Tag Archives: AMC Entertainment

DCIP Closer To D-Cinema Funding

September 12, 2009

The announcement the entire exhibition and distribution industry has been waiting for has finally happened; Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) will finally get funding to roll out d-cinema equipment on over 15,000 screens at U.S. exhibitors AMC, Regal and Cinemark. Some may view it as a non-announcement as this doesn’t mean the money is in the bank yet. At the very least though, DCIP’s financing is looking more probable than it did earlier this year when the global financial meltdown was holding up any potential funding.

The Hollywood Reporter is stating that investment bank J.P. Morgan has set out to raise $525 million from brand name lenders before seeking additional sources of cash from private equity firms and the exhibitors themselves. So, while funding is not readily at hand, with a heavyweight such as J.P. Morgan in their corner it hopefully won’t be long before DCIP will be seeing some cash to jump start its efforts. Read More »

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Daily Cinema Roundup - Wednesday 6 May

By Patrick von Sychowski

May 6, 2009

- Irish cinema advertisisers want to point out that you can’t fast forward through a cinema ad, the way you can with your PVR/DVR at home. From Ireland’s Independent.ie “The FAME research also debunks the widely-held myth about cinema advertising being only relevant to youth brands by showing that over half of cinema audiences are the grocery shoppers for their household. The study, carried out by research firm Milward Brown IMS, comes after the most recent ticket sales figures charted an 8pc rise for February as recession-inspired escapism takes hold.” Interestingly the company behind it still calls itself CarltonScreen, despite its UK parent company changing name to Digital Screen Media some time ago;

- AMC has spent $25m doing up its flagship multiplex in Kansas City, opening just in time to set the tills ringing to the growls of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. From Bizjournal.com, “The renovated theater has three auditoriums featuring Cinema Suites, an upscale in-theater dining and entertainment option; three traditional auditoriums; and The Marquee Bar & Grill. All six auditoriums use digital technology,part of an initiative announced Oct. 1to roll out digital projection systems at nearly 20,000 movie theater screens in North America.” So it looks like all new AMC screens and all renovated ones will get priority in installing the SXRD 4K projectors from Sony. However, the Cinema Suites concept (see above) intrigues us more - Dorothy, let’s go to Kansas City:

- The transcript of the most recent Dolby Quarterly earning conference call is now posted, thanks to Seeking Alpha. Interesting digital nugget, “In our cinema market, we have shipped more than 2,500 Dolby Digital Cinema Servers and 1,000 Dolby 3D systems across 41 countries to date. And in the second quarter, we delivered on our obligation to make these systems compliant with DCI specifications. As a result, we recognized approximately $24 million in deferred revenue related to Digital Cinema in the second quarter.” No speculation that the Hollywood studios abandoning subsidizing disposable 3D glasses might drive exhibitors to Dolby - but it is highly likely;

- Regal Cinemas is upgrading its multiplex in Charlottsville, and not surprisingly 3D is at the centre of the refurb. From DailyProgress.com we learn that, “The company said it intends to add five new screens, digital projection, stadium seating in every auditorium, new high-back recliner seats, a new lobby, a new entrance, new restrooms and more.” and, “The expansion will add several amenities, including digital surround sound, a new concession stand designed for faster service, a guest service desk in the lobby, kiosks for automated ticket purchasing and “Real D 3D” projection systems for better 3D movie experiences.” ‘Better’ than what? Damningly a reader comments, “It always amazed me how the people of Charlottesville are so willing to pay New York City ticket prices for what can only be described as a Hooterville movie theater experience. Sometimes it seems like we just got “talkies.““;

- The cinema might not open in time for its patrond to enjoy the Free Family Film Festival 2009 scheme. From the press release, “During this 9-week festival, more than 300 Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards Theatres offer selected G and PG rated movies for free on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am.” How will Regal make money? That’s right - “there is a special “Kids Reel Meal” combo pack available.” at the concession stand. (Ah, but will it include healthy snack options?) The scheme has been running since 1991 and Regal also “sponsor the Boys & Girls Clubs of America “Mornings at the Movies” program.” I still have my ‘Snuck Into R-movie at 13′ badge from the scouts;

