AMC bans Universal films

[The Buscher]

In response to Universal releasing Trolls World Tour as a video on demand release, AMC had decided to ban all future Universal films once its theaters are permitted to reopen.  Regal and other chains are weighing in on whether or not to do the same.

This feels like quite a cut of your nose to spite your face move.  AMC was already in bad financial shape prior to the outbreak and I feel like this might be the death blow for them.

[GoGo Yubari]

To clarify, it's not that Universal released Trolls as a VOD, it's that Universal is talking about doing that as the norm going forward using the success of Trolls World Tour as a precedent (which... I don't think is an especially strong argument for multiple reasons, but that's the precedent). From the perspective of the theater industry that's basically an existential threat.

[Gabriel]

Universal isn't necessarily wrong though.

I've said it a million times, but if I could pay the same amount (or less) to watch a new movie from the comfort of my own home, without having to deal with assholes cracking jokes or answering their phones every five minutes, I would happily do so.

When the new Halloween movie gets released in October, if I have the option to pay the same amount to stay home and watch it as I would pay to go to the theatre and see it, I'm staying home to watch it ten times out of ten.

Horror films are especially bad, because the teen audience is only kind of there to watch the movie. Most of the time, they're fucking around with friends while I'm trying to enjoy it. Family movies are difficult too, because it's tough for a lot of parents to get their kids out to the cinema and keep them behaving.

[Mick]

So what happens if other studios follow suit? Death of the theater industry? 

[Baddar]

I do think when a movie is available on demand instead of the cinema, the price is a bit too high. 

£16 when one person is "renting" it is excessive. A cinema ticket costs roughly £5 here. I know the expense of the day/evening out is higher, but I think the pricing should be somewhere between the two.

[Ruki]

Death of the theater industry? Probably not. But a reduction in size? Maybe. I know most movies I'm totally cool with watching on my computer or TV. But there are some movies that just need to be experienced in the theater with the huge screen, loud speakers and the like. Most people can't replicate that at home. 

Although, I have to imagine, with VOD, that pirating is going to go way up for these new releases. Like, same day stuff rather than a few months down the line. 

[The Buscher]

9 minutes ago, GoGo Yubari said:

To clarify, it's not that Universal released Trolls as a VOD, it's that Universal is talking about doing that as the norm going forward using the success of Trolls World Tour as a precedent (which... I don't think is an especially strong argument for multiple reasons, but that's the precedent). From the perspective of the theater industry that's basically an existential threat.

I don't think they were actually going to go through with it.  Trolls is an animated kids film, and releasing it during a time when we want kids to stay home all the time makes a lot of sense to me.  Adults can wait until this is over for their films to come out.

But if AMC are going to try to force Universal's hand, I think AMC would be taking way more of a hit than Universal will.

[Tigerstyle]

2 minutes ago, Baddar said:

I do think when a movie is available on demand instead of the cinema, the price is a bit too high. 

£16 when one person is "renting" it is excessive. A cinema ticket costs roughly £5 here. I know the expense of the day/evening out is higher, but I think the pricing should be somewhere between the two.

I mean, cinema tickets are a fiver if you go during a weekday. They’re like £12 normally.

Then to factor in a family of 4 going to the cinema vs the £16, it’s pretty damn cheap for them.

Basically, to keep everyone happy long term they’d have to put these up as £79.99 including free DVD when it comes out.

The film industry also make a lot of money from someone going to the cinema then renting/buying it at home, it’s not sensible to cut straight to the second part.

[GoGo Yubari]

9 minutes ago, B-li Manning said:

I don't think they were actually going to go through with it.  Trolls is an animated kids film, and releasing it during a time when we want kids to stay home all the time makes a lot of sense to me.  Adults can wait until this is over for their films to come out.

But if AMC are going to try to force Universal's hand, I think AMC would be taking way more of a hit than Universal will.

Yeah, but I think this move is more to try and force Regal and Cinemark's hand more than Universal. If I were them, I would be backing AMC on this.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah I think the main move is to have the theater giants basically go "if you want to use VOD that's fine but we will not show your movies and won't market your movies in trailers". Universal stands to take a higher cut from VOD than they do from theaters, so from Universal's side they might push to have the share they get for every ticket increased a bit. Of course that then pushes the expense back on the customer. But who cares about that?

[Baddar]

Cineworld tickets here hold their price no matter what day you go but I do see your point, of course.

And yes, for a family film or something to watch as a couple, it's reasonable enough. But as mentioned, there'll be a sharp rise in piracy as HQ downloads will be available almost immediately. Somebody living alone will see £16 as steep.

Going to the cinema can be a right pain in the arse but you also lose out on the experience of doing so by watching on demand. There's very few films I'd want to pay £16 for to watch in my own house, but would happily pay to do so in a cinema. The likes of Netflix etc. are also a factor when their service is a massive amount of TV shows and movies for a whole month at half of that price.

[LittleDaniel]

Did Disney not also release a movie straight to VOD during this? I could've sworn the 'first lgbtq character for realsies this time' Disney movie came out online in like march or something

[GoGo Yubari]

22 minutes ago, LittleDaniel said:

Did Disney not also release a movie straight to VOD during this? I could've sworn the 'first lgbtq character for realsies this time' Disney movie came out online in like march or something

They did, but Disney's not saying that from now on all Pixar films are coming out on Disney+ same day as theatrical release. Movie chains are begrudgingly okay with the digital releases during this time period given the circumstances, it's what happens when the world regains some sense of normalcy that they care about.

EDIT: Also, Onward actually did have a theatrical release. It's just that that release was basically the week before all theaters shut down.

[Gabriel]

It's also worth noting that the Universal rep who commented on this said something along the lines of "Due to the success of Trolls, going direct to digital, we are now considering this as a viable method for future releases in conjunction with the classic theatrical"... not "Fuck theatres, all of our movies are going digital."

AMC, while they have a right to be upset, is definitely making more out of this than it is. Universal, from the moment they announced that digital is a viable release platform for them, made sure to mention that not all of their movies will benefit from being released that way, and that they looked forward to upcoming theatrical releases.

[Chris2K]

I think there are enough people who enjoy the full cinema experience enough, be it going with friends or just the additional ambiance of a big screen and proper audio equipment, that would keep cinemas going, just not on the scale they are currently.

That said, if I was given the option of never having to be around other people and sit in my bedroom watching the latest MCU movie I would pay twice as much as a cinema ticket. But I'm also weird.

[livid]

It's all posturing. They'll come to an agreement before it really matters. AMC wants to change the narrative that it's a dying company so they're using this to do that and probably negotiate a bit to get more money off of ticket sales. Universal has no reason to not work it out because they can't make a billion dollars by releasing stuff Fast 9 straight to VOD. 

[OctoberRaven]

There's two sides to every story.

@Universal what's the dilly?

[apsham]

4 hours ago, Tigerstyle said:

I mean, cinema tickets are a fiver if you go during a weekday. They’re like £12 normally.

Then to factor in a family of 4 going to the cinema vs the £16, it’s pretty damn cheap for them.

Basically, to keep everyone happy long term they’d have to put these up as £79.99 including free DVD when it comes out.

The film industry also make a lot of money from someone going to the cinema then renting/buying it at home, it’s not sensible to cut straight to the second part.

Exactly. I welcome this a million times over, because going to the theatre isn't just the price of one ticket for many households. And I fucking hate movie theatres.

[Your Mom]

Yeah VOD is like $20-$25 or whatever and it costs me nearly double that when I go to a movie

[LL!]

There's no way AMC wants to miss out on F9. This won't last and AMC doesn't have the leverage.