Slashdot Mirror
Star Wars Producer Says Box Office is Doomed
Cutriss writes "Seen at CNN, this article interviews Rick McCallum, longtime producer at LucasFilms. McCallum says that DVDs will be responsible for the downfall of the movie industry *without* taking piracy into account, due to the fact that people think the home theatre experience is just as good, or better than the big screens, and they know that in five months, the DVD will be out on the market. Of course, his claim that "studios are barely breaking even" falls on deaf ears when I hear about 9-digit salaries for individual actors in a big-name film that's just some rehash of an old concept. He also mentions, of course, that DVD piracy and movie "sharing" groups will only speed up the cycle, and that they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years."
More propaganda from the big money movie folks. They need to learn to budget better like everyone else.
I could really care less about the box office. Everytime I go to the movies...
1. The food portions are smaller than a few years ago.
2. The price is WAY WAY higher!
3. People's cell phones are going off.
4. Some a**hole is giving comentary to the person sitting next to him/her.
Overall, not a very pleasant experience.
Good movies won't be doomed, something McCallum & Lucas might like to try making some time.
Even considering the worst case scenario - all major studios go out of business - that still leaves a wide open market for people to make movies and sell them for money.
It's completely absurd to think that movies MUST be made by companies named "Paramount Pictures" or "Universal Studios". There's nothing magical about those names. If they can't stay in business, or refuse to change enough to stay in business, then screw them. Time for new blood.
Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape
They said the same thing when VCRs came out, and that certainly wasn't the end of the movie industry.
The MPAA will most certinly follow, besides, indie films, generally speaking, are just as entertaining, if not more so than their big budget counter-parts If actors take a pay cut, not much, maybe just oh, ONE MILLION per picture, it wouldn't be such a big deal...
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
George and I are just praying that we can finish 'Episode III' in time, before it's all over."
Its already over lad! George shot his own golden goose with Episode I. "Before its all over" reads to us fans like "before you suckers realize what tripe we are churning out each episode".
Starwars is dead. Long live Starwars.
Rapid Nirvana
They always underestimate the social aspect. I like going to see movies with my friends,
-- (uh oh, here come the "How dare you support the MPAA" loonies...) -- it's a social occasion. We can have a few beers, or a pizza, talk about the movie, throw some popcorn around, and generally have ourselves tidied up after by acned teenagers. It's a different experience from watching a DVD, no matter how good someones home cinema system is.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Unless you have money to burn, nothing beats seeing a movie in the theater. Now if they'd just start putting real butter back on the popcorn...
Don't they always say this? Wasn't it said about videos, CD Video, cable? Who produces the DVD's? OK, so if people stop going to theatres then thats a revenue stream down but more income from DVD rentals, sales, airlines, pay per view, airlines ....
I really wish they'd just see that technology opens up new revenue streams faster than it closes them down.
It doesn't matter to me. If I go to see the movie at the cinema on cheap night, it's 5-7 bucks. If I wait 5 months to rent it and watch it on my 20 year old TV and VCR, it's still 5-6 bucks... so why would I wait? I wouldn't.
Sure, the chump with $20,000 home theatre could wait, but obviously, money isn't a big factor in his decision.
Personally, I enjoy a night at the movies, but I also enjoy snuggling up at home to a movie with the girlfriend... I think both will be around for a while, personally.
I'm sure someone said similar things when VHS was introduced.
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
set up the atmosphere in the media and congress to justify more draconian copy protection?
Our government's knee jerks visibly every time the record and movie industry announces some new threat to their livlihood.
They seem somewhat less concerned with me, but then, I never contribute to political campaigns.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
because people have completely forgotten how to behave in a theater. I can't count the number of times I've had a movie ruined by inconsiderate dolts talking, or ANSWERING THEIR CELLPHONES and having an entire conversaion during the movie. Except for major blockbusters, I wait until I can rent it on DVD.
Then, once they go out of business, perhaps people that are interested in making good movies rather than huge incomes will start making movies.
And oh, here's a thought...who forces them to release a DVD in 6mo's??? Seems like they could delay the release of alternate distributions indefinately. Don't think so? Go ask Disney. They did it for a VERY long time.
If it's such a risk...release alternate media 1 or 2 years after the movie comes out.
Wow. That was hard to think of wasn't it. Perhaps if he stopped thinking about his next big rip-off-money-making-flick, such an obvious concept would be obvious to him too.
What was his point again...
If I go see a movie at the theater it costs me about $10. If I buy the DVD it costs me about $20-$30. How is me buying the DVD instead of going to the theater worse for the movie studio?
It looks like he says these are good trends:
"Filmmakers love it because it more closely resembles the film made," he says.
All he really states is that the Box Office gross doesn't mean what it used to and more directors are "relying on DVD sales".
This would be redundant, but it doesn't look like the previous posters actually read it.....
Karma: Not Particularly Funny.
For the utterly uninspired, drab, poorly acted drivel that he and Lucas have draped the Star Wars banner over in order to make more money..
However, the cinema as an experience is still different, no matter what. I think they need to look at how much it costs for theaters to rent the celluloid versions to work out where it's going wrong. Cinema places are too expensive, popcorn etc is too expensive and poor quality, and a lot of this is because theaters can't make money on all the duff crap that comes out of Hollywood these days.
Therefore, several things need to be taken into account:
Of course, DVD itself should be a massive growth market for Hollywood... why are they complaining if DVD sales are so good? Why aren't they asking themselves why people are swapping so much - why is the cinema theater unpopular? It's not just because of DVD, far from it!
Conversion Rate Optimisation French / English consultant
Back when TV was just starting to get big they were worried about the same thing. When was that? About 50 years ago. Guess what the movies are still here. The studios and theatres will just have to adapt like they did before.
I really doubt this will be a real issue. I can imagine I'd ever have a 30 - 45 ft screen in my house. I like going to movies just for the massive screen size. LOTR looks great on my home TV, but it will never compare to the theatre.
Sean D.
"Hmm. I am to metaphor cheese as metaphor cheese is to transitive verb crackers!"
The most popular movies are gating over $400 dollars in the US alone. (Star Wars, Spider-man, Fellowship of the Ring).
Those same movies will likely make killings in overseas markets.
And then, those movies will make even more on DVD sales around the world.
If Hollywood goes out of business, it'll only be caused by their own incompetence. Maybe Hollywood should drop the $30 million salaries and ridiculous special effects costs and concentrate on writing (or adapting) entertaining storylines for movies.
DVD's aren't going to kill Hollywood any more then VHS did. A big screen TV is not the same as a movie theater screen. However, I'd wager that the quality of movies is declining. For every gem like Fellowship of the Ring, there's 3 or 4 movies with the quality of "Kung Pow".
This is just a ploy to use the recent outcry over pirating as a wedge to push digital projectors and THX approved sound systems in theaters. Remember the toll free number given out for the SW trilogy re-release to report theaters with substandard equipment?
Pretty sneaky!
And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Slashdot Patriotism: We Support our Dupes!
I'm not sure why someone modded this as Funny because I think zensmile makes good points. It costs a lot to go to the movies and the experience is inferior to what I can have in my home. Here's a few more additions to the list:
5. Sticky floors6. Six or seven trailers before the show starts
7. No control over sound, picture quality, environmental conditions
8. Just too many people in general
If the film industry starts hurting for business, they can start to work on making the theater a more enjoyable experience. Until then, I'm just going to wait a few months and get a better experience at a better price in my own place.
GMD
watch this
Literally, our very lives are at stake now. George and I are just praying that we can finish 'Episode III' in time, before it's all over."
Pirates! Hear my plea! George Lucas is down to the wire on his multi-billion dollar empire! If you don't stop pirating, Slashdot itself will fall when all the Anakin and Jar Jar jokes can no longer be propped up with new material!
I really have no sympathy for this media-sponsored whining. You know, just because somebody else is shooting you in the foot doesn't mean that you didn't hand them the gun in the first place.
Hmmm... let's see Rick McCallum, producer of Star Wars I and Star Wars II wondering why people aren't going to see his movies more than once... hmm, what could be the reason, what could be the reason?
Could it be you produced movies that were shite, Rick? oh no,no,no must be DVDs and the internet, that's it!!
The movie industry did basically the same thing to live theater. it still lives as a niche product for those who want it, but it is not nearly as pervasive as it was.
just because you have managed to earn a living doing something in the past, that is no guarantee of being able to do so in the future.
technology changes the rules, and some industries suffer, but other industries prosper.
the movie industry needs to realize that they are not "entitled" to make money from traditional movies, they must provide us a reason to do pay them for the experience.
if they made movies that were worth the extra $5 to see on a big screen vs. my tv, then maybe I they wouldn't have this problem.
The difference between Theory and Practice is greater in Practice than in Theory.
I don't think so. I didn't see any technical/analytical numbers on the website. I find it skeptical that Hollywood has only three years of life left. Yes, the ever rising cost of going to the movies can be a burden, but you can't beat going out and "getting away" from house. I guess when you get a little older and have kids, you cherish that a lot more. Then there is always someone out there always out there to get you to that dollar (in this case it is the video rental places), but I haven't seen the movie theaters in our town desperate for customers. It all comes with the territory. Besides, without Hollywood, there wouldn't be any new movies to rent in the first place.
Well, when a DVD I own permenantly costs ~$20 and a movie I see once costs ~$12.00 I have to agree that the Box office will die (if it does not change).
Anyway, my seats are comfier (no seat kickers), I can adjust my audio levels to match the film I'm watching and the drunk guy making a nuisance of himself is me!
crazy dynamite monkey
It'll be as dead as...
...movie theatres after TV.
...Live music after radio.
...theatre after movies.
...radio after TV.
There's something that going to the movies can provide that DVDs can't. The movies provide the whole "going out" experience, and the crowd. How many times have you gone to a movie and remarked "when that happened, the whole crowd laughed, yelled, groaned, etc."
Staying at home with a DVD and the microwave is lame. Dinner and a movie is cool.
Better yet, we may see more innovation in theatres like the Cinema and Drafthouse. If you've never been to one of those, you don't know what you're missing.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I'll chalk this up to "We only have 10 years left on this planet!" stated by actor Ted Danson about 10 years ago (also from Hollywood).
Look at how piracy has destroyed the software industry! Oh, it hasn't? But people have been pirating software for 10 years, how can software vendors still be making money?!!! Funny, isn't it?
My hope for the future is that we get rid of alot of the "Fame and Fortune" aspect of acting. In the future (thanks to the Internet), I believe that anyone will be able to broadcast anything they want, and may become famous, but not necessarily rich.
Hollywood makes lots of great movies, and a lot of bad ones. But they've only been around for less than 100 years. They may simply be a short-lived 20th century phenomena, with other forms of entertainment eventually taking over. Don't boohoo about it. If they disappear, it will be because nobody wants their stuff, not because everyone wants DVD's...
For the record, I've never put off "going to the movies" with my wife, simply so that I could watch it on DVD/VHS/PPV three months later...
Now I understand why the movie theater is always packed with a lineup around the block whenever a cool movie comes out. It's because nobody's going to the theater, and they are staying home to wait for the DVD.
Seriously, does this guy GO to the movies?
The solution is obvious: simply release the film once in a great theater experience. Release the DVD , oh, maybe 5 years later.
If they announced their intentions in advance and forewent the extra revenue from the 2nd release on DVD they'd fare better in the long term.
Hollywood disappearing might not be as bad as all that, anyway.
In the long term, people are still willing to pay handsomely for their entertainment and so long as that market exists I think they just have to re-arrange their current business model. It's not the end of the world.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
I think that some people will stop going to movies, but not all. Personally I think that most movies coming out today are not worth the $8.75 that they charge at the movie theater per person out here in CA. I think that is what would act as a stopper to the movies. Hmm lets see $40 to go to the movie for 4 and then $20 to $30 more on popcorn and sodas or a bottle of soda for $2 + $3.50 for the dvd rental + $2 more for the popcorn.
Personally that and the fact that many movies that come out today are not that great is what makes me rent the dvd's.
Only 'flamers' flame!
and that they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years."
Hollywood needs to be put down. They better stop paying their super stars enormous amounts of money and start behaving like real businesses. BTW. I just watched "The Transporter" at Famous Players. I am really sorry I went - what a rip off.
I put a small review of the movie
right here under title "Pathetic" and there are other reviews there that indicate what this movie is like.
I personally have not seing a great movie in theaters since the Matrix. Even LOTR did not give me the same effect as the Matrix.
I just want to see Solaris (coming out in November) and the next 2 films of the Matrix, and then it can all go to hell.
You can't handle the truth.
Come on, the movie industry is going to go out of business? Right. How about this one: The government is really controlled by martians? That's more believable.
Forget about salaries, these guys are raking in money hand over fist. Frankly, with all the crap they make, it's amazing they make any money.