- But being hip to the way of the kids in the 21st century, Regal is also down with the whole social networking thing, we learn from a second press release. “Regal invites moviegoers to join them online to enter a special MyRegal Sweepstakes connected to their MySpace page. Regal will be further expanding programs on Facebook and Twitter throughout the month of May. ” There is an on-line sweepstake and Regal apparently has the world’s largest cinema loyalty program with 14m members. Now let’s see how many ‘friends’ and ‘followers’ they can get. Bet they won’t beat Ashton Kutcher just yet;

- ShowCanada wrapped last week and though Co-Editor Sperling was there and reported that there wasn’t much to report, THR.com tells us that the Canadians are a head of their US cousins when it comes to digital 3D. “As talk of 3-D technology dominated the last day of the annual gathering of Canadian theater owners, Fithian said that 130 of the 222 existing digital screens in Canada already have 3-D capabilities. And while there are currently 2,030 3-D-capable screens stateside, Canada represents 10% of what is considered the domestic cinema market, which puts it in step with the 3-D rollout south of the border.” While Fithian understandably biggs up Canada in this space, he is not correct about US/Canada leading as UK will be ahead of both when it comes to proportion of 3D installs by the end of 2009, as Katzenberg noted at ShoWest. Sperling also got to watch the ‘Star Trek’ movie ahead of the rest of us, but we’re not jealous, no;

- Indian classical music concert screened in digital in the Gulf is surely proof that alternative content is going global. From the Gulf Times, “Sreeram’s camera captured every expression of the artiste, the intense absorption of Jayashri in her rendition and the emotive expressions and body language of Krishna, including his intermittent appreciation for his fellow artistes. The 110-minute concert movie was produced by C Srikanth of Aghal Films in association with Real Image Media Technologies, India’s leading provider of technology in the film, video and audio domains.” The original event had been captured with the ubiquitous RED camera. Next up we hope they record an AR Rahman concert - Jai ho!;

- European film major StudioCanal is getting behind both digital 3D (content) and digital cinema (installations). From Variety we learn that “StudioCanal is also part of a digital 3-D work group set up by French distributors, exhibitors, third-party 3-D facilitators and the Centre National de la Cinematographie, the government org that regulates and promotes the film and TV industry. The group aims to establish a fund subsidizing the digital conversion of cinemas in France. The fund could be up and running by the end of the year, said a government spokesman. “StudioCanal’s ready to help pay for conversion,” Courson added. “We just need to establish the level of support from French film authorities.”” It makes sense that if SC is producing 3D movies they will also want to help create a theatrical 3D market for them - but this being France, they are more likely to want to push the French government to pay up the Euros for it;

- Staying in France and continuing the long tradition of Americans invading the Croisette in May, Christie will be providing the digital projectors for this year’s Cannes Film Festival again. From LSI Online. “Christie reports that it has been appointed by XDC for the third year running as the supplier of digital cinema projection solutions at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, 13-24 May 2009. This includes the opening 3-D screening of Up, the new Pixar/Disney animated comedy adventure.” OK, so they are technically Canadians - though not from Quebec - but still a nice feather in their cap to screen the first digital 3D film in competition;

- Despite the good year at the box office, not all exhibitors are swimming in money, as proven by the Q1 results of US digital cinema pioneer Carmike. Despite revenue rising almost five percent Bizjournal tells us, “The Columbus Ga.-based cinema owner and operator (NASDAQ: CKEC) had a net loss of $4 million and a loss per share of 32 cents, compared with a net loss of $4.3 million and a loss of 34 cents a share in the first quarter of 2008.” However, “The results for the first quarter of 2009 included a one-time $5.5 million charge related to its former CEO separation agreement.” Read that again. A cool $5m+ is what it took to remove CEO Michael Patrick for having delivered a spectacular loss of $127m in 2007 (2008 wasn’t that great either). That will buy him a lot of tickets, popcorn and soda to console himself at having been removed from the cinema chain his father acquired in 1982 and was named after him and his brother Carl. Mike, who will continue to enjoy receive medical benefits and group life insurance coverage until Jan. 31, 2012, also helped to drag down the share price from $26 to less than the price of a cinema ticket - just $3. Reward for failure - why should banks and auto makers have a monopoly on it?

