The traditional studio film won’t come out on video until at least 90 days after it’s hit theaters, even if it stopped playing on most screens after only a few weeks. But a new agreement between Paramount and two major theater chains could cut that release time in half. [More]
movie theaters
AMC, Regal Theater Chains Targeted In Antitrust Inquiry
By 6.2.15
Exclusive agreements between large movie theater chains and film studios that are effectively used to prevent independent rivals from showing certain films have caught the watchful eye of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, with investigators now requesting information about the increasingly popular tactic from two of the nation’s largest cinema operators, AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment. [More]
3D, Smell-O-Vision & Indoor Weather: Rating The Best & Worst Movie Theater Innovations
By 4.20.15
Summer blockbuster season is almost upon us. The months of kicking back in the full-blast air conditioning and watching digitally-created stuff blow up will begin in just a couple of weeks, and at this point, it’s an annual ritual. [More]
Florida Movie Theater Apologizes For Playing “Suggestive” Ad Before Family Flick
By 4.14.15
A Florida movie theater has apologized and pulled a makeup ad that ran before a PG-rated movie after a mother complained and said that the scenes of people putting on lipstick and kissing each other are images better suited to a screening of 50 Shades of Grey. [More]
Alamo Drafthouse Won’t Join Theater Chain Boycott Of Netflix Movie
By 3.4.15
Yesterday, Netflix announced that it would be releasing a new movie, Beasts of No Nation, later this year simultaneously on its streaming service and in theaters, leading the nation’s biggest exhibitors to cry boycott and say they will refuse to show the film. But not Alamo Drafthouse, which doesn’t seem fazed by having to compete for consumers who can just stay home and see the movie. [More]
Burst Sprinkler Pipe Floods NYC Movie Theater, Sends Chandelier Crashing To The Floor
By 2.17.15
Nothing quite ruins a movie like an unexpected shower: Moviegoers at a New York City theater were interrupted in their cinematic pursuits yesterday afternoon when an overhead sprinkler pipe burst, flooding the place and sending a light fixture crashing to the ground. And yes, the theater did have screenings of Fifty Shades of Grey on the schedule let’s make that joke in our heads and move on. [More]
Nobody’s Going To The Movies Anymore: Theater Attendance At Its Lowest In 19 Years
By 1.2.15
The next time you’re at the movies, look around — does there seem to be more empty seats than there used to be? Your eyes aren’t lying, as we just left one of the worst years for movie theater attendance since 1995. That is the year of Waterworld and Show Girls, so you know it’s bad. [More]
FDA Issues Sweeping New Calorie Requirements For Everything From Vending Machines To Chain Restaurants
By 11.25.14
If new requirements from the Food and Drug Administration end up sticking, you could be seeing calorie counts for most things you eat outside the home — from vending machines to chain restaurants, movie theater popcorn to pre-made sandwiches at the grocery store. [More]
Man Maced By Woman In Movie Theater After He Asks Her To Turn Phone Off
By 11.11.14
So you’re at the movies and the person in front of you has her phone on and is tapping away merrily. It’s the previews, so who really cares? And now the movie has just started, still annoying, but okay. Five minutes in, however, is kind of pushing it. That’s when witnesses at an American Film Institute screening of Mr. Turner say one man in the audience politely asked a woman to put her phone away. She allegedly responded by spraying Mace in his face. [More]
MPAA, Theater Owners Adopt Zero-Tolerance Policy Toward Google Glass
By 10.29.14
In “who hates Google Glass owners today?” news, the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners have updated their joint anti-piracy policy to add wearable electronics devices — but really just Google Glass — to the list of verboten items to operate while enjoying that movie you should have just waited to watch on your TV. [More]
9% Of Americans Are Bad People, Think It’s OK To Use Phone At Movies
By 9.23.14
If you’re reading this in your office or on the train, take a second to look around you. About 1-in-10 of the people you see are horrible human beings who think it’s okay to use their phones during a movie. And if you’re reading this at the movie theater, there’s a good chance you’re one of these people. [More]
Movie Theater In California Closed Until Tomorrow Due To Alleged Bed Bugs
By 8.20.14
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard any reports of bedbugs munching on people while the people munch on popcorn in a movie theater. Almost exactly four years, to be exact. A movie theater in a rural area of California will stay closed until Thursday after extensive de-bugging began over the weekend. However, the theater won’t confirm whether the mysterious insect infestation is bedbugs. [More]
Diabetic Teen Kicked Out Of Drive-In Movie Due To Contraband Food
By 8.18.14
If you, a family member, or a friend has diabetes, you know that it’s a good idea to carry some quickly-absorbed sugar in case of a dangerous precipitous blood sugar drop. A teen in New Jersey claims that he was doing just that, not trying to smuggle snacks into a drive-in theater for family movie night. The theater owner happens to be a pediatrician, and he isn’t buying this excuse. [More]
From The Bad Idea Files: Movie Theater Adding Surcharge For Middle Seats
By 5.22.14
Imagine you go to the theater to catch a movie you’ve been waiting to see. You get there early and snag a seat in the middle of the theater; no having to tilt your head back because you’re too close, or having to watch the whole movie at a strange angle because you’re set off to one side. But just as the previews are about to start, some latecomer with an usher in tow tells you to get up and find another seat because he paid a $3 surcharge and you didn’t. [More]
Is This Theater Chair Design The End To The Battle Over The Armrest?
By 5.8.14
I don’t know about you, but when I go to a crowded movie, I prefer to sit on the aisle; not to allow me easy access to concessions or the men’s room or to expedite my exit during the credits, but because it guarantees that I have at least one armrest that I won’t need to worry about hogging (or be quietly angry at the person sitting next to me for hogging). But could the War of the Bumping Elbows be ended by changing the design of theater seats? [More]
Movie Theater Owners Might Lower Ticket Prices One Day A Week To Boost Attendance
By 3.26.14
I often find myself thinking, “Oh, I really want to see that movie.” But do I go to the movie theater? No, more often than not I wait for the desired flick’s rental release because who wants to spend that kind of money on a single theater ticket? I’m not alone — movie attendance is down across the country, prompting theater owners to mull making tickets cheaper one day a week to bring in audiences. [More]
Add “Setting Off Firecrackers” To List Of Things Never To Do In A Crowded Movie Theater
By 3.11.14
We all know not to even yell “fire!” in a movie theater — but to actually create an explosion by setting off homemade firecrackers, especially in light of deadly movie theater shootings in recent years, that’s just really an awful thing to do. [More]
Theater Owners Ask Movie Studios To Keep Trailers To Just Two Minutes
By 1.28.14
It used to be that movie trailers were no more than 30 seconds or a minute in length. In recent years, many sneak previews for upcoming movies have stretched to two-and-a-half minutes. That’s fine if it’s just for one, highly anticipated movie, but when a theater runs several long trailers in a row, it pushes a film’s start time (and moviegoers’ patience) to the limit. [More]