The ones that can't figure out how to make a living in the current market environment may die off. That's fine. Smart people will figure out how to make money in the current technological environment without screwing the consumers left and right. If the big movie companies can't figure that out, fine. I could really care less. Here, let me show you guys the door.
Jack Valenti: "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."
Cut to 20 years later...
Rick McCallum: "Studios need it, or they're gone. They're on the verge of collapse anyway. They are not making money. Anyone who says, or thinks, that they are, is out of their mind."
--Joey
It reminds me of the old joke about the guy who goes in to see his doctor because it hurts every time he bends in a strange way. The doctor tells him to stop bending that way, and the pain will go away.
If it really hurts the box office that the DVD is released just a few months after the theatrical release, why in hell are the doing it? They could always delay the DVD so that it only comes out a year or more after the theatrical release. That preserves the incentive to see the movie on the big screen, while letting the DVD come out close enough to the theatrical release that people can still remember the movie and want to buy it. What is wrong with these people?
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
The Buggy Whip Manufacturer's association is calling for legeslation to restrict, license and tax "horsless carrages" citing safety concerns.
Traveling Theater Companies call for legeslation to regulate the new "moving pictures" industry, citing flickering and health concerns.
The dairy industry seeks non-dairy product regulation and distinctive markings so that consumers will not be "duped" by "inferior" products.
Television networks are calling for increased regulation of Cable and Satellite Television providers citing "unfair competition".
Looks like these movie guys are a little slow on the uptake with the same old false logic.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Ticket sales will improve as the economy improves. Theaters will install new technology to make the movie-going experience better. Ticket prices will increase leading to bigger and bigger box-office takes. DVD sales will remain strong. Hollywood will continue to thrive. Piracy will be a secondary factor (as it is now) until fat bandwidth is ubiquitous; after that, it will be controlled by social factors. MPAA will continue to believe that they represent the forces of free speech; people like me will continue to laugh in their faces.
Hollywood will face a major defeat, however, it won't be economic. It will be legal. Copyright extentions will be cut down by the Supreme Court and DMCA will either be stricken down or repealed. Hollywood will then have to resort to marketing (gasp!) to prevent mass piracy.
Finding God in a Dog
From the artical, "Literally, our very lives are at stake now. George and I are just praying that we can finish 'Episode III' in time, before it's all over." So Lucas and Mcallum are going to "literally" die if the box office does bad? DVDs and piracy kills, kids. This seems to indicate the rest of the interview is a rant as well and not based on any facts.
Perhaps that's why our local theator (not really local as the company is Consoladated) is starting to employ some strange tactics to make more money. Ever heard of "premium seating"? They rope off the front row of the second section (stadium seating), reserving it for those that buy some season seating pass. So now, my $8.50 ticket can't even buy me a good seat.
I don't think were quite at the "Home Theatre" area yet. I mean, most of us can't even afford those [Widescreen] HDTV's and surround sound, not to mention the expensive DVD's. It won't be until around 5 years until the prices for HDTV's drop, and when 80% of TV broadcasting is actually formated for HDTV's.
If home theatre's can competete with actual theatre's, then that is very insulting to the actual movie theatre's. Maybe they should increase their quality? Make people want to come? I know of some real beautifiul movie theatre's where they have gormet dinner inside, friendly service, clean movie houses, quality sound, good seating... of course, that's the minority of movie theatre's. But that's a good buisness model others can look at for help.
Also, what about all the dates? I doubt I'll tell the girl I'm going with "Yea, lets stay home and watch this movie on my coutch". I don't think it would have the same effect. And I think parents who have birthday parties love the theatre over their house for a gathering.
Basically, the reason people go to the movies is for the service. They don't want to worry about putting in the movie, making sure the sound is good, scheduling time, etc. They just go and watch a movie. The theature is not "doomed". Well, maybe it is if it keeps it's current buisness model. But that seems to be the trend for everything these days...
"Filmmakers love it because it more closely resembles the film made."
"[Movie-goers] are paying more attention to the fact that the movie will be out on DVD in just four or five months at a rental fee of $4 or $5."
Filmmakers love DVDs, movie-goers love DVDs. Who loses? Popcorn manufacturers.
Somebody get a violin please,
Or One Singing Fat Lady.
Thank you.
young people aren't going to the same movie five or six times a la "Titanic."
Maybe the movie companies aren't making a film as good as Titanic every year. Personally, I didn't care for it, but a lot of people really liked it. I don't see the same kind of passion for "Dude, where's my car?".
Filmmakers love it [DVD] because it more closely resembles the film made
Then maybe the movie studios and theatres should listen more closely to the filmmakers before eviscerating the movie for general release?
I don't think there's a single movie that can survive on box office gross alone; it just doesn't exist anymore. A theatrical gross can't hack it anymore, and the business is barely surviving right now
27 movies so far this year have grossed over $100 million. If you can't put a movie onto film for less than a million dollars a minute I suggest you need to control your costs a little better. Taco suggested paying actors less. That might be a start.
--
E_NOSIG
Besides, going to the movies is a social activity. People bring dates to movies, they bring their kids on outings to movies, etc. It's kind of like saying bars and resturants are dying because people can eat and drink at their houses.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
"The business will implode once you can download a movie, give it to your friends and not have a moral problem with doing it. Then we're screwed. Literally, our very lives are at stake now."
Do you mean that I can ruin their lives, and make them sacrifice one of their 7 BMWs in their driveways all by *downloading movies*?!?!?!
I can just feel the power... *looks down at glowing ring*
um.. nevermind...
If a and b in c, and a can create b, and a can create a, and b can create b, and b cannot create a, then a created c.
It's not the "theater experience" that attracts me. It's not the first-viewer opportunity. It's certainly not the overpriced popcorn and soda or the need to drive fifteen minutes across town with my entire family in tow. And it's not, nor will it ever be, the ability to recreate sounds in 6.1 speakers around the entire three-dimensional room.
No, it's the big screen I like. Mitsubishi electronics' best efforts notwithstanding, home theater will never be as impressive as a screen the size of an auditorium wall with all the characters projected in incredible detail. The movies I really love I go to see three, four times on those big screens, just because I prefer to watch a movie "up there" than "down here".
When I can afford to outfit an entire room of my house for darkened projected DVD movie experiences, I may reconsider. For now it's easier just to spend $3 apiece at the cheapie theater.
i think what all the doomsayers are forgetting is that the important thing - the demand for films/stories that people like to watch - will (prolly) never die. so long as that demand exists, there will be a market for films. everyone seems to forget simple economics.
suppose rick m. is right - dvds and piracy effectively reduce all incentives to produce films (or music). what happens then? consumers still demand these things but a system to make a profit/deliver these goods has died. well, guess what - the 'invisible hand' will strut its stuff and a new market, which gives incentives to producers and content to consumers, will spring up. that is the way a market economy works.
to rick: so stop lamenting your death, and perhaps poise yourself for the new market. then you can really make out. just keep producing good stories and you'll be ok, guy.
smd4985
I seem to remember the same argument happening in the early 80s about video tapes. And something about a crazy old man and the Boston strangler...
Furthermore, people will STILL go to the movies as a social event, it's something to do with friends, it's an experience, and most people just don't have home theater equipment that comes close to that yet, until we all get InFocus-style LCD projectors for our living rooms. Oh yeah, and if you want us to come to the theater, consider that just maybe 10 bucks+ a person, not including snacks and soda is a little outrageous - when I was a kid, I remember it was 4-5 dollars, and I'm only 23. Price has gone up substantially faster than inflation, and the quality of most major studio releases has gone down. Hmmm....
Not to mention product comercials before a movie you have paid for...
I should have known better ;-)
Anyway, my favorite quote was at the end:
Personally, I'd like to see Lucas standing out on Hollywood Blvd holding a placard that says "The end is near! Repent from your evil filesharing ways!"
Karma: Bored. (Thinking about resurrecting the "Anyone else is an imposter" joke.)
What they are really complaining about is, they used to be able to make SHITTY movies and make good money on them, but not anymore. Most of my friends in the 20 something crowd are just SICK of the bullshit, and my younger (HS age) friends are filled with venom for bullshit music, movies, and corporations. Younger middle-class folks are rebelling against pre-packaged plastic crap.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
6 or 7 years ago, I'd take my girlfriend to the local 3-screen theatre and we'd watch a first-run movie for about $5 a head, plus a shared $8 combo. Total cost, after taxes, $18. Now, the ticket price at my local 12-screen megaplex is $13 per ticket, and the cheapest popcorn+soda combo runs $9 plus tax. Total cost, after taxes, $38.
Now, at $18 for a night out, it was worth it. But once the cost of the experience exceeds the price of owning the movie on DVD, I get a little hesitant about running out to the theatre every weekend. So now, unless it's a movie that will truly benefit from the big-screen experience (i.e., Clones), I simply wait and buy the DVD. That's right, I buy the DVD, even if I'm not sure I'll like the movie. Know why? Because it's still cheaper than seeing it in the theatre, and plus, I get to keep the movie. So even if the movie sucked, hey, at least I still have something to show for it. If it had sucked on the big screen, all I'd walk out with would be some butter on my fingers.
What I'd like to see happen is for studios to make less use of expensive, superfluous special effects and quit pandering to the silver-spoon prima donna crybaby megastars like Julia Roberts, and start hiring equally-capable, but far lesser-known (and thus, far cheaper) actors, like Guy Pearce. Of course, now that he's becoming popular, you'd have to opt for someone else, unless he's willing to continue working at his "Memento" salary levels. This way, we'd get more diversity on screen, and the movies would be far cheaper to produce (and dare I dream, far cheaper to watch?).
Am I the only one who, when I see a Tom Hanks movie (and don't get me wrong, Tom is an amazing actor), I have a lot of trouble accepting him in whatever role he's supposed to be? I keep seeing Forrest Gump. Of course, he was great, but he's still got that recognition, and sometimes, that can hurt a movie. I mean, come on, George Clooney as Batman? Sure, he did a great job, but I kept seeing the doctor from "E.R." I think this was one of the reasons I liked "Memento" so much - I'd never seen Guy Pearce before.
By the way, there's no way that the industry will die in a mere 3 years. That's insanely fast. They couldn't die that fast if they tried. It would take nothing short of some extreme economics and a perfect sequence of disastrous coincidences and events to eliminate such a massive industry so quickly.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
They make money on DVDs!! Tons of it! I doubt the shiny plastic disc, printing, and packaging costs them more than a tiny fraction of the cost of the DVD.
What do they care if theatres disappear entirely? Why is this an issue for them at all?
Why is it that low budget indy fliks regularly turn a small -- but very real -- profit, while these huge mega-smash, cross licensed, and wholly over-marketed pieces of crap seem to lose money every time? Clearly, the problem is with these indy fliks, their low budgets, and the bad example they set for film makers hollywood-wide.
Seems to me the studios need to hire real management, pay them much more against shareholder wishes, and get one of those trendy insider-connected CFOs to start a few hundred shill corporations offshore to move the profit around faster than light -- thus creating money where none existed! This ties in: space travel fliks, current financial trends, and a completely new business model together! And hey, just look at where Enron is today! Mr. Vallenti, do you see your calling?!?! --M
...but theaters. The movie studios will keep making movies, and if they can't make as much on dvd sales then they reduce the cost of making movies (lower pay, increase productivity, the usual etc.). The worst that can happen is that theaters go out of business, and I see no reason why that would really cause movie studios to go down. Heck, with the focus off of getting people into theaters, maybe the number and quality of films released each year could rise. Maybe not to the level of the book industry (production costs too different), but along those lines.
You might see some contraction in the industry, but you wont see the dissapearance of your local multiplex anytime soon. Would you rather see the next Lord of the Rings flick on
1- A huge theater screen with booming THX speakers
or
2- Your 27' television
Hmmmm, yeah, I chose number 1 as well. Face it, unless you're just plain El Cheapo, you still go to the movies for the ones you REALLY want to see. And unless you've got LOTS of cash flowing in, you probably don't have a "home theater" with all of the goodies. Sorry, but I agree with an earlier post. I don't think Lucas knows this YoYo is going around saying this.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
I don't know about everyone else but my home setup falls short of the 'cinema experience' in several key areas.
1. Screen Size: 32" is no slouch but it still doesn't compare to the walls I watch at the local multiplex. Say what you want about projection setups but I haven't found one yet that fits my lounge, taste or budget...
2. Sound Quality: 5.1 is also quite good, especially inside the confines of my lounge. But again it doesn't measure up to the cinema both on the clarity front (the room is far from an ideal shape) and the volume I can use without attracting police attention.
3. The Seats: admittedly much of a gamble at the cinema but my local has unusually large and comfortable ones with plenty of leg room. I can fit more friends and family into a cinema than into my lounge...