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Daily Cinema Roundup - Wed 22 April

By Patrick von Sychowski

April 22, 2009

- Belgian digital cinema projector manufacturer Barco did not have a stellar first quarter, according to this article by Reuters. Key bullet points were “*Q1 operating loss 6.0 mln euros, vs 4.9 mln loss forecast; * Says cautiously optimistic for 2009; * Shares rise 3.2 percent.” Further into the article we learn that “Barco said it saw good order intake for digital cinema projectors and expected the digital cinema business to continue to grow over the next quarters.”;

- Barco’s rival Christie has meanwhile partnered high-end home cinema company Sumiko / Wolf Cinema to incorporate the latter’s projector technology, know-how and network of service engineers, says the press release. “Sumiko will distribute Wolf Cinema high-end home theatre projectors–with Christie digital projection technology inside–through a select network of highly qualified audio/video specialists throughout North America and the world.” Just don’t call them ‘DCI-compliant’;

- File this under ‘alternative content we’d like to see more of’. UK’s More2screen will be bringing burlesque to the big screen this May, “Performed at London’s Koko Club in May 2009″ and “Starring: Immodesty Blaize [pictured above], Marc Almond, Julian Clary, Kitten DeVille, Catherine D’Lish, and many more live performances.” I have seen Immodesty live and it is great old fashioned naughtiness that I am sure will translate well to the silver screen;

- Imax is stemming losses and closing in on profitability, according to The Wall Street Journal.”Imax Corp. has a lot to brag about recently — the successful launch of its digital projector, a rapidly expanding theater network and a rising stock price. All that’s eluded the company is profitability, and that may not be far off. The pioneer of large-format movies always knew developing a digital system would deal a blow to its financial performance, but after its last attempt to find a buyer failed in 2006, it had little choice.” Subscription to WSJ.com required for the full article;

- AMC Entertainment has a new President, Programming in the form of Robert J. Lenihan, former SVP of Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas. He will also be opening AMC’s new Los Angeles office, according to the press release. “I look forward to leading the AMC team in its return to its roots as an industry leader in traditional movie marketing while taking advantage of the programming flexibility afforded to us with AMC’s impending rollout of digital cinema and 3D technology,” says Lenihan;

- “Consumers” [NB: not 'viewers'] are apparently not bothered about wearing glasses to watch 3D according to research published by the Entertainment Technology Center at NAB’s Digital Cinema Summit. “If we don’t show visible progress now (on 3D in the home), this momentum could die and move into a niche environment,” said Phil Lelyveld, a strategy adviser for the Entertainment Technology Center.” Eerh - by ‘niche’, does he mean cinemas?;

- The RAND Corporation, in a study backed by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), claims that there is a link between film piracy, organized crime and terrorism. “It presents detailed case studies from around the globe in one area of counterfeiting, film piracy, to illustrate the broader problem of criminal — and perhaps terrorist — groups finding a new and not-much-discussed way of funding their activities. Piracy is high in payoff and low in risk, often taking place under the radar of law enforcement.” The report costs $29.50. “Support RAND Research — Buy This Product!” the website shouts and offers it at a Web discount of $23.60. Alternatively you can wait for the Warner Bros. film adaptation staring George Clooney breaking up a nefarious Taliban-Somali-Chinese terrorist-pirate-drug smuggling nexus;

- According to Silicon Valley’s Mercury News, the Livermore Cinema is now the largest cinema complex in the US to be powered by solar energy. “Monday, local business and city leaders gathered at the cineplex on First Street for a presentation on its state-of-the-art solar-power system, which has been up and running since February. The 132-kilowatt system covers the bulk of the theater’s 20,000-square-foot roof, making it not only the largest known solar-power system to be installed at a movie theater, but one of the largest systems of solar “modules” anywhere in the country.” The system covers some 35 per cent of the cinema’s power needs. The film that inaugurated the installation was Disney’s “Earth“, though I would have voted for “Crank 2: High Voltage“;

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It Was A Very Good ShoWest 2009 For Sony

By Patrick von Sychowski

April 6, 2009

The popcorn has been swept away, the 3D movie banners folded, the quiet talk about how cinema is holding up in the recession has faded - ShoWest 2009 is over.

