Regal and Cinemark agree to play commercials in the middle of movie trailers (1 Viewer)

[TJPC]

I must be getting old. I remember the days when there were no commercials in movie theaters and then when they started showing commercials people would boo, and theaters would remove trailers included with films when the movies advertised in the trailers were not schedule to play in that theater. Why promote something that was going to play at another theater? Of course that was when there were single theaters and not multiplexes. And when films were shown in 35MM not digital.

I also remember that one of the big downtown theatres had to stop showing them because there was so much food and pop thrown at the screen. I particularly remember seeing “The Hindenburg” there later, and it flew through the clouds and a big ice cream splat.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

At the very least, we're going to see a contraction in the exhibition business. There are far too many cinemas - or rather, too many screens - right now. There are over 40 000 screens, compared to under 20 000 in the mid-80s, when home video was still fairly new, and there was no streaming, social media or video games vying for an audience's attention.

For sure. I think NYC has lost something like a third of its seating capacity over the past decade or so. Some of its theaters going out of business and closing down, and some of it is larger theaters replacing seats with recliners that can reduce capacity by 2/3rds in those auditoriums.

When Avengers or Star Wars opens, all of those screens get used and they have a great weekend. But what about the other 51 weeks of the year?

The business is stuck in this bad spot where because a tentpole can fill those screens, they don’t want to lose them - but it can’t be profitable for those screens to be underutilized for 98% of the year. The real estate costs and physical footprint of the buildings and the labor costs are all too much for this business to work if it’s only profitable for maybe four weekends out of the entire year.

 

[bujaki]

The Angelika and Landmark have been doing this for years in the Dallas area. I just rest my eyes and relax before the feature begins. No use, at my age, to have my blood pressure go up over what in my life is just a minor inconvenience. No doubt that it is an assault, but it won't kill me.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Of course commercials are fine if you aren't someplace that you had to pay $20 to see them.

I'm not arguing that movie commercials are good, bad or indifferent - just pointing out that different generations may view them in different ways.

Besides, we get commercials in all sorts of places where you paid to be. Go to a baseball game and you'll see all sorts of commercials run between innings!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Disney used to have a policy against running commercials with their movies, starting with Pretty Woman in 1990. They seem to have backed off on that at least with the switch to digital, as the pre-show garbage comes out of the same projector as the movie now.

I just resent having to watch something that the theater was paid to show, but getting NOTHING in return- I even saw a few commercials shot in 3D after paying extra for 3D. If it really did cost them extra to run 3D, maybe they could have had the ad revenue pay for that, drop the upcharge and I might have tolerated the commercials a bit more.

The theatrical experience is pretty much dead anyways with so many screens built with the wrong ratio and no masking, so they're showing widescreen movies letterboxed. The Last Jedi was the last time I went to a theater and I basically gave up after that (they had the aforementioned problem plus the picture was ridiculously dark.)

 

[Jake Lipson]

so many screens built with the wrong ratio and no masking, so they're showing widescreen movies letterboxed.

My Cinemark does that all the time. They didn't used to -- in 2014 when I vacationed here, I saw Nightcrawler, Big Hero 6 and Interstellar presented correctly in scope that filled the screen -- but by the time I moved here permanently two years later, all scope film were being shown in letterbox. The only time a movie at Cinemark uses the entire screen anymore is if it is 1.85:1. I'm not sure what prompted them to make this change because they are obviously capable of presenting it correctly, since they did in 2014.

But I still go, because I don't like the idea of not seeing movies in the theater and I want to see current movies while they are new. Plus, I would see scope films letterboxed on my television anyway if I wait for Blu-ray. I agree it is a terrible practice to letterbox scope films, but a letterboxed presentation on a big screen with surround sound is still superior to what I have at home, so it hasn't kept me away from the theater. Only my local arthouse presents movies in their correct ratio and masked correctly. But I can't go eclusively there either, because obviously there are a bunch of films that they don't show.

The Last Jedi was the last time I went to a theater and I basically gave up after that

Just out of curiosity : are you currently planning to make an exception and go back to the theater for The Rise of Skywalker to finish the trilogy, or are you going to wait for Blu-ray for that too now?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Also worth noting: Regal has been showing those little student mini-films that are basically Coke commercials for a few years now.

 

[Wayne_j]

Well, coke and popcorn commercials. The 'student films' are pretty much the new come to the lobby spots.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Also worth noting: Regal has been showing those little student mini-films that are basically Coke commercials for a few years now.

Since I'm 99% AMC now, I don't miss those "student films". They were usually pretty awful!

I do miss the Regal promo where the guy went "so you're cool if I scream - like, a lot?" but that one was dropped years ago anyway!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There was one of those Regal student films that was so bad, I’d cry out to my wife, “Make it stop, its hurting my soul!” each time. That was fun.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

There was one of those Regal student films that was so bad, I’d cry out to my wife, “Make it stop, its hurting my soul!” each time. That was fun.

Can you remember what it was about?

The one that sticks out for me is the one where a woman on a date appears to lust after the hunky Regal concessions stand employee, much to the chagrin of her semi-nerdy boyfriend.

It's weird and terrible!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Those Regal "student film" commercials are just...plain...embarrassing...for everyone involved. And now Olivia Wilde is involved as she's introducing the current crop.

Who do they think they're kidding?

I could not believe the number of commercials (and previews) I had to sit through before yesterday's viewing of Downton Abbey at one of our local Regal theaters (East Greenbush). The 4:00pm main feature didn't start until after 4:20pm.

 

[Wayne_j]

We have it easy, I heard that AMC theaters in LA routinely play 30 minutes of trailers.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Yeah, 20 minutes of trailers is pretty standard here.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Here's the short film I mentioned earlier - just weird and bad!

 

[MatthewA]

Now I know why Coca-Cola got out of the business of making movies 30 years ago.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I now only ever go to the theater for a movie I simply cannot wait for the home video release date. My home theater convenience simply outweighs the going to a theater thing. Even a lot of friends that we have over for movies comment on how much better than the theater it is.

 

[Garysb]

I don't mind the commercials if they are funny. Cheryl and her she shed. Aces.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Just out of curiosity : are you currently planning to make an exception and go back to the theater for The Rise of Skywalker to finish the trilogy, or are you going to wait for Blu-ray for that too now?

Haven't decided yet- I already skipped "Solo" in the theaters and imported the 3D Blu-Ray. But I believe in voting with my dollars- if a theater isn't providing the experience they should be, then they won't be getting my money and don't deserve anyone else's either. (Incidentally masking the screen at the top and/or bottom is still a wrong design- proper screens open up wider from the SIDES for scope movies- that's the whole point of the format, to be bigger and wider!)

 

[Worth]

...Incidentally masking the screen at the top and/or bottom is still a wrong design- proper screens open up wider from the SIDES for scope movies- that's the whole point of the format, to be bigger and wider!

Most screens now are constant width and widescreen movies letterboxed. I don't know why anyone bothers shooting scope anymore.