I have about 200 DVD's myself and view the format as far superior to vhs - but still filling the same niche in the entertainment ecology. It allows me to replicate part of the cinema experience at home, but not to replace it.
Given the option of seeing The Two Towers first at home or in a Cinema I would have no problem choosing the cinema - home theatre has a long way to go to match it...
It's not that I'm Anti-American - I'm Pro-Freedom
But that's ok, I have a better suggestion, just pass laws passing the enforcement costs of maintaining a slowly outdating business model onto the customers. Maybe you could get some help from the buggywhip manufacturers and pass some laws to require the inclusion of buggywhips with all modern automobiles while you're at it.
This is the same bellyaching the movie industry did when the VCR and pre-recorded tapes came out.
:)
Stop whining.
So, by my choosing to not spend $8 on a movie ticket, and instead spending $17-20 5 months later, they're losing money?
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
How can one compare movie earnings from a few years ago to today? The economy is the exact opposite today as it was a few years ago. Back in the day we all had a little extra cash to spend on the outrageous 10 bucks a pop price to watch a movie in a theater.
Now that we are in lean times of course I, and many others in a similar situation, are not going to go out to the movies as often as once was.
We're all feeling the crunch McCallum, you are not immune to it.
Insert your own cheap shot about the drop being off due to rather poor story telling and execution for the last two Star Wars movies.
So don't blame the internet and kids with fat pipes. Try looking closer to home for the real reason things are so green right now.
So they are using the following logic:
"This is how things (the current state the Hollywood entertainment industry) are."
"Becuase things ARE this way, it is good and right."
"Because things are good and right, they should at least stay this way if not become MORE SO this way."
"Should anything, anything at all come along that could change this current state, then these affectors are bad and should be stopped at all costs."
So if I understand correctly, they have simply appended their classic idiocy to classic logic.
I think, therefore I am. + I am, therefore I should be. = Squish anyone who threatens to prove me wrong.
I thought TV drove them under decades ago. At least that's what they told me at the time.
Ok, let's take it a bit seriously for a moment, shall we? He says that people would rather stay home and watch a DVD.
Who does he think is going to make the DVD's? My guess is it will be. . . a *movie studio.* Go figure.
Maybe Hoyt's will be having trouble in a few years,(they certainly deserve it), maybe not. I still see long lines at the mall, so yeah, the *box office* might be in jeopordy, but somehow I think the "content producers" will survive, so long as they're smart enought to produce "content" at least equal to the quality of the existig catalog.
And if they don't, well, fsck 'em, they deserve to bite the big one. I have better things to do with my time and money than watch the third live remake of a cartoon that sucked in the first place.
KFG
I don't know about you, but the last few DVDs I bought have this 5 minute mandatory intro on them that plays before it gets to the main menu. The skip buttons are disabled during this thing, so you have to basically stop the DVD and then press play to get past the damn thing. I'm sure that this will be where trailers and teasers will be placed next.
And to add to whatever list is building, I'm kind of getting tired of the damn teenage kids running into the theater and screaming to their friends from the wings and then running out. WTF is with this? I never did this when I hung out at the theater as a kid, and I don't remember any other fellow-annoying teenagers doing this either.
Another point to add to the negative theater experience is that it is impossible for parents with babies to go to the movies. While there are ways of going without the baby, sometimes those options just aren't available. We decided for the price of a movie, we could go out and buy two thick steaks and a new DVD and just barbecue at home. Nice dinner, a movie, and we don't need a sitter and we can watch the movie again if we like.
The other side of this is when you go to see a movie that you know is goofy fluffball crap, and have a blast with the rest of the jokers making sarcastic comments, getting into popcorn fights, etc, etc..
I don't remember anyone shushing me or my drunken friends at the last Austin Powers movie.
Sometimes the theatre is fun just because its the theater.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
First of all who is making the movies that are going on to DVD's? The same people that are making them for the theatres. So maybe the theatres could go under, but not Hollywood. They would just be selling to a new market. But you might see a return to having rental DVD's come out before the ones you can buy.
But the idea that the home theatre experience is better than the movie experience is crazy. Unless you can afford a 200" screen projection set, subwoofers that go down to 10 hz, 7 channel sound systems driven by 200 watt amps, etc: I don't think you have the same thing at home. It's true that some theatres plain suck, but a good theatre with a real THX sound system is something that few people are going to emulate at home. I will continue to patronize my local theatres when a movie worth seeing comes out. I will also buy or rent DVD's that are worth seeing again (or for the first time if I missed the flick in the theatre). I will wait for the turkeys to come on cable.....hmm, Scobie Doo should be on showtime or hbo real soon now.
This Simpsons quote should put it all in perspective.
"Well, I hope you're all satisfied. You bankrupted a bunch of naive movie folks -- folks from a Hollywood where values are... different. They weren't thinking about the money. They just wanted to tell a story, a story about a radioactive man, and you slick small-towners took 'em for all they were worth."
(The obligatory Linux post)
According to the box office, the box office is getting driven out of business by the home movie release people.
The home movie release people have been crying foul on the Linux DVD people, who are driving them ount of business.
So evidently, following the chain of damages...Linux is, according to various entertainment industry associations, responsible for wiping out most of the entertainment industry?
Yet more proof of the damage than an unchecked open source programmer can have.
May we never see th
The article says that the studios are becoming more and more dependent on DVDs to make their money, which doesn't really surprise anyone. That doesn't exactly forecast doom for the industry. Times are changing, and the bulk of the money comes from DVD sales. As long as it is coming from somewhere, the studios will be fine. The real problem creeps in when and if DVD copying becomes rampant and cannabalizes a significant percentage of revenue from DVD sales. This hasn't happened in the US, and doesn't appear to be a concern for the near future. Much ado about nothing, it seems.
-- Adam
Is it just me, or does Mr. McCallum sound a little paranoid/delusional? If Episode III brings in less than half a billion in box office and 3 hundred million in merchandising tie-ins, I'd be surprised. Yet Rick and George "literally" have their "very lives" at stake. I guess they're just a few pirated DVDs away from living in a cardboard box.
In the 50's and 60's they said TV will kill the film industry.
In the late 70's/early 80's they said the VCR will kill the film industry.
Now Rick McCallum is claiming that DVD will kill the film industry.
He claims that "single movie that can survive on box office gross alone". That may be true, but only because of natural competition. The total revenue for a movie in the day and age is theater release + home release. That TOTAL revenue is what pays salaries and production costs. What, did he think the DVD was going to be just pure profit? Actors aren't making 20 million just based on theater release.
But it is unlikely that theaters are going away anytime soon. Why? Because the studios control the supply and demand for movies (for the most part). You pay $8.00 to go to a movie because you can't see it on tape, even if you had a movie quality home theater. And it is going to be decades before >50% of the public has movie quality home theaters anyway. They release the movie on DVD only after noone is seeing it in the theaters anymore.
Now piracy may be an issue and that is one of the points he seems to be making. However, in order to be all that widespread everyone would need T1 lines to their houses and the total bandwidth of the Internet would have to be tripled. Most people will still be on dialup in 3 years, so mass use of a Napster-clone is unlikely to be feasible. Unless people are willing to stay online for 2 weeks to download a movie.
Brian Ellenberger
The trailers are usually the best part of the movie... heh.
It's like saying TV ruined the Movie industry of the 1930's. Seems the lines I see outside the theaters are contrary to McCallum's view that people would prefer to see things on a tiny screen without much detail.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
...for a competitive industry. Take a micro-economics course and they'll tell you all about it. In a very competitive industry in the long run no one makes large profits because they all get competed away.
While the movie industry isn't perfectly competitive, it sure isn't anything resembling a monopoly. (despite the MPAA cartel on distribution, that's a different kettle of fish than the studios...) It doesn't really surprise me that a lot of studios are having trouble making money because they have little sustainable competitive advantage. Sure they make money (in the short run) on some hit films, but that isn't a sustainable revenue stream in most cases. Even the most successful movies revenue streams (theater + video + merchandising) taper off over time. So they have to keep inventing new movies to make money which means the industry is very competitive. It's very hard to make money in a very competitive industry.
I agree, the box office is doomed
And don't get me started on piracy; movie "piracy" isn't even a dent in their damn sales...
Bunch of theiving fucking liars...
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
When TV came out (circa 1950s), people from the movie studios claimed it would be the death of the big screen cinema. They adapted and survived and made more money than before.
When VCRs came out (circa 1980), people from the movie studios claimed it would be the death of the big screen cinema. They adapted and survived and made more money than before.
When so-called piracy came out (circa 1980s), people from the movie studios claimed it would be the death of the big screen cinema. They adapted and survived and made more money than before.
Now that DVDs and overly expensive home theaters are out, someone from the movie studios is claiming it will be the death of the big screen cinema.
These people really have no clue what they're talking about, do they?
Come on, people. Yeah, cinemas are grossly overpriced, but people keep going to them in droves. There's a very heavy social aspect there that no one seems to realize. Your family isn't "going out together" if you rent a movie (or stream it from a server) onto your own 30" screen. It's not really a date with your girlfriend if you're not paying for her rip-off slime popcorn at a theater.
Yeah, I'm sure this guy is speaking for himself, not for the company. That doesn't make him any less of a short-sighted dork for saying it.
I have full faith and confidence in the ability of American business to figure out how to make a buck no matter what the technology is.
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
and who exactly releases the movies on DVD?
If Hollywood thought that the DVD business was cutting into their market then they just have to release the DVD version at a later date, simple...
Gimme a break! This is just a doomsayer trying to get people to go to the theaters to get their numbers up (read profit).
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
And they're not making money from DVD sales? I'm sorry, what does it cost... $.05 per disc? Probably less? The movie makers will continue to make money irregardless. And if the movie theatres can't stay open well that's just too bad. They should have figured out a way to make us want to come and put up with their ridiculous prices and all the annoying patrons that you have to sit with. I'm sorry, I'm still paying, I'm not going to feel sorry for them.
the last time I went to the movies for "Crouching tiger hidden dragon" (yeah, I just don't go. I dvd. In fact, I'm so far out of the loop that cable tv keeps showing me new movies!)
They had stadium style seating. It had padding. I think I even remember some love seats.
It was a lot more comfortable than I remember ever being at a movie. The additional choices in food is another attempt at a better experience.
However the sticky floors and 10+ previews remain.
If I want to watch previews, I'll watch E! It's far more sassier.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
The only thing i need is a baby crying, a woman talking on her cell phone, and teenage kids kicking the back of my couch to make it a true movie-going experience.
Yes, my girlfriend is a BitchX
Of course, you're going to have violate the DMCA to break the access controls at some point in the future if you want to skip over the adds and the FBI warning. At least you can turn the volume down and do something else for a few minutes.
That little tidbit is the reason why I've cut my movie-going in half.
Thanks to the theatres hiking up the prices to go see a movie in the theatre is the real reason! Right now it is $13.50 to go see a movie at our theatres here on the West Coast. Why not wait for the DVD in 5 months when I can just buy the movie for $10 more?
:D
This is the REAL problem. Cut the cost of theatre ticket prices and maybe more people will go back to the theatres, rather than retreat to their PC systems and/or home theatres.
I don't have a home theatre setup, but a TV with DVD is fine by me.
People like to Go Out. As strange as it seems to us normal folk, going out to the movies is a pleasant experience for a large number of people. Somehow you're a loser if you stay home and watch the same movie that you could see at a theater. People like to make phone calls, dress up, go to the movies, go to dinner.
The box office isn't going away anytime soon. That guy is a fool to even say it; look at the damn box office gross figures.
And im talking in the first week. Lets see Spider man, StarWars, That mike myers movie, MIB 2 (i think). With Spider man alone making over 300 million in the first month. Yeah DVDs are killing the Box office. And all these movies being trading are sure hurting it too.
I hate it when some teensies are eating popcorn from loud paperbags. I hate the candy in the sellofan plastic. I hate the friggin breaks. And the cell phones (Get some jammers!). And lousy projectors. (Brighter in the middle, uneven focus) And the bad sound.
The newest cinemas are better, but they still suffer from the paperbag problem.
Bar owners claim that grocery stores selling alcohol is cut into their profits. They were quoted as saying "No one will go out to drink alcohol at inflated prices if they can get drink at home"
Sigh...
--Joey
About 3 years ago in Canada we had a projectionists' union strike. It didn't end well. The frequency of fuckups in my moviegoing experience has at least tripled. They are constantly threading the film up - especially first releases - with the wrong lens (i.e. anamorphic vs. standard). Film breaks are more common, and apparently unrepairable now.
They run innumerable ads before movies now. When I hear the voice say 'and now a word from our sponsor...' I feel like standing up and spouting off for 10 minutes because I am their goddam sponsor.