While VNU will continue to host the Las Vegas-set cinema trade show and exhibition for one more year before NATO is rumoured to take the show back (and move it to Ceasar’ Palace) in 2011, there was something of an End Credits roll feel to the confab. The number of attendees was down, the studios were (with two exceptions) largely absent, the parties scaled back and nowhere was there any open celebration of the fact that this year’s box office easily looks set to cross $10bn.

So who did well in this year’s conference? Digital Cinema? Old hat. 3D? Sure, “Monsters vs. Aliens” did well, but that was to be expected. Instead it would seem that ShoWest 2009 will go down as the year that Sony and its 4K SXRD technology took its decisive step into the limelight. No, it was not a case of audiences waking up and suddenly finding 2K resolution inadequate and demanding 4K, as Sony still hasn’t figured out how to create a pixel-fetish driven demand amongst cinema goers (free hint: don’t call it ‘4K’ - call it an ‘8 megapixel projector’ versus DLP’s ‘2 megapixel’ - sure, it’s not correct, but since when did that stand in the way of aggressive marketing?).

No, it was three interlinked announcement that helped crown Sony Electronics (not SPE - Sony Pictures Entertainment) the unofficial King of the ShoWest hill. Read More »

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AMC Set To Deploy Sony 4K Digital Projectors

By J. Sperling Reich

March 29, 2009

On the eve of ShoWest, the largest trade show for the motion picture exhibition and distribution industry, AMC Entertainment is set to announce that it will install Sony’s 4K digital projectors on all of their screens. According to Variety and the New York Times, the world’s second largest cinema chain will begin installing the equipment in the second quarter of 2009 and complete the rollout by 2012. Presently AMC has 4,628 screens across 309 theatres.

The circuit is no stranger to Sony’s projectors having already installed 150 units to date.

The announcement comes on the heels of last Thursday’s news that AMC chose RealD as the 3D technology provider for 1,500 of its screens. The cinema chain already has 29 screens capable of showing 3D films. Together the two announcements are the culmination of the agreement made public in February that Sony and RealD would team up to merge the two companies’ technologies into a combined 3D product offering.

Besides being the kind of news the industry was hoping to hear at ShoWest, given the stalled digital cinema rollout, this is a huge win for Sony. As the Times points out, there has been little competition for Texas Instruments, which as installed it’s DLP projection technology on nearly 5,500 screens. Read More »

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Universal and Disney Close To VPF Deal With DCIP

By J. Sperling Reich

September 8, 2008

And then there were four. Four studios that is. Or so says the Wall Street Journal which broke a story today reporting that Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Company have reached a virtual print fee deal with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, the joint venture formed by North American exhibitors Regal Entertainment, Cinemark and AMC Entertainment to finance, install and maintain digital cinema equipment in their theatres. The three chains, which represent a combined screen count of around 15,000, would like to start rolling out digital cinema as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, in time for the flood of 3D movies studios have slated for release next year.

Previously, DCIP had reached a VPF deal with Twentieth Century Fox, though the studio has never confirmed the news. The signing of four studios is a crucial milestone which DCIP must cross in order to secure the USD $1 billion in financing the company has lined up from J.P. Morgan Chase to pay for all the expensive digital cinema equipment required to outfit theatres. The Wall Street Journal had reported that Paramount Pictures had also signed a VPF agreement with DCIP, which had been rumored in the press but never officially announced. Indeed, by the end of the day Variety had taken the air out of the Wall Street Journal’s big scoop by confirming that Paramount Pictures had not yet signed with DCIP. Read More »

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Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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DCIP Reaches VPF Agreement With Fox

By J. Sperling Reich

July 25, 2008

After industrywide speculation and concern over the absence of any news about virtual print fee (VPF) agreements being signed by Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) the company finally announced their first deal which rumor has it is with Twentieth Century Fox. The news was reported by Reuters and has not yet been made official by DCIP, however the company’s CEO, Travis Reid was quoted as saying:

“A party has signed a deal and we think it won’t be long until we have multiple studios.”

