The indie idea died a tragic death. Over the years, it was tried at the Holiday Twin (now closed), the Plaza Twin (now closed), and at two of your company's local outlets (temporarily).

The only theatre that's been able to generate the economic system to support anything other than mainstream fare is the Lynwood Theatre, on Bainbridge Island. They've got the self-styled "upscale" crowd that supports what they run, and have done so for years... but they're the only ones in our county of 300,000+... go figure.

So, the notion of offering alternative entertainment, while noble, isn't something many will try... at least not in our blue collar area. The risk of losing ones shorts altogether is powerful motivation to stick with the mainstream... less risky!

Oh... disclaimer here... this is my opinion... worth what you paid for it. If you don't like it, I'll give you double your money back.

Jack

My admissions are down 9% this year compared to last year Jan-May. If you put in a normal week's admissions where Passion played last year, I would be up this year. My prices have not gone up since April 2002. Product hasn't been as good this year in my opinion. I am hoping for a good summer and better product next year.

The margin of profit has gotten narrower and narrower and the studios are trying to plug big budget bombs earlier and earlier. The summer season used to start Memorial Day now is starts presidents week in Feb. By mid summer August there's nothing left cause now there holding for the Holiday season that starts in November.Theatres are empty during the week and only have two good night Friday and Saturday but only on the first week of a new release. The movies have no legs and rarely good enough for a second look!
Studios have got to start looking at material and saying no to these big budget bombs. Why do hey have to pay a star 20 mil a pic and there not making there money back Why? Because overall budgets are over 100 mil.
Look at movies like Open Water, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways to name a few. They cost nothing to make and all made close to 100 mil.
Hollywood needs to start toughening up on these big name stars and start giving bigger percentages to theaters, the true stars that generate the money that keep studios a float.
I just want to thank all the people (Except a select few) on this board for answering truthful and admiting to each other the loss of attendence and acting like a pillow for others.

I just analyzed my year to date figures.

Jan. 2005 same as 2004
Feb. and March 2005 down from 2004
April 2005 up from 2004

Further analysis of my weekly figures showed that the decreases in Feb. and March were due to three pictures we played in 2004 "Miracle" (Hockey is huge in my area) "50 First Dates" and of course "Passion of the Christ". To be fair I did raise my admission prices .50 cents on November 1 of 2004 but it didn't affect my Nov. & Dec. numbers at all. I'm joing the side of those who say our year to date decreases are due to poorer than normal product. Maybe we've just got to accept the fact that we are going to have a down year and continue to offer our customers the best possible presentation and experience. We've all got kitchens in our houses but we still like to go out and eat once in awhile. The same applies to TV. Good food brings people to the restaurants and good movies will bring people to our theatres. Lets wait and see what happens over the course of the next 4 months before we start to panic. My family has been in the theatre business since 1923 and seen lots of ups and downs during that time.

We were up 20% for the year until we hit April. April was down 30% from last year and so we are now up only 5% for the year to date. I blame it on poor product which we could see happening as new movies came in and did not spark the normal amount of interest from patrons.

Too early to say here...

My place is a drive-in, and the NorthWest weather has an aggravating influence over my best efforts to stuff the place full of pizza-loving patrons.

We had near-drought conditions up until mid-March. The mountains were bare, ski resorts had closed early, farmers worried about irrigation water and we had the kind of burn ban in effect that would just about make flicking your Bic illegal (as well it should be!). In short, great drive-in weather!

Then, we opened.

Since then, it's rained each and every weekend... usually heaviest on Saturday!

This could... perhaps... be just slightly to blame for fractionally lower turnout so far... though the crowds are enthusiastic about Summer, and many of the shows that are on the way.

Oh... after we opened, so did the ski resorts. The drought alert and burn bans were called off, and the farmers all had their water rights restored. Of course, we take full credit for sacrificing ourselves in order to save the state!

I think we'll have a good season.

[This message has been edited by rodeojack (edited May 16, 2005).]

How do you factor in a Passion? Who saw that coming. Try it again Mel, only this time do it without movie theatres. The reality of all this is that the entire maketing machine of stars, awards, magazines, tv, product placement, etc. etc. cache..... goes kablooey without movie theatres. Cyclical baby. Did you think it would go up and up and up?

And yes: price, location, competition, clean, decor, attitude: all of this matters huge on an individual basis.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Who is scratching there heads saying, "I can't believe it, Monster In-Law #1 movie 24,000,000?"
Goes to show you no one knows the hits and misses!

Either the industry is dying or the industry is in a bad year, which is not relevant to the question that seems to be at hand. Are we going to close the doors and cry or keep them open and see what happens? I'm going to keep them open and see what happens.

Movie Theaters have been at death’s door since the advent of TV. I have heard it all my life theaters are a thing of the past, they will just sit at home and watch it on TV, they will just sit at home and watch it on Video Tape, they will just sit at home and watch it on Pay for View or DVD, the theater is dead. Well mine is still here and alive and I for one intend to keep it that. I will not sit around and bemoan the state of things I will work on making it better.

To be fair that is just me and I tend to be a bit of stiff neck.

After this weekend i bet the end of the movie bsns talk will go away..... The point need good movies and good theaters and like every bsns its up and down.........

Actually, even with the incredible performance of Star Wars this weekend we're still down from last year. That's 13 weeks in a row, kids.....

But, put all of that aside for the moment. I realize that the business has ups and downs but there are some very real threats to our business coming down the pike. I think film piracy is a huge problem and is likely to continue unabated until some nasty draconian measures are put forth by the studios. You know they're having meetings about this and probably have been for quite some time. What that'll mean to us is anybody's guess but mark my words it will have an impact. Digital distribution of film will be a major impact, moreso than any other time in the history of this business, I'll wager. Again, the impacts are far from clear at this point but it will impact us at some point and it will be a major upheaval.

All I'm saying is, "the status-quo is gonna change soon".

I share exactly the same concerns... Nationally, the population continues to grow, but the number of tickets sold continues to decrease... There is ebb and flow, but the overall trend has been ongoing for years... To ignore this is and ASSUME that we will be able to survive somehow is ludicrous... We now depend on the "fad of the moment" and increased prices, but the point of diminishing returns has ALREADY been passed, and we need to SOMEHOW get back to being the entertainment of the masses, instead of just the springboard to ancillary markets... We once had the ace-in-the-hole of exclusive product, but that is FAST disappearing as well, due to the increasingly shorter window to all those other markets... And the inevitable approach of DC is just another nail in the coffin: it's likely to crowd out a lot of small independents, and increase the opportunity to steal the product... Sticking our heads in the sand and saying "there's always gonna be movie theaters" just doesn't hold water!...

This is the same talk as when video first became big ...... Why go to the movies when you can see it at home and so on ...Theaters will always be around (Imho) always changing , keeping up with the times . ITS not how much you sell but how much you make.

Last year the death of McDonald's was being speculated on. This week their shares are up 25% because of the great outlook. There you go.

At Cannes this last 2 weeks they screened 970 films. Those poor film makers. Don't they know the sky is falling?

Piracy is a real concern. Competition is a real concern. Kids who are glued to computers and games are a serious hurting.

I remember when they were predicting the death of reading: then came Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and books seem to be doing just fine.

We're not in the buggy whip business folks.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

On the subject of piracy:
My wife is on another discussion board, where several people have said they've seen bootleg copies of MADAGASCAR!

Seems the exhibitors should be in the clear on this one, unless it got copied at a screening (aren't they all protected these days?). Now, who does that leave??????????