The popcorn prices are laughable. The soda/pop prices are fucking astronomical.
Mobile phones. Laser pointers. Hell, GameBoys.
The waits have gotten longer.
First-run movies often get cycled 24-7 so the prints fall apart faster. Which means you need to see it earlier (see previous point).
I liked the theatre experience before; there's a certain crowd-vibe that is really enjoyable, sometimes even saving you from a bad film (the complete derision shown in the last Godzilla remake was spectacular. I've never seen a whole movie openly, loudly mocked by the entire audience before. And it was fun.)
These days though... being able to control the lighting and sound perfectly, being able to pause to go to the can, eating my own sensibly-priced junk food... like most, I make a judgement call when a movie comes out. If I'm dying to see it, I'll go. Those movies are rare these days.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
...when they STOP showing commercials to a captive audience before the movie. The excuse that the commercials are buffering increasing ticket prices is, IMO, bunk. Tickets here in Cinci have risen about 20% in the last couple of years. I used to go to about 10 movies a year, now it's down to about 3 and those are *matinees*.
It's already been said here, but here's my deal:
I haven't seen a movie in a theater in about 4 years, and I've seen a total of 7 in the theater in the last 10 years. I hate movie theaters (filthy, distractions, etc etc even at big premieres in Westwood). I'd tolerate how much the theaters suck (as I have 7 times in the past 10 years) if movies were worth watching in the first place. They very very rarely are. I haven't seen LOTR, Episode II, or any of the other "must see" movies of the last few years, and guess what? I don't feel like I'm missing out.
this is getting old and so are you
blog
Actually, a couple of theaters in the east bay area where I live are addressing just these issues and doing a gangbusters job of it. The Parkway theater is a small brewpub/theater environment that carefully crafts their movie schedule to theme nights and provides special nights for things like people with small children and they do boffo business at $5.00 a ticket.
The Paramount Theater, in Oakland, CA provides a great old-time experience, including prize giva-aways, live organ music and a ton of other fun extras, again for a low ticket price, and they are packed for every show I have atteneded there.
Theaters that keep cramming in more seats and charging higher ticket prices for the same sub-standard experience SHOULD start to die, but specialty houses that cater to their clientelle will be able to keep picking up the slack and hopefully spread out from their hardcore urban niche to the rest of the country. Which for me would be a good thing.
And the death of the blockbuster would just be icing on the cake for me.
7. What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.
So the movie industry isn't making money off of all those DVD sales? If they aren't, they are doing something really wrong. If they are, well, it shouldn't be the end of the movie industry then. Perhaps just a rearanging of priorities.
Science may someday discover what faith has always known.
A statement like this is pure balls coming from a guy working for a company that's put out two mediocre offerings in the last couple of years that made major bucks because people are in love with their franchise.
If moviegoers were really content to wait for the dvd release why were so many people standing in line? If moviegoers were really into stealing movies and watching them at home, how did these films do so well -- especially given that the demographic they cater to is, on average, likely to be more tech savvy than the demographic catered to on the average?
It's hard to feel sorry for folks who want to squelch all news about their product, get oodles of money for doing a half-assed job and then whine when somebody nicks a penny from the collection plate.
Or use Free DVD playing software. ogle works well, and I can zoom right by that FBI warning.
--
I post links to stuff here
... is the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Everything else really doesn't have the value-add to make it worth driving out to a mega-plex to be surrounded by the same people you see on Cops and Girls Gone Wild.
--
The trailers are awesome, although the trend toward commercials sucks.
My wife and I go to the same, megasuperduper stadium-seating theater every time. We even drive extra miles for it. The seats are comfy, no obstructed views, and the food is actually much, much better than it used to be in theaters (ice cream, nachos, free soda and popcorn refills -- where were those?).
All told, it's probably a cheaper experience than dining a tier above fast food, plus we get to watch a movie.
If we stayed home, rented a DVD and ordered a pizza it'd be about the same money. I just wish that there was a pizza+movie delivery service.
It costs about $8-9 USD for a ticket for one person. If a couple is going, that's $16-18 just to get in the door, and there are a rather large number of DVDs that sell for that price (including new releases.)
Anyone with kids is hopelessly punished by the ticket prices, not to mention the confectionary stand. (Suuuure you can convince the kids to skip that $2 medium drink and those $3.50 candies!)
And for what? To have your feet stick to the floor? To listen to the idiot with the cell phone, or the couple/group that spend more time talking than watching? Perhaps for the joy of screaming "Focus! Focus!" when the monkey upstairs in the projection booth lets everything go fuzzy?
As to "going bankrupt", maybe Hollywood's big money directors and stars will be forced to do what many of us in the tech industry did last year -- take a pay cut in order to keep working. I realize 10-15% cuts for them amount to a few million dollars a year in some cases, but they can afford it far better than "normal" people can.
And if I hear another MPAA or RIAA exec trying to justify the prices as being necessary to cover the costs of producing the "failures", I think I'm going to puke. No other industry I know of tries to justify their costs by pointing to perpetual mis-management, poor marketing, and poor salary negotiation skills. It's called "ROI" people, and if you can't grasp that basic concept and deal with it you should be out of business!
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
For instance, I used to go to movies a lot. I used to have a main stream movie theaters close to me. That theater is now closed and I have to go much farther to another theater where i have to pay for parking, where they have several concesion stands but even on busy weekends they only have one open, usually with only two staff, to serve the entire 30 screens, and where they clean up the during the credits. And don't get me started on the five minutes of unrelated product commericals. I never had these problems at my old theater.
Going to a movie is no longer a pleasent experience, and it has nothing to do with cell phones, or people talking, or babies. It has to do with the number of screens and the number of seats that is necceary to show a main stream movie. Movie going should not be something that has to be scheduled, planned, and carried out in a careful operation. It is supposed to be fun.
So, I mostly go to the occasional art flick where I can drop in, buy a ticket, and enjoy the show without having the experience ruined by excessive lines, cleaning staff, or overt commercials.
And, in time, I may get a home theater, and more DVDs. Of course, if the DVDs continue to become increasing draconian, I may just abandon the whole movie going expereince
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Will never happen. Think doctors/cops/firemen/nurses with pagers.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
9. Food prices. I can get a whole meal at JMU with a meal punch for the price I would pay for a drink ($3.50) at the local theatre.
10. Inane local advertising in the theatre. I did not come to see advertising
11. Lack of leg room for those of us that are >5 feet tall
12. Turning the AC down so low that my gf has to look like a fsckin eskimo to keep from walking out a deep shade of blue
The main problem with Hollywood is they are no longer willing to take risks on creative projects, instead the rely on Franchise films with "proven actors" who can draw in the crowds. If the movie is not a francise film it must have a cookie cutter plot that is similar to another film that was a financial success.
What? I'm supposed to work?
Sorry I got my education to avoid really working.
I just do some interesting stuff for a few hours a day, help people with problems, and generally have a good time.
To all you people out there who haven't chosen a carreer, do what you want, don't chase the dollar. Most of your waking life is at work, work at something you enjoy.
What I don't understand is why no one has ever filed a suit against theaters, especially the big ones like AMC and Showcase for price gouging at the consession stands.
Since they say you can't bring in your own stuff, forcing someone who say, is hypoglycemic or has a bunch of kids who will make noise unless they have something to shove into their mouths to pay those prices to keep their blood surgar up is tantamount to extortion.
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs
Maybe a certain kind of film will do better on DVD in the home than the theatre but I don't see it killing the industry. If you have kids try telling them they need to wait 5 months for the DVD release of Harry Potter. Not gonna happen. Sometimes people just need a place to go, the movies is one of those places.
'Same speed C but faster'
There are theaters in my area that feature "crying rooms", where parents with crying babies can sit and still watch the movie.
It's a nice feature. Too bad nobody uses it.
psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo
What the fsck is the point of that show? Are they running some kind of experiment to find out just how much crap they have to stick in the commercial breaks before people finally give up on watching the movie?
Are they trying to spread a 90 minute movie into a three hour time slot? That would make sense, but why don't they just run pure ads in the 15 minute ad breaks they have to put in as filler? That way the ad companies pay the production costs and you can cut the cost per minute of ads to make up for the increased volume.
--
E_NOSIG
This is why you set up a linux box with ogle/videolan and use that as your DVD player. No FBI warning garbage, no macrovision, no regions, no disabled buttons, etc. Just the movie.
I read one comment in another thread where the guy was so annoyed that whenever he bought a DVD, he ripped it, removed all the crap, and then reburned it.
Hollywood accounting is designed so that movies just barely break even. If any movie makes a 'net profit', then they have to pay money to people who have 'net points' royalties. It is similar to the contracts that musicians sign with music studios.
Most of the money for a movie goes to affiliated companies that make huge profits for the moneymen while the accounting ledgers for the movie itself rack up negative numbers.
The producer claims that studios are 'barely making it.' Using what measurement critia?
Studios are primarily financial factories, they only happen to make movies as a side effect of their operations.
If you sign up as an actor in a major movie, your compensation 'deal' is not done as a percentage of sales, or even as pure fixed fee. It is most often done as a 'share' AFTER studio expenses are tallied. The problem with this is that everything the studio does can be considered an expense. The practical result is that even though hundreds of individuals benefit handsomely for selling services at top dollar to the studio, the studio can claim that it made no money on a particular movie because it's expenses happened to equal its income.
The actual costs to make a film in LA are enormous, not because of the logistics involved (although those can be considerable for big budget flicks) but because Screen Actors Guild wages are so damned high.
I live in Colorado, my neighbor across the street was the stunt guy who was thrown into a sack, kicking and screaming, in that Wild Wild West debacle. No lines, and his face never actually appeared in the movie... his SAG pay for half a day: $5000.
Beats pumping gas, doesn't it?
Going out to a movie isn't just about watching a movie, it's about going out.
People with access to swimming pools still go to the beach.
People can cook at home and yet they still go out to eat.
People listen to CDs and yet they still go to concerts.
You can get drunk at home, but amazingly bars are still in business.
It's pathetic that this guy is in the movie business but he doesn't grasp what movies are all about.
If he's talking about theateres, he may have a point, but certain films wanting 110% of the boxoffice for the first 3 weeks of the film does as much damage... (I believe that was the case for StarWars episode 1)
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
In Japan, the cost for me to go to see a movie is 1800 yen. About $16.50...to see a movie...at matinee hours.
The theater experience is not, but it ain't that nice. Gimme DVD any day.
Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
What's the difference, experience-wise, between watching a movie in a theatre and renting/buying one?
Going to a theatre is immersive. There are (ideally - screaming children and cells aside) no distractions at a movie. You're completely involved with what's going on on-screen. Same thing happens in a play - they darken the theatre for a reason, and it's not to see the actors better.
Watching a movie in your typical living-room is completely different. You know you're watching a movie, you don't become as involved in it.
I think $10 for a movie is ludicrous (I grew up with a $4 second-run moviehouse on the corner of my street). I can't really afford it, but I go anyway. Why? Because it's a change of scenery, it's a night out, it's not sitting in my living-room. And because, for any given movie, I have a better shot of enjoying it in the theatre's immersive environment.
Triv
Claiming that it's the consumer's fault they're in trouble is bullshit. The can easily save their own asses.
1. Stop charging more than the DVD costs for two people to see the movie in the theatre. And I don't mean raise DVD prices either. There is no reason it should cost more than 10$ for two people to see a movie, or more than 8 for that matter.
2. Stop paying Julia Roberts and Arnold Schwartzniger 40 million to be in a movie. Easy.
3. Make movies worth seeing and not these overhyped pieces of garbage like the last two star wars have been. In most cases a movie CAN wait, I've got better things to do.
For now I'm more than happy to watch DVD's on my 53" widescreen in the privacy of my own house. I don't have to worry about people moving past me because they bought the 72oz soda, or a bawling child. If Hollywood doesn't like that, fix their problems, don't make it out like this is my fault.
Box Office Says Star Wars is Doomed
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
I don't know about you, but the last few DVDs I bought have this 5 minute mandatory intro on them that plays before it gets to the main menu.
I too have NOT seen this behavior. What DVDs do it? I own about 40 DVDs and none of them do this. I find I can either press the "next track" button or fast forward through them.
In the event I saw the behavior you are desciribing, I'd boycott whatever studio did it. Not out of principal, just out of annoyance.
1) Movie going is more than just the movie, it's an *experience*... sometimes even shitty movies can be fun to watch with the right people. I'll never forget watching The Matrix on opening night in the AMC Mercado and the hearing *entire* audience cheer watching Trinity pull gravity defying stunts.
2) Home theatres have seperate purposes from the megaplexes. I would love to watch a single movie over and over at home, but for new films, I would much rather see them on the big screen.
