Theater owners across the country are reacting negatively
to plans by Fox, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. to shorten the time frame
movies run at the box office. They want to deliver the movies directly to the
consumer through a video-on-demand service just 60 days after being released in
the theaters. The National Association
of Theater Owners(NATO) believes the move toward a briefer theatrical
window will have a negative impact on
the box office. According to Variety, “this could create a slippery slope that could lead to no theatrical
window at all if it succeeds and will cause theaters across the country to
close”. Theater owners are now reportedly threatening to cut back on the amount
of theatrical trailers, which is a big marketing tool for studios. The Home
Premium idea surfaced several months ago. Studios want to way to combat the
move weak box office returns, flailing DVD sales, and the increasing cost of
marketing. The movie would come to Home
Premium just eight to twelve weeks after its theatrical debut. For the studios
this will have little affect because the movie makes 97% of its profit in the
first three months. However for theater owners, even a 5% decrease could have a
major effect on the owners because over three-fourths of their income comes
from concessions and marketing. A former
studio executive told The Daily Beast "A 10 percent drop in ticket sales,
and the attendant decline in concessions income and advertising income, will
close over two-thirds of the American movie theaters,”
One
of my points in my paper is how would instant streaming affect theater
attendance and the movie industry itself. This article has great information
about the instant streaming aspect of the movie industry. This along with
Netflix and Hulu plus has impacted theater attendance all together. Family of
five would rather wait and spend $30 on a movie eight weeks after it is
released in the comfort of their own home then going and spending $10 a ticket
and seeing it opening weekend.
Mitchell,
John. "Impact on Theaters Becomes Clearer as Video on Demand PLans Move
FOrward." MovieFone.com. (2011): n. page. Web. 20 Jul. 2012.
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