“The Crazy Ways Theaters are Luring Moviegoers”
As so many things about the movie business, there’s the text… and the subtext. Here’s one example per THR:
AMC Entertainment’s “Fork & Screen” theater program is the equivalent of business class on an airplane: not quite as posh as first but offering plenty of amenities. For a few dollars more than the price of a regular ticket, AMC patrons are treated to upgraded seats equipped with a personal call button they can use to order food and drinks. The menus include everything from jazzy cocktails to appetizers (the crab Rangoon dip is recommended) to pizza and pasta.
As moviegoers start to ask not just “What’s playing?” but also “What’s on the menu?” theater circuits — even the two biggest chains, AMC and Regal — are aggressively experimenting with upgraded services in the never-ending search to boost traffic and improve the bottom line in the fight to get audiences to leave their homes. Catering to audiences’ appetites is also seen as one of the best defenses against letting Hollywood studios dictate the rules in a new world order of VOD and windows.
The text: Theaters providing upscale services to lure moviegoers. The subtext?
“Theater owners are doing everything they can to attract people, while studios are doing everything they can to kill the experience of going to the movies,” Landmark Theatres CEO Ted Mundorff says. “If they really believe the premium VOD service won’t hurt, they are in for a big surprise.”
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AMC and Regal’s new distribution film company Open Roads, headed by indie film veteran Tom Ortenberg, is another attempt at ensuring there’s enough content to keep patrons coming back. If circuits are going to invest more and more in their environs, they need to keep seats filled.
It was only a few years ago Hollywood studios were producing and/or distributing upward to 30, even 40 movies annually. Back then the issue was not enough screens to go around and the studios ended up cannibalizing each other: if a movie wasn’t a big hit in its first week, it got replaced immediately or close to it by a new debuting film.
But as part of the studios’ austerity approach the last few years, they have reduced the number of movies they produce and/or distribute, leaving theater operators with a need for content, which is why you see an entity like Open Roads come into existence, and any sort of gimmick they can use to lure in moviegoers, like crab Rangoon dip appetizers.
While the acquisition market seems to have really picked up in 2011, you can’t blame theater owners for wanting to take more control of their own destiny. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the exhibitor / studio relationship over the next few years.
For more of the THR article, go here.
For more background on theater owners moving into film distribution, TheWrap has a good article here.