3) EP1 and EP2 both sucked, IMHO. Perhaps that's why lucasfilms is feeling a bit of a pinch?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
The Hollywood McCallum sees falling apart in the next few years has a history of reinventing itself when it is supposed to fall apart. Back when VCRs were supposed to kill Hollywood, the industry reinvented itself by evolving away from the monolithic studios that maintained all their own facilities. The big studios are still there in name, but now they are mostly holding companies. Typically a big studio will create a small, temporary company that produces a single film by hiring a network of specialized subcontracters.
My guess is that as digital filmmaking gets better and cheaper Hollywood will reinvent itself again in the digital age. We will see 100% synthetic films, made without sets or locations, with actors used for voices only. Whether that will shrink overall costs enough to keep theatrical films viable who knows, but I doubt Hollywood will just roll over and die.
I frequently boo loudly when those commercials come one. No one seems to mind, in fact, people tend to join in the booing. Try it, it's fun.
XML causes global warming.
The last few times I've been to the movies I wasn't happy.
The sound sucks. Either it's a drama and the volume is way to loud, or it's an action film and the volume is way too low.
Ticket prices have skyrocketed. I am NOT paying $9-12 to see a movie. I'll go on Tuesday when it's $5-6, but who goes on a Tuesday??
Crappy movies: movies have sucked. The only movies I'm planning to see in the future are LOTR:TTT, Star Wars Episode 3 and the last Lord of the Rings.
What else is there? There's so much crap, and the really good movies you don't even hear about until they're on DVD.
Add 'projectionists' playing movies at the wrong aspect ratio for the first 5 minutes, distorted sounds, horrible picture and you begin to wonder why you should make the effort.
Give me a better product at a better price and stop whining!
Hollywood going under? That brings a tear to my eye. Really, it does.
Holy crap, batman! Will Hollywood actually have to find NEW ways of making money now? Will they finally have to (gasp!) become innovative and develop a new business model! The horror!
(I wonder if Hollywood could even DO that at this point...)
No more free lunch, I guess.
-- Jim
There have been movies with so many trailers that I've actually forgotten just what the hell I was there to see. Easily 20 minutes worth of trailers.
Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
I had always heard that aftermarket sales of VHS and DVD sales to consumers as well as video store rentals generaly create more money for the studios then the initial boxoffice release did.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
I go to the movie theather at least once every two weeks, I have a 50" HDTV and I buy lots of DVD movies. Two of my friends do the same.
How are we contributing the the downfall of the movie industry?
They wouldn't be saying these things...
The reality of the situtation being that the storylines in Movies is seriously lacking these days....
I see probably 20+ movies a year, I honestly like the big screen expirence, its the only way to see some movies, and if they showed ep4,5,6 continuously at some theater year round, I'd probably go see them 4 or 5 times a year at the theater just for the hell of it...I watch them in my house that many times a year, and I know the expirence on screen is much better...
ep1 and 2 the storylines are weak, they are not of anywhere near the same caliber as 4,5,6...
Why did Titanic have such a titanic draw, storyline...it may have been the biggest chick flick of all time, but the storyline and its universal apeal is what got it there....
The last move with a decent story I saw was LOTR:FotR last year, and this years movies other that ep2 which I did like but not on the same level as 4,5,6 have been total crap...I can't wait for LOTR:TT...I ma hoping that the new Trek Film will be worth my cash as well...
My girlfreind and I wanted to see a movie last week, but we looked and there just wasn't anything playing worth our time...
The studios(and George Lucas Especially) need to learn that movie fans have expectations, and do what they can to live up to them....there were hundreds of rumors about the ep1,2,3 arc that have been flying around for years, and even hints about that time period in various Star Wars source material, basically none of that has been lived up too so far and Lucas only has approx 2.5 hours to give us what we have waited for our whole lives...
1. We should have seen ALOT more of the Clone Wars already, not just the beginning....
2. Anakin should already be much further down the path to being Vader
3. The republic should be in much worse strights
4. The Emperor should have already arisin
5. We should have alot more information on Jango/Boba Fett's Backgroud
6. We should know Tons more about the sith
7. The Rebellion should already be forming
8. We should have already run into Tarkin
9. We should know alot more about bail Organa
Just my laundry list, but its one I have discussed many times with other fans.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
Anyone notice how this is similar to what's going on right now with the video games industry? I mean, the current generation of consoles we have now can easily render the stuff we find in the arcades. This is a problem for many arcade-owners and developers alike--because since the games at home are just as good graphically, it's less of a reason for Joe Gamer to go to the arcade. (Of course, developers are getting more clever with this by using special controllers, etc.) So, like with DVDs and the theaters, people have less of a reason to leave their houses.
To shoot anyone not playing in a paintball game.
That's what real guns are for.
paintball
I seem to remember the trailer was a montage of various films, starting with The Grinch, which was basically shots from the movies set to some background music. I believe some ex-rentals do show a few trailers in the beginning. I do know the first few times I did this, I was madly pressing all the buttons on the remote to get it to stop.
Hmmm, holywood dies.
Gee, suddenly all kinds of independant films that have been ignored because they didn't fit a target audience, or because nobody in the theater distribution chain had ever heard of them start being shown.
Of course, the price will have to go up to maybe $7 or $8 to cover the cost... oh wait, it's already that high!
I guess this is bad news for the Baldwins...
wanna scare up more support for laws and crap your pushing? THE SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING!
we dont get to see another adam sandler movie... GASP!
no more of the countless remakes of good movies that went bad after the third remake.
and more more Ajckie Chan Chris tucker flicks! OMFG We're all doomed
Unfortunately, he's wrong of course. The amount of money moving around in the movie business is huge, if there are profit problems it is either due to to many studios killing each other's profit margins, too much power in the hands of actors when salaries are determined, or just general incompetence. I suspect it is a combination. What will happen is that the studios will eventually be forced to take action, either becoming more efficient, lowering salary costs, or having a few mergers. Anyway, I didn't see any evidence that the studios are actually in financial trouble, I suspect Rick is either fairly dumb or he assumes his audience is.
personal attacks hurt, especially when deserved
If they were really in trouble, I don't think the actors would be seeing those huge salaries. I don't think Lucasfilm would have all the high tech capabilities to make digital movies. And we would be seeing fewer films going to the box office. The real problem is that ticket sales are probably dropping off slightly for several reasons:
;) ). If fewer people are going to see movies these days, and the studios are making less money, they have only themselves to blame for making poor business decisions.
-The economy is in the shit can
-Hollywood isn't putting many interesting new films out, mostly just "safe" formula vehicles.
-If a movie sucks, no one is going to go see it.
-Ticket prices are way too high. There is a reason for this and it goes all the way back to the studios. See below:
The reason you have to pay so much for movie tickets is because the studios dictate how much a movie theater must pay to exhibit a film. If the movie stays in the theater for 3 or more months, then it makes a profit for the studios and the theater. The income from the ticket sales goes to cover the cost of exhibition for the first 3 months, then after that, to the movie theater itself. Since not all movies make the 3 months, movie theaters lose out on profits. That's why you're starting to see regular ads in front of movies (ads for cars, local businesses, soft drinks, etc...). The movie theaters don't have much say in what ads they can show (also dictated by the studios), but they do make a profit from the ads. Most of the time they make only enough money from the ticket sales to barely break even for exhibiting the film. This is also why you have to pay so much for consessions. That is the only way that movie theaters make most of their money without having to split it with the studios.
So... here's the run down: Fewer people are going to see movies because they are too expensive and many of them suck. The movies are too expensive to exhibit because the studios control the exhibition terms. The movies suck because the studios are trying to make sure they stay with the most guaranteed profit generating vehicles (The "best" of anything is usually not the most popular, and the most popular is usually not the "best": witness the *nixes vs. MS Windows
I still say that capitalism is failing for the same reasons that communism did: greed and fear. Just like the Ponzi scheme, there is only so much wealth/power to go around in any economic/political system. In the end, someone (ususally lower in the pyramid) has to suffer to put/keep someone else on top. Tradgedy of the commons... and all that jazz.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Same here, so we try to go at times where there aren't many people.
One thing is cleary true is that the theatre industry has overbuilt and has way too much capacity for the volume of viewers they are getting. Perhaps the problems theatre chains are having making money are what has Hollywood spooked.
Personally I don't think DVD's are going to put Hollywood out of business at all - they will just have a different way to deliver their product.
Exactly. It's all about getting out with people. Who goes to movies alone? Nobody. It's no fun. Ever tried to watch a comedy in an empty theater? It's a profoundly unfunny experience, even if it's a good one. Same goes for most other genres, because the emotional stimulation movies provide is far more effective in a group for reasons anyone with a rudimentary understanding of group psychology should get. Frankly, most movies these days are total crap that's barely bearable WITH the audience (I'm lookin' at you, Lucas).
No home theater has ever (and probably never will) offer this human dimension. Frankly "home theater" is a complete misnomer. It helps if your family or friends are there, but even so it'll be a much more subdued experience. And when you're plunking down $$$$ for your massive set and watching lots of TV, how much time and money will have to spend on those?
P.S. Alamo Drafthouse, damn straight. Wish I had one in my town.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
This matches the rules for propaganda
Check the section on Fear
This is like those lame handouts that your teacher gave you in elementary school when you were done with the math test before everyone else.. Match up the appropriate A to B kiddies:
{BLANK A} is going to put {BLANK B} out of business within {X} years.
Possible A answers:
1. The Audio Cassette
2. The Compact Disc
3. Television
4. Beta Video
5. VHS Video
6. Napster
7. Public Libraries
Possible B answers:
1. Radio Industry
2. Movie Industry
3. Music Producers
4. Theatre Owners
5. Book Publishers
When are they going to learn? Embrace, extend, profit. It's just that simple.
Listen up: You're right! You have reason to be afraid, YES. Therefore read up, get some geeks on staff, and take advantage of the technology. Those that have have gotten ahead, while the bitcher/whiner/moaner/"it's not fair"ers have been passed by.
www.jackasscritics.com
The music industry has a real problem - their product line is mature. All the current genres have been mined out. Classical, rock, rap, house, hip-hop, and techno have basically been done. In each of those, the best work was done years ago. Only heavy promotion keeps the industry going at all. This is recognized within the industry, but nobody has yet devised the Next Big Thing.
Movies aren't stuck in that way. They have a different problem. Improving technology makes possible more production value per film. But now, audiences expect huge production values in every film, leading to budgets upwards of $100M for minor films.
Lucas and Co. are basically in the production-value business. In Episodes I and II, there's a new major set every 45 seconds. That drives costs through the roof. Lucasfilm can't get off the cost treadmill; other films now approach those levels. And that's all they've got. They certainly don't have acting or story to carry them. Visualize a reading of of Episode I or II on a bare stage. It would be painful, even with good actors. So Lucas has to spend the money.
What the movie industry really has is more competition between filmmakers than they'd like. Every mainstream film today needs a big budget. That's good for audiences, and lousy for their margins. So be it; that's capitalism.
His citing Titanic isn't a good example either. Titanic was a total aberation for movies. It made as much the next 12 weekends as it did it's first weekend (within 10-20%) instead of having the usual 30-50% drop off that most major movies do now. People just kept going back again and again, and you can't expect any movie to come close to what Titanic did. I just think they're blowing everything way out of proportion. Yes, I'm sure downloading movies hurts them some, but not that much (I know I'm not going to take the time).
First about the costs. "As the cost of going to the movies has escalated to $20 or so for a ticket, parking and popcorn,..."
I pay $5.70 for one ticket using one of the savers program (buy 10 coupons for $57 and use the tickets within 1 year -- fine by me). Popcorn isn't really to my taste or diet, and I just smuggle a can of coke in my jacket.
How about release dates: "the movie will be out on DVD in just four or five months".
Right, sometimes, if you're lucky. Often it is one or two years, though. And by then all of your friends will have seen the movie, and you'll feel like a dork.
And it goes on: "a purchase price of $12-$15".
Over here you get the movies from 1970 at that price, perhaps something newer but second hand. Let's be realistic and put a $30 price tag to new releases.
Overall, what do we get ? Superb movies experience for 20% of the price of the DVD, in a truely beautiful theatre with a screen so big you can just about see the edges and feel like inside the picture, and excellent sound. At home all I have is a stereo TV set, and neighbours on 4 sides. Obviously it's not quite the same.....
Don't get me wrong.. I love DVDs and own many, but going to the cinema is an alltogether different experience, at least for me. I am likely to go see a movie I really like several times in a row.
Don't blame the theaters for ticket prices. They break even on admission. They make virtually all of their profits on food
Damn, well they make nothing out of me anymore then.
Cinema admission is about $8 here. Small popcorn is $4.50, a drink is another $2.50 easy. $15 to go see a movie is a pain in the ass, IMHO. But I enjoy it too much.. so..
