AMC/Regal Theaters bans Universal movies

Its also because Universal last hit movie was like Jurassic park. I rather go out to a movie than sit at home.

 

Its a movie theater what you expect them to have there? Can you explain what kind of theater you want to go to? I am not sure if you been to amc, but they have couches there now. Its a good place to go with friends,date,family, etc.

 

I kinda hope AMC/Regal wins this. F@ck NBC Universal, especially their parent company COMCAST. I feel like this is another way they are trying to monopolize the market, in this case the film industry.

I understand that if they were to go direct PVOD for new movies their will still be retail buying options (i.e.: Amazon, YouTube, VUDU etc), but they heavily benefit with their Xfinity subscribers and it becomes almost fully pure profit for the combined unitary COMCAST group and subsidiaries

F@ck COMCAST. I don't trust them, and never will

 

I love my LG C9 OLED! But I actually also like going to the movies. I don't care what your setup is, Christopher Nolan movies were meant for the big screen. With that said, you love to see industries that **** the consumer over get disrupted. Big movies theaters, like airlines, have been bending us over. No tears shed.

 

to me, it would be shooting myself in the foot to spite my face.

If the studios all go PVOD immediately on same date as theatrical release, then they likely are fkking the consumer out of the theater option, because the theaters will die. We need staggered release dates for equilibrium in consumer options, no?

And as I said in first post, Home Theater people have never really minded (often brag about not caring about) waiting a month for PVOD/Blu-ray releases. I don't see why there would be a big consumer movement to all of a sudden eliminate staggered releases, that were always there.

 

Concerts are too damn expensive these days and my bar days are well behind me. As for Walmart...

Does that answer your question?

 

Exactly... they don’t have much more to offer or evolve into anymore.

People don’t go to the movies as often as they used to. The overwhelming majority merely go because they can’t watch these movies elsewhere.

Answer honestly... if a movie is out on-demand for $20 dollars as well as in a movie theater for $10/ticket... which one are you opting for? Yes, there is something special about going to the movies... but a large part of it is that you’re there to watch something that you really can’t watch elsewhere.

 

Theater going is an experience that a home theater can't replace. The atmosphere and lack of home distractions is great to me. Not to mention theaters make movies a ton more money than VOD. 100 million is nothing by blockbuster movie standards.

Studios are unable to own theaters, and there's no way studios would give up on them. If the theaters united Universal would back down.

People have been predicting the death of the theaters since the TV, and there's been no noticeable drop off. Studios want theaters to exist, if they didn't they wouldnt.

 

Theater, every day without consideration. Even if an equally priced home option was available.

I enjoy movies more when watching them at the theater.

 

There are certain movies that need to be seen in a theater, no matter now nice your living room is.

 

I enjoy the premium theaters. But it’s been forever since I went to one that didn’t sell real food and booze.

 

There's a huge Specs next door to the theater here in Marble Falls, and a solid taqueria a block or so away. It makes it so easy...2 tacos and a flask.

 

I think the last time I went to a regular theatre was whenever Jurassic world came out. I went to the texas city theatre that charges like $3 a ticket. Flask in pocket.

 

Theaters have been on the same downward trend as shopping malls. They won’t go away completely, and they’ve had to pivot to having bars or food service... but you do not see the same number of theaters being built as there once was.

(Ironically, theaters used to be tied to shopping malls...)

I do agree that there is an experience factor... and certain blockbusters that offer a unique experience. Certain malls will always exist (present times excluded), and certain theaters will always maintain business (much like some drive-ins did survive till the early 90’s).

But I also think you’re underestimating the advances in home television/theater set-ups. True HD flat-screen/cinema aspects (that are affordable) have only been around for the last 15+ years.... and are getting cheaper/bigger/better every year. HD streaming options have been around only for the last 7+ years, with unprecedented numbers currently relying solely on streaming vs. previous cable bundles. Of course broadband internet being widespread was vital to all of this.

So combining better televisions, the internet, people consuming home content solely via streaming... its a trend the studios are well aware of.

 

Same. I'm also not someone that invests in that kind of stuff at home. I have 1 40 inch tv in the whole house. I'm 30, most people around my age are the same. I watch everything on my computer at home. I like going to a theater, turning off my phone, having a beer, enjoying the experience, and relaxing. Movies are an easy way to do that without having to spend $100+ to go to a sporting event or red rocks.

 

It seems childish and petty to ban Universal movies, just because they figured out a good alternative. My daughter looked forward to Trolls coming out; we had to pay $20, but it costs more than that to take a family to the theater, and we could watch it as much as we wanted to within 48 hours. Which she did. (She even ordered it again by accident - she can't read well enough to realize what she was doing - and was afraid of being in trouble, but we decided to just let her watch it for 48 more hours, and make sure we had a password on there in the future.) I think being able to see it over and over again has made it a bigger deal for her. I do like seeing things in a comfy theater seat, especially one with good meals, but I have a whole different way of thinking about sharing people's cooties now. This is better than not having new releases to look forward to.

Meanwhile, we do have a drive-in up here, and it's been able to stay in business during quarantine.

 

Where's this drive-in?

 

They didn't figure out an alternative. It's always been there. If this persists forever, what they are doing is challenging the longstanding equilibrium of the industry to stagger release dates between the theatrical release and the Home Theatre blu-ray/streaming option.

Do you think your daughter would have really cared if she had to wait one month for the VOD release. That's the way it's always been, so we don't kill theaters, and shoot ourselves as consumers in the foot.

This isn't really a This or That debate. We can have both. And Home Theater people have never really cared about waiting for the blu-ray/streaming release in the past. In fact, they often brag about not caring.

 

I think it’s wrong to screw over the theaters, and feel the same way Buck feels about it. I’ve been going to the movies all my life. Heck, when my sister and I where kids, my parents would go to a drive-in during the week. The two of us would play at the playground in front of the screen and go back to the car when the cartoons started. By the time the first feature was over, we’d often nod off. Probably a relief for my parents. While I was awake, I’d be sent to the concession stand for popcorn and Coke’s. Candy, if I was lucky. My Dad was a movie junkie. We would go to a local movie house or one of the glorious old vaudeville palaces in downtown Houston on weekends.

There were several drive-in’s. I miss the drive-in’s. Back in the day, it was a great place to take a date, and not because of the movies. Daylight Savings pretty much killed them. If they start streaming first run films without giving the theaters at least a few weeks to show them first, it’ll kill off most of those, as well. If that happened, I’d be pissed off about it. I have a great display and a terrific surround sound system. Heck, we have one in our bedroom, too. It’s not the same.

Our two kids are grown now, but while they were at home, they loved going to see a movie. They still enjoy going to see a movie. Take that experience away from kids, that magic of sitting in a dark theatre with a huge screen, waiting to see a special movie to start you’ve been anxious to see, with a bunch of people there watching it with you, and it will be yet another cool thing about growing up that’s been tossed in the dumpster, in my humble opinion. A cool thing a lot of grownups would miss, as well. It’s bad enough worrying about getting really sick or worse from this damn virus. Does it have to kill the movie theatre, too?