I now bottle my own cola at home and hide it in my jacket pocket, and go buy a McDonald's hamburger before getting to the cinema so I feel full, and the candy stand doesn't interest me.
I save $7 per trip and I get better cola while I'm at it.
mogorific carpentry experiments
Well, let's assume that we say goodbye to Hollywood in like 3 years, a massive burndown, everything goes out of business.
;)
But then, someone WILL pop up and make a movie about the fall of hollywood.
So I guess it's just kinda recycling, not going out of business
A friend of mine manages a movie theater here in Las Vegas, Nevada. One night, I went to see a movie with my wife, and as I'm coming out, I see my friend and about 3 other managers chasing this little wanna be thug. Kid couldn't of been more than 10 years old. I stook around in the lobby to see what was going on, and about 10 minutes later, the managers come back in dragging this kid. Kid is just screaming obscenities, threating to beat people up that are 4 times his size, etc. My friend comes over to my wife and I and explains that an older woman(55+) had politely asked this kid to stop talking so loud and swearing in the theater, the kid has told her to fuck off, punched her, than ran. He probably would've gotten out of the place but my friend was slacking off and just happened to be in the same theater. So my friend books out, calls more managers, they chase the kid for about a block, tackle him, and bring him back. So the cops show up, and as this point I'm thinking the kid is going to break his exterior and just start crying. Of course, once the cops showed up he bitched out and started crying. The cops were nice enough to let us laugh at him.
About 2 months later I learned that the husband of the older lady ended up suing the mother of the child, a woman who was barely one rung above poverty on the financial latter. I don't whether to feel bad or good about that. I'll go with good, no sympathy for her, especially considering their are a great many number of inner-city mothers that raise respectable, well-behaved kids.
So that's my midly off-topic story, hope you were entertained.
Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
I mean isn't the point to go out so you then have some place to go back to? What would you do then if the only solution was to watch a movie at your house?
"Well that was great baby, say why don't we go up to the bedroom before we say goodni- "*KNEE TO GROIN* "Hmmm. That didn't work as well as I expected."
Or maybe they just add dates for each other afterwards with CGI over there?
What is music when you despise all sound?
Hunh! And all this time I've been wondering why Lucas only puts his crappy movies out on DVD. I guess this explains it.
Breakfast served all day!
Damn right!
Down here (New Orleans) we had (almost) all of the public schools institute manditory uniforms - and the reasoning behind it was that it would save parents money since they wouldn't have to buy the designer closes that their children demanded of them.
Seems to me that if you need a school policy to be able to stand up to your children then you've got more serious problems there than spending too much money on clothes.
LucasFilms may go out of business, but I predict a Lucas DVD company forming soon!!! Senor Lucas is no dummy. He may be a lousy director, story writer, awful at casting and wears silly socks, but he is no money dummy. :{)||
Doesn't Bluetooth allow selective jamming?
Bingo. Get
;-)
1. an XGA projector - about $3k
2. a pull down screen, 119" HD should be in the $150 range
3. home-theater-in-a-box kit for $500
4. Spend a weekend putting it together...(we're all DIYers here, I'm sure)
Instant home theater for under $4 grand. Want to go cheap? Buy a SVGA projector and a slightly smaller screen and save $1500. $4k would cost about $28/month on a home equity loan. That's how I justified mine...and the Federal & State government chip in $8/month to help cover the cost (deduction). You just gotta love the US of A
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
[Insert obvious remark here.]
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
I completely disagree that anything will kill the box office. Here are some good things about it.
1) It's a night out. To single folks, that doesn't mean much, but when you get married and have kids you learn to appreciate "going to the movies" more than ever before.
2) The concessions are too expensive, but they're GOOD. Come on, admit it. Big ol' tub of popcorn ("Do you want butter on that?" "No thanks, just give me that same yellow swill you put on everybody else's")... a huge box of Raisinettes or a Crunch Bar. You're eating like there's no tomorrow and it doesn't matter. Popcorn all over your tummy by the end of the movie? Just stand up, brush it off, and walk out. Not your problem.
3) Let's not underestimate the value of being in a theater of other people who are excited about a movie. It makes the movie better. Two examples... the first is "Jurassic Park". I was at an overseas premier of "Jurassic Park" and it was so incredibly exciting because I was in a theater of people who were excited by it. The other example is "Meet the Parents", which not only was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen, but it seems like the absolute funniest movie I had ever seen because of the laughter around me.
4) Another thing that people complain about but secretly love are the trailers. First of all, they pad the beginning of the movie so you can be late and not miss the feature. Secondly, they're often entertaining. They're longer than what you see on TV and they really get you excited about the movie. If people hate trailers so much, why is it that you can boost your ticket sales if you tell people it will have a trailer of an eagerly-awaited movie?
5) Big screen and big sound. Yeah, I'm sure your home theater is really nice, and one of these days I'll finish my basement and mine will be really great, too. But it won't be the same as a movie theater. A screen two or three stories high, big-ass speakers all over the place, shaking a big room. Of course, once I finish the home theater, I'll probably feel guilty for going to the movies because of how much I spent on the home theater and that keep me home.
6) Finally, new release, new releases, new releases. Doesn't matter how good your home theater is when the next "Matrix" movie comes out. If you want to see it soon, you'll go to the theater. If you hate the theater that much and really want to watch it at home, you'll have to wait MANY months for that DVD to come out, maybe even a year or more.
So let's give the movie theater the credit it deserves. It's a fun night out. Way more expensive than it ought to be (and what's up with concession stands not taking credit cards?), but it's fun and I'll keep going.
RP
Let them die... I doubt anyone will really miss:
1- More bad remakes of good old movies.
2- More shitty action movies full of lame CG explosions.
3- More shitty teen comedy/horror movies.
4- More "Black" movies where all the black characters are just black actors playing out negative stereotypes.
5- More bad sequels to bad movies.
6- More churning books into expensive movies that are designed to make money from action figures.
The list goes on... fuck hollywood.
I prefer "Don't let the door hit ya where the Lord split ya."
I really wish they'd just see that technology opens up new revenue streams faster than it closes them down.
Unlimited copyright and death penalty to offenders is the only way of ensuring such things happen, especially with the printing press.
People could always swap books in person, but now with the printing press in every town, the ability to copy the latest forms of media between two places is completly unprecedented due to it' unrestricted nature.
I don't see the world as a worse place for the printing press, and I doubt the internet would have such an effect. To claim anything else without support is absurd and pointless.
I live in a giant bucket.
THey must have been hanging around the RIAA people.
Monday Page 1: CD Sales booming, best year ever, most money ever made in one year by CD sales.
Tuesday Page 2: Online music trading killing CD sales. Artists starving.
I mean really -- I have seen 4 or 5 individual movies make more money in the last 3 or 4 years than the total money made by all movies 10 years ago. You go wait in line for Harry Potter or LOTR tickets in the next few months and then tell me that DVD's are killing the movie thaters....sheeeze...
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
While I will grant them that I feel my home theater experience is much better than going to the movie theater (better seats, comparable sound, cheaper food), I don't think theaters are about to dry up any time soon.
Despite having these capabilities, I still go to the movies damn near every weekend. Why? Because when it comes down to it, there's not many easy things you can do to occupy your time, and most people who are movie fans want to see a movie as soon as possible. Despite the theater experience becoming less fun due to poor audiences and greed, I still want to see new movies in the theater. True, movies can be pirated... but then you've effectively defeated the purpose of a home theater by feeding it poor quality sound and video.
Movie theaters aren't drying up, they're just a pack of greedy liars who will stop at nothing to suck as much money as they can out of the general public.
This is the same company that wants to push for all-DVD quality films, complaining that the medium will bankrupt them??
The same company whose major summer film (along with SpiderMan and LOTR) grossed more than the GNP of several small countries (hundreds of millions of dollars together) just in theatrical release?
The same company whose advertising blitzes are in the $20 to $50 million dollar range, not counting tie-ins with McDonalds, etc?
The same company which still has yet to release (or just recently released) several of the biggest films of all time, forcing fans to develop the tactics LucasArts is complaining about if they ever want to see the films again?
Well boo fucking hoo.
I've only gone to 2 movies in the theater this year because none of these pandering McD's-tie-in bullshit special-fx films interest me. If the script was quality instead of crap, there was actual acting instead of an army of cgi clones, and an original thought now and again I'd be willing to dish out $50 for 2 hours entertainment. Hmm, maybe not.
But maybe when all the incumbent fat-cat assholes have gone bankrupt from mishandling their fortunes, we'll get to see some of the underground talent and concepts!
Yeah! They should also bring back corporal punishment, now that I'm out of school.
btw, if you think this is -1, Redundant, consider that the effect is cumulative.
sic transit gloria mundi
Wow, if there's one thing you can't convince me of it's that George Lucas is worried about his financials.
Then again, if he is, I'd be glad to fork over $60 for the original, un-enhanced, un-mutiliated Star Wars Trilogy on DVD.
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, "In today's Hollywood, box office revenue makes up less than a quarter of a film's total take. The largest piece of a movie's money pie comes from sales and rentals of its DVDs." It goes on to note that while "Monster's Inc." grossed $255 million at the box office it is expected to generate $380 million+ from DVDs (DVD sales have already topped $140 million). Seems like hollywood will be running pretty strong even if box office sales do decline.
In general, it seems unlikely that an industry could destory itself economically when the products in competition both generate revenue for the same industry. Of course, it might have some effect on quality. The low overhead for DVD production relative to theater releases allow crappy films to generate profits. Something akin to what video did to the porn industry a la "Boogie Nights." Of course, this also means good things for indy films and pieces that appeal only a cross-section of society, which could yield some high quality pictures.
I mean, hey, if Episode III fails, they can always blame piracy!
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
how can the movie industry be declining if attendance is up and they are breaking sales records?
Simple..
Paramount Pictures Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) makes a movie, which comes in exactly on budget at $40M
Paramount Pictures Inc. then wants people to see it, so they get their marketing company, Paramount Marketing Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) to do the marketing.
Paramount Marketing Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) charges Paramount Pictures Inc. the tidy sum of $300M to market the movie.
The movie is a blockbuster, and nets (not grosses) $90M for Paramount Pictures Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) in it's first weekend.. but after that it only nets an average of $20M per week, and it stays in theatres for two months.
So, after it's theater run, the movie has earned a total of $250M, but Paramount Pictures Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) is in the hole by $150M.
So the only thing that can save Paramount Pictures Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) is a large infusion of cash from their parent company, Paramount Studios Inc.
Anyone who knows anything about money will tell you that the parent company can't continute to pump money into a money-losing venture indefinitely... if they keep having to do it, they'll have to shut Paramount Picutures Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Studios Inc.) down!
Oh. I feel SO sorry for these poor, unfortunate Hollywood producers and studios! As a matter of fact, I believe their doom will bring down the entire world in an economic crisis worse in its consequences than any global nuclear war. As such, I believe the United States government should immediately raise our taxes by several exponents and give ALL of the tax revenues to the MPAA. This will allow poor children in El Salvador to have a warm meal every evening.
Then he told me he hadn't had a bite in a week.
So I bit him!
Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week...
That is all.
The funny thing is, people have bemoaned the impending death of the box office since time immemorial. The first thing that was going to kill movies was television. And true, it did (along with the busting-up of the vertical monopolies held by movie studios) fundamentally change the movie-going experience, turning what had been a whole evening's worth of entertainment (newsreel, shorts, B movie, feature) into a single movie presentation. On the other hand, it also improved movie presentations dramatically, as the studios went to panoramic widescreen and more use of color to draw audiences back out of the home.
And then there was Valenti's prediction that VHS would kill movies. As you can see, it hasn't.
I don't think that DVDs necessarily mean the end of movies, either. Though if it means studios start to concentrate on quality, putting an end to the sort of crap movies that seem to dominate the box office these days, that could be a blessing. (No more Adam Sandler, please! No more Tom Green!) There are some films that you just have to see on the big screen, and I've been known to drive all the way from Springfield, Missouri to Kansas City to see films that may not make it down here. (I'm considering such an expedition to see Spirited Away, for instance, even though I've already seen it on a DIVX ripped from the Japanese DVD.) But I could be an exception to the general rule...
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
>>8. Just too many people in general
So which is it? People aren't going to movies anymore, or, the experience is undesirable because the theatres are crowded?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Obviously, the movie industry can stop worrying about movie piracy, since the piracy crowd (i.e., us) doesn't pay for movie tickets.
:) )
I, for one, ENJOY having an excuse to turn my cellphone off and eat some butter-soaked popcorn. I do not WANT the ability to pause the movie.
Also, I have not yet purchased a 10' screen.
Come on now, you have to get out of your parents' basement once in a while... (Star Trek conventions and D&D parties don't count
I suspect that these over-top-statements were made in order to needle movie theater owners to invest in the digital projectors that George Lucas and his buddies would like to have their movies shown with (since they are now shooting films in digital).
Hense the comparison to DVDs; the digital projector equivalent for the home which is widely accepted.
From what I have read, these digital projectors will make a significant difference in the movie theater experience and perhaps it does make long term sense for the theaters to upgrade. However, with all the crap that Hollywood is putting out now a days (including Star Wars) and theaters' tight margins, I would guess that there is a lot of resistence to upgrade. Hence these crazy statements from a movie producer to try and spur them on.
What a bunch of baloney!
No Hollywood in 3 years seems a little histrionic. It won't happen.
What will happen is that some producer will get a clue and and start selling DVD's online: Take orders for a big release and guarantee overnight delivery of the DVD one week before theater release. The buzz generated for a good flick ought to boost ticket sales. The DVD sales would complement and contribute to ticket sales. Result" more money.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
Didn't we hear this about videos about 20 years ago? It's not DVD that's killing movies, it's the stupid studios. If using big stars kills budgets, then don't use them. There are thousands of unknowns who are far better actors than the big names anyway. Learn how to budget. Don't waste money. The daily catering isn't necessary on the set, is it? My father-in-law was a purchasing manager for Fox studios. The excess, waste, extravagance and beaurocracy is dusgusting, if half of his stories are true.
I don't know jack about economics. My only education on the subject was Econ 101 in school. They drew a little graph for us - the theoretical supply/demand curve. The goal, they explained was to find the sweet spot where the supply and demand curves crossed. That is where profit is maximized. Perhaps the studios haven't taken Econ 101 or perhaps they think that moviegoing is an inelastic market and the price of the movie won't affect demand. Perhaps they need to go back to school. For the $10 a pop (or more) we're paying these days, I'm mighty choosy about what I go to see.
Which leads me to the next point. Movies suck. They all suck. They're so over-Hollywoodized that I just can't stand going any more. And it's getting harder to find places to see indy films, as the smaller theaters get crushed by the megaplexes. Perhaps this has something to do with Hollywood's plight?
In any case, so long as movies continue to be made, people will see them in theaters. Not everyone has a home theater with THX and Dolby 5.1. And not everyone's home is quieter or less distracting than a theater. And some of us like to get out of the house once in a while. And I certainly don't have a 40 foot high screen in my living room. And I don't like to wait for good movies to appear on DVD - I want to see them right away. Maybe that's why McCallum's upset. They botched the last two Star Wars movies so badly that maybe they're afraid everyone's just going to wait for DVD next round. I know I will.
Unfortunately, at the end, Hollywood would be saved and live happily ever after.
they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years.
They. That's right. THEY will be putting hollywood out of business, but when he says "THEY" he doesn't me us, or the file sharers, or the fans. What he really should be saying is "THEY", Hollywood themselves.
If you're in the automotive business, and business is doing lousy because of the economy, you cut costs. If you're a dot-com, before you go bust, you cut costs. If you're a doctor, HMO, Radio Station, Factory, Fast Food Joint, anybody in business, when business is lousy, you cut costs.
So why is it then, that when Hollywood feels the economic crunch, they blame everyone, raise their salaries, raise their costs, and then stick it to the fans with a higher ticket price?
If they were any other business, they would have folded by now. I kind of hope the big studios fold. Little studios will take over, for cheaper, with new and innovative ideas. We'll still have movies to watch, it just won't be the movies THEY make. Good riddance.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
The Sixth Sense did this...
It would start with some lame add that wouldn't let you skip to the next track, fastforward, or hit the menu button. I think I even tried stopping and then hitting play and it just resumed where it was.
I watched the movie once and never again because of this even.
Thankfully here in Winnipeg the theaters dropped their prices. It now costs me less than $25 to take 3 people out to a movie, without drinks/popcorn (those are still expensive).
Take a pay cut, fuckers!
Yes, technology is going to make you obsolete, but only if you're unwilling to compromise. These days, with improving technology and amateur entertainment, people don't feel like shelling out a ridiculously huge sum of money to go see a movie in the theatres. The local theatres charge $13.95 CDN per movie here, and frankly, I just don't feel like paying that much when for the price of two admissions and a drink I can buy a DVD.
You're all just going to have to grow up and realize that you are being forced to relinquish some of your control over when and how we entertain ourselves. You do not need to be making 7-9 figure salaries; you're all just going to have to eventually settle for a paltry few hundred thousand dollars a year or suffer the consequences.
Take all the megamovieplexgargantua theaters, and instead of each minitheater being open to all, have them designated as:
Theater 1, The Playpen: Squalling babies allowed, offering counselling at a premium for idiots who take their 2 year olds in to see the latest rated R slasher flicks.
Theater 2, The Lame Room: For people who really don't care about watching the movie, and instead want to talk, make out, use their cel phones.
Theater 3, The Idiot Room: for people who want to do their own MST3K performance.
Theater 4, Paradise: For people who actually want to *gasp* watch the movie.
That way, they'll actually make MORE money, rather than driving away the folks who would normally want Theater 4!
Meanwhile, has anyone else noticed the irony that this is the same Lucasfilm that not only took upwards of 5 years originally to release their movies to tape/DVD, but supported the old "pay to watch" DIVX standard, refusing to release the original trilogy to DVD until it died?
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
... they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years.
Good.
I am quite civilized, and I should be brought a beer immediately. -- Bruce Sterling
yes, I watch about 10-15 movies a month for $20. And I have a decent home theater setup. So for most movies that is more than adequate. This alone negates the need to get to theater, better picture / sound. Now with HDTV & sorround sound setups, you can easily have these at home.
Sure I will go to theaters, when going out with friends or to see a nice movie like Matrix or LOTR. Otherwise, I am a happy home theater geek!.
-- I have monkeys in my pants.
that they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years.
This is the first good news I've heard on Slashdot this week!
Although I think he's being a little bit optimistic on how soon this will happen. Have a look on IMDB at how much money even the worst recent movies have made vs. their production cost.. That's a disgusting profit margin for any industry.
Protect our freedoms! Fight DMCA / CBDTPA / SDMI / SSSSA / Palladium / etc. Boycott Big Media!
Ok, so you aren't an MPAA or RIAA exec.... *g*
The problem with your R&D analogy is that the only R&D occurs with companies producing SFX, film stock, cameras, etc. The movies and albums themselves are "art" or "expression."
The MPAA and RIAA don't produce anything, but they speak on behalf of their industries, and are a means of referring to their members as a whole (The "A" at the end of the acronyms refers to "Association".)
They are bad at marketing. All they market is their biggest budget efforts, with little to no regard for quality. The only exception I can recall was "The Blair Witch Project", which was done on a very low budget compared to movies or records that usually get the push.
When is the last time you saw an ad for a movie that didn't have at least one multi-million dollar star involved? When was the last time you saw a band that didn't fit a top-40 profile for a non-major genre get promoted? How many times now have we found out that a "band" was actually a fraud that was lip-synching or so heavily processed that the singer in concert sounds nothing like the album?
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
That's just what i was thinking.... most of the movies i've been to recently have been PACKED. And that's not only the blockbuster type movies... on a saturday night in a big city, just about every showing of every movie is packed.... i'm not believing they're not making money.
Can you really imagine going to the movies as a family without munchies? When I was a kid movies were a "treat" and usually included the mammoth family popcorn tub, drinks (sometimes shared), and a candy bar.
Now you can't get those family popcorn tubs, even though prices have skyrocketed. You can't get a standard size candy bar, only the oversize packs. You pay more for a 20oz watery soda with too much ice than for 2-3 large bottles at 7-11, much less a grocery store.
Despite that obscene gouging, I cannot imagine being so tight-fisted that I wouldn't buy the kids in the group the same as I got as a child. I'm not saying you need to give in to the whining for more candy when it's gone, but it just wouldn't be right to eliminate it. Even at home I usually nuke a bag of popcorn when I sit down to watch a flick on DVD!
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Office Space just missed its costs at theaters, and Jennifer Aniston back then was cheap.
So yes, some good movies miss their marks because they're good, but often overlooked.
Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different. -- Earl of Chesterfield
Actually, I just read a very interesting message posted by a guy who did accounting for movie theaters.
He claims he has never once seen a theater that would have been profitable if it wasn't for selling concessions!
Apparently, Hollywood screws over the theaters pretty bad on their cost to show new films. (Typically, they do a 90/10 deal. Hollywood gets 90% of whatever a new movie earns in ticket sales, and the theater keeps the other 10%. After the film runs for so many weeks, the amount drops on a sliding scale. So after a few weeks, it might be 70/30 instead of 90/10 - but lots of people already saw the movie by then.)
Furthermore, Hollywood often forces the theaters to enter a contract guaranteeing they'll show the movie for no fewer than a set number of weeks. (That partially explains why so many of the mom and pop theaters, and maybe even some of the drive-thrus, have closed down. To offer a decent selection of movies all showing at once, you have to have a large number of screens.)
For old movies, they sometimes offer a deal where a theater can simply buy it, instead of renting it - and then can make 100% of the profit showing it whenever they like. This is rarely done, however. (Hollywood makes exceptions to this rule for perennial favorites like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", where a theater would obviously rather just buy it outright if they could.)
So what you really have is a business model of selling people food and drinks, not making money showing movies. That's why the stuff seems like such a rip-off.
The King is Dead!
Long Live the King!
personally, I wont be sheding any tears when hollywood hangs itself.
Chicago2600.net more than a lifestyle, its a survival trait.
> 6. Six or seven trailers before the show starts
Funny, I always make sure I am at the movie on time so I don't miss the trailers. I often catch a movie that I really want to see in the previews. Trailers do bug me on DVD/VHS, most of the time because they are trailers for some moldy movie that came out about the time of the rental and I have see a bazillion times. Boring.
And the most annoying thing of all, while I'm on the subject of DVDs, is *ANYTHING* on the DVD that I cannot skip over or fast-forward through when I spend hard earned money to buy the video. Why am I *forced* to watch the FBI warning every time I view the movie. Did you think I missed it the first time? How about other shit like production company ads? Fuck you, I'm the customer and I paid for a product - I expect it to be delivered in a satisfying manor.
Oh yeah, and why do people spell is T-H-E-A-T-R-E? Are we watching the movie at the olde plowe shoppe in colour at the local movie centre?
Nah, I don't believe their propoganda, and I'm entirely certain they are treating customers like crap, so I'll stick to my own personal boycott.
On second thought that would of been a bad idea. Jar Jar would have a major role in all three films instead of just the first one.
I think you're all missing the fact that Hollywood won't die on the vine, they'll just call their pet congressmen and make sure that DVDs are only playable one time in a specially formatted RIAA controlled player. Then charge you for the your own popcorn that you made in YOUR microwave, because you ate it during the DVD playback, and you had to agree to this charge in the EULA when you opened the DVD case.
How can the movie industry be doomed by the move from theatre to DVD? People still have to buy the DVD, the profits of which still go to the movie company, and just like with VHS, they don't realease the DVD until after the theatre run is done, so people still do end up seeing it in the theatres that don't feel like waiting.
And it's not true that the home experience is as good as the theatre when talking about the sorts of films LucasFilm works on (where effects are important). Now, it *IS* true for movies where the special effects aren't important, or aren't even there at all, like "soap opera flicks" as I call them.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
While ogle can ignore the mandatory advertisements (the no-fast-forward sections), the region code is often enforced in the hardware not the software, so using ogle doesn't help circumvent that. (You can change region codes, but the limit of 5 (I think) switches before you are locked out is not under ogle's control.)
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Unless you are the slobbiest bitch on the planet, there is no way your bathroom compares to the stink-ridden piss and shit covered hell holes that the theatres offer up.
And how many theatres in your area have a setup caable of handling 70mm films any more?
Rick McCallum - producer of a series of films that along with perhaps only a handful of other films - people actually queue up months in advance to see the thing in a theatre, claims the movie theatre is dead?
:) Better tell that to the guy in the tent round the local cineplex...
LOL
He's right of course - for the reasons everyone's citing on this thread.
Personally, it takes a lot to drag me into a movie theatre ( and yes Rick, don't worry - about the only thing that will make me put up with the smell of stale sweat, sticky floors, some dude with his knee in the back of my seat, the cellphones etc is the next Star Wars (and the next LOTR episode)).
And he IS right about DVD and home theatre - it fecking well IS better. The picture quality for a start, is abysmal in every thatre I've been in. You can go on all day about the resolution of a big projector screen versus DVD but the end result is - those back projector movie theatre screens suck - the colours are washed out, the scratches are unacceptable, and just where in the name of panaflex do those HAIRS come from ffs!!
Add to this the fact that you're always too damm close to the screen - close enough for the judder between frames to be noticable and close enough to have to move your head to follow the action, and close enough that the corners of the damm screen are darker than the middle. Yes - back projection sucks. My 32" TV may not have the same resolution, but each part is lit indiviudally, the phosphors have a bit of persistence, and I don't sit close enough to feel the static on my eyebrows.
At least the last time I went you could pay a bit more for a theatre with a bar and some decent chairs. You still can't SMOKE though.
To add insult to injury, our local pit "cineworld" or something - has some daft self advertising that ends with the phrase "see it your way". Do wot? If I was seeing it my way, I'd have to bring my own screen, a decent Beef Satay, some beers, a sofa, a big cigar and chuck everyone else out of the room. No wait - thats my house I'm thinking of - geez Rick - and you just realised this?
I went to to see clones in the theatre, but I won't have really seen it til I get the DVD on.
No. Even if you are playing a DVD that has a different region than your hardware, libdvdcss will do a cryptographic analysis which is usually successful and will still be able to play the DVD.
It's not hard to imagine a scenario where an AOL executive tells CNN to start running stories that support the media industry's demands for favorable treatment by Congress. CNN would claim that its "ethics" would never allow such a thing to occur, but cross-promotion is the whole reason AOL has formed its empire, and if it comes to a choice between the axe and "bending the ethics," I'm sure CNN will be quite flexible.
I've been 'working' for about 10 years now in business that fight to stay alive. We watch the bottom lines and we make cuts when times are tough. I've never heard these things come from the industry of film and music. I understand it's art and that some things that are wonderful to watch cost money. But the salaries that are handed to actors these days are more ridiculous then what sports players make. Entertainment employees have more wealth then most of the world. I think it's a horrible way to distribute power in our country (yes money = power) and I hope it does change. Actors shouldn't make nearly what they make, hell sports players shouldn't either. Want me to go see a movie, make it $5. And I don't mean just one movie, $5 means I get to watch as many movies as I want that day. If that means that the top actor only gets 6 figures then so be it. I watched the dot com bubble burst and all our salaries plummet and to be honest it was probobly a good thing. Too many useless VP's drawing exhorbent salaries just like what we see in the media industry. Let them expierence the economic slump like the rest of us and humble themselves.
Why is it automatically OUR fault when someone's previously successfull business starts to fail? That's business. When you find something that works you stick with it until it stops working. At that point you have to change. If you've invested to much in the old way to be able to adapt to new circumstances, someone new will come along and steal away your business. If the current Hollywood has to be brought to the ground for a new succesfull business model so be it. They stopped listening to consumers a long time ago.
If the studios would lengthen the time between releasing a movie to theatres and releasing it to DVD, then they could get more people into the theatre. Unfortunately, you need to train people to expect a 1+ year (or 2 year?) delay for your blockbusters before this is effective, as you want them to go see it while it is still in theatres.
It seems that these days they want to milk the movie in the theatre and rush it to DVD - if they weren't so anxious to release the DVDs and beat out the other studios, then maybe we'd go see them in theatres while they're fresh. But for now, I'll just wait the 4 months until it's on DVD.
Make a white-disc copy of the DVD available cheap for anyone with a ticket stub from the movie. As soon as the movie is on the big screen the customer can buy it on DVD this way. That'd boost attendence and help stop piracy.
SW: Clones just sucked. That's why I didn't see it again and again like I had previous Star Wars movies.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Dissing new media is the content-maker's well-honed tradition. The piano-roll was going to kill music sales. The radio would devastate music, as would the audio tapes. G-d save us from the death of everyone after the television. And the VCR case had to go to the Supreme Court. Then the DAT, the CD and now the DVD.
In every case, savvy content people got bigger and bigger and bigger, wealthier and wealthier, precisely because of the new media, not in sprite of it.
Yes, theatres and hollywood had better get the message clearly -- they serve a marketplace, not the other way around. Those that get it will prosper, those that don't will fail.
Good, maybe now the movie theatres will start showing movies with decent scripts.
Note: This is a joke.
This is exactly the reason DVDs are going to kill Hollywood and destroy our economy!
You Linux hackers have long been known to be the allies of Russians who hack US computers (like that criminal Dmitri), and are already trying to help Osama Bin Laden cricumvent Palladium!
Now you post instructions on how to download criminal software and circumvent the FBI warnings and the ads that our economy depends on for revenue. Not only that, but you disable Macrovision so that you can flood the market with bootlegs!
I've long suspected you Linux people were communists, but you're also terrorists out to destroy our economy! Why would any American Citizen oppose region encoding unless they wanted to disable them to watch DVD-recorded instructions from Saddam Houssein himself!
You're probably also Nazis considering all that RTFM gibberish you spout out!
Note: This has been a joke.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
Even better: a kid with a laser pointer, sitting in front of me, almost ruined LOTR (a movie I was dying to see!). I was ready to rip his throat with my bare teeth, but unfortunately, just as I was standing up, the theater manager entered and threatened the little dimwit with expulsion, which made him stop being a nuisance.
This kid's behavior is similar to defecating on a diner table. It deserves flogging (for the example) and castration (to prevent the idiot from spreading his defective genome).
So I am demanding that the MPAA dispatch security guards in every theater, armed with a whip and a pair of scissors. Since their are gonna do it anyway to prevent people from capturing the movie on camcorders, we honest filmgoers might as well get something out of it.
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
For me the munchies are a tradition, but making it a "fun" meal and a movie is a good alternative I wouldn't have thought of.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Sixth Sense.
People have less time on there hands but I doupt that fact was noticed by the movie industry before DVDs and movie downloads became an issue.
Some dump time consumming hobbys and focus on just one thing. For some thats the local theator. Some will catch a new flick a week on the one free day they have. Those people buy VCRs and rent movies but still go to the theator becouse it's better. Buy wide screen TVs but still go to the box office.
TV movie cable networks but theator is still better.
They'll buy everything but still visit theator. Avoid the lower quality theators. Then the home theator comes to match the box office experence. No more theator.
Then there are the movie goers who don't want to spend money on DVDs and home theators.
They aren't about quality but COST. They don't catch so many movies so the box office is cheaper even at $20 a pop.
But downloading is cheaper still.
I don't actually exist.
(The subject of this post is borrowed from a nearby restaurant, which has a habit of putting up little amusing jokes or sayings on its street sign. The other side of the sign currently says "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.")
On looking at the article, which really isn't more detailed than the blurb given in Slashdot, the big thing that strikes me is that McCallum is generalizing. Some people don't watch movies much anymore, and some people pirate them...therefore, nobody watches movies anymore, and everybody pirates them. (Shades of Yogi Berra, who described New York City as being a place where nobody owns a car, but everybody drives.) I think the reality is going to be a bit less extreme. There are people who don't go to movies for the reasons given earlier in this thread; there are also people who find big-screen movies thrilling and fascinating regardless of the environmental problems. I know that the only reason I haven't been taking in more movies lately is that I only recently got a job and money to spend on it again.
Furthermore, using Titanic as a baseline for comparison is disingenuous at best...almost no movie can equal the success of Titanic. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime smash hits that achieves insane popularity due to combinations of factors that nobody can predict (or, oftimes, explain). Expecting all movies, or even a tenth of all movies to be Titanics is like expecting all fantasy novels to be Lord of the Rings, or all children's books to be Harry Potter. Sturgeon's Law still prevails.
(McCallum apparently has also not realized that, without new movies being made, there will be no new DVDs...so perhaps the problem could be self-correcting.)
Fortunately, being famous does not mean one is any more likely to be correct.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Really? That's great news. I think I'm going to borrow a Japaneese DVD from a friend who collects anime to test it out - to see if it will play on
my US/Canada region player. (I'm not planning on using it for anime, but some European stuff would be nice, and this is the only quickly available test I have.)
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
...who let George Lucas turn Star Wars into the thing it is today?
I trust him about as far as I can throw a bantha.
Without using the Force.
--Blair
Most of the blockbuster films aren't even worth the hard disk space I use to rip them to! :)
Seriously though. They won't be missed.
Independent film... yay!
Besides, I do not understand... I've spent more money on film with the advent of DVDs than I have spent in the total time prior.
Um, LOTR:FOTR seemed to do OK at the box office. Why? Because the script wasn't churned out by a 16 year old wannabe working in some seedy Hollywood basement for $6/hr. GIGO.
I just saw Beverly Hills Cop the other day on cable for the bazillionth time. Laughed my ass off, like I do every time. Why? Because it was well written, and well acted, IMO. Compare it to, say, a recent Adam Sandler 'comedy', or that gawd-awful Dana Carvey flick. Which would you rather watch?
Wake up, Hollywood! People don't go to the same movie twice because your movies suck. Heck, I don't even go to movies once, and the only reason I can figure that other people go at all is because they're too lazy to figure out something else to do on Saturday night.
This post expresses my opinion, not that of my employer. And yes, IAAL.
Having just read through 100's of heavily moderated comments I have yet to see one person ask this question:
If cinemas are so much better than DVDs, how come they don't release the DVD at the same time it comes out in the cinema? This way people get to choose.
Hey, they could even buy the DVD on the way out from the cinema if they liked the film so much..
Surely any industry which relies on this level of controlled marketing is never going to survive in the longer term.
Q.
Damn, and people thought I'm strange for making bets on when the movie actually starts. (I'm doing best w/ 12 minutes after the posted time for the movie to start, but I've noticed that sometimes the day the movies come out, there's only about 9-10 minutes of crap).
Oh...and before you make bets, make sure everyone agrees on the clock that you're using. I normally use my cell phone, as keeps better time than wrist watches.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Of course it is probably a better solution to find the appropriate hacked firmware patch for your DVD drive (if it exists) so all regions will be allowed.
" ... and that they'll be putting Hollywood out of business, possibly within the next three years"
:) We've put up with 20 years of crap from the movie industry, they've time and time again insulted our intelligence, they destroyed what going to a movie was about (perhaps fueling the imagination, inspiring emotions, and telling a new and interesting story instead of retelling the same crap over and over again..), and now they are suprised to see their business falling apart?
Three Years eh... God Bless America, capitalism does work
To quote THE philsopher Homer, WOOHOO! (Wait the other Homer, DOH!; aww crap, never mind)
Wow if piracy (now offically Civil Disobediance according to Cringley) is that effective as a tool of capitalism maybe we can avoid the Orwellian Society after all. Now the Fordian society is another issue but over all I find this to be pretty good news.
Note to Businesses: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Oh, and you are still paying, what $20/$30 per DVD?
In the United States, because the copyright owner controls only the first sale of an audiovisual work, we have something called "DVD rentals." Sure, rental discs get all scratched up, but last time I rented a DVD that was unplayable ("Disney's Pinocchio" that died during "Give a Little Whistle"), I got a free rental.
Compared to how much for the cinema? (Don't know about US prices, but in .uk it's about £5 ~= $7.50).
That's about right, unless the movie starts before 18:00, in which case you get a $2 or so discount.
So what if a few skip the initial $7.50 preview....
Skipping the previews is a violation of the DMCA, which the UK had before the USA (section 296 of the UK's Copyright Act)
Will I retire or break 10K?
how many [DVD Video titles from] other regions include Japanese subtitling or dubbing???
Does it matter? A lot of Japanese people know quite a bit of English. The "It's so easy, happy go lucky, we are the world oh, we did it" in the "Yatta" video (and the Flash video) wasn't an accident.
How many carry Japanese films, which are mostly crap and barely even sell in Japan
Another anime hater. Or does anime really sell better in the USA than in Japan?
Will I retire or break 10K?
You get those when you watch a movie at home on DVD. I know I can hit Menu, then "Play Movie", but why should I have to do that to skip commercials for other movies I'm probably not even slightly interested in?
Absurdity: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. -- Ambrose Bierce
The amendment to the U.S. Constitution you are apparently refering actually gives the right to a jury trial in most federal civil lawsuits. It does not apply to cases in state courts.
I just wish that there was a pizza+movie delivery service.
You could wait for one firm to offer what you want, or you could follow the Unix philosophy and turn several small tools into more than the sum of their parts. That is, get pizza from Papa John's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, or something, and get movies from Netflix.
Will I retire or break 10K?
So you really can't "waste" 2 hours of your life watching a movie without having to get drunk or stuffed?
If eating and drinking are your two main concerns when you go to a theatre, I have an advice for you: go to a restaurant instead. You have more choice of food, it's better lit, and you don't have that annoying movie in the backgrond.
Personally, I think that even popcorn should be banned from theatres. It's hard enough to enjoy a film surrounded by the sound of 100 people munching, but the smell makes it completely unbearable.
So I guess you and I agree on one point: food is one of the main reasons not to go to a theatre.
RMN
~~~