There are no details yet about the terms of the deal, nor any confirmation that it is with Fox, though during a conference call on Thursday Regal Entertainment’s CEO confirmed that a VPF agreement had been reached with at least one studio:

“We can’t disclose which studio, but we consider it to be a major milestone. It is always difficult in getting someone to be willing to be the first.”

Paramount is also rumored to be close to announcing a deal with DCIP, as is Walt Disney Studios.

DCIP was formed by North America’s three largest exhibitors - AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Entertainment - to manage and finance the rollout of digital cinema equipment and technology within each circuit. With 14,000 screens between them it is easy to see why the industry eagerly awaited news that the studios had come to some form of agreement with DCIP to subsidize the cost of installing digital cinema equipment. Due to the large size of the rollout, such a deal was viewed as a bellwether for the types of VPF deals other exhibitors would be able to get. Recent VPF deals announced by other integrators such as AccessIT in the United States and XDC in Europe did little quell everyone’s anticipation over news from DCIP.

No doubt even DCIP was getting a little anxious over the lack of progress on their VPF agreements they were able to make public. The company was founded in February of 2007 by the three theater chains and had hoped to wrap up their negotiations with studios over VPFs by the end of last year. As almost anyone working in or following the industry now knows, the studios began playing hardball with integrators such as DCIP on the contractual terms of the VPF agreements, haggling over every last detail including usage fees for alternative content and the length of the deal. XDC’s VPF with Hollywood studios is reportedly only USD $850 per film, per run.

And there’s one main reason that the rollout of digital cinema has stalled at around 5,000 screens in North America (out of 37,000); rolling stock prints range from USD $1,200 to $1,500 so even with VPFs the the distributors save heaps of money, whereas exhibitors are forced to pay for expensive digital cinema equipment they claim won’t save them any money or increase their revenue. That the standards for this equipment are still being determined by SMPTE and DCI hasn’t helped matters either.

However, in 2009 Hollywood studios plan to release upwards of 11 movies in digital 3D which will require the equipment to be installed on a broader scale. Presently the number of screens equipped for digital 3D in North America hovers around 1,300, making it difficult to release two such films into the market at the same time. News of the DCIP deal may be a relief for a few studio executives have otherwise to struggle to find enough digital screens to place their 3D releases on. Studios have actually begun to push some of their 3D releases back into 2010 to make certain they will have enough screens to put them on.

The thinking within the industry is that once DCIP starts announcing VPF agreements the rollout of digital cinema should ramp up soon thereafter. Michael Lewis, chief executive of 3D systems provider RealD, told Reuters:

“When the DCIP deal drops, then digital cinema is really on its way.”

Here’s to hoping Mr. Lewis is also fortune teller.

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Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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IMAX Goes Big In Australia With Hoyts

By J. Sperling Reich

July 14, 2008

IMAX has announced a joint venture with Hoyts Cinemas, one of Australia’s largest exhibitors, to build four theatres featuring IMAX Digital technology. The theatres will be built in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne with the first three opening in November of 2008 for the release of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. The deal, which will double the number of IMAX theatres in Australia, is the first international joint venture in IMAX’s history.

The agreement has IMAX and Hoyts splitting the profits from the four new theatres as well as the cost of building them. The latter is not insignificant as both companies have not had an easy go of it financially over the past several years. In 2006, IMAX made their second unsuccessful attempt to find a buyer and was rumored to be near bankrupt. Their stock price, which in 1999 reached a high of $49 plummeted to below $4.00 in 2007 when the company revealed it was responding to a Securities and Exchange Commission accounting investigation and that year over year revenue was off.

As for Hoyts, after two years of poor performance revenue-wise, Pacific Equity Partners bought the theatre chain in the third quarter of 2007 for AUD $440 million from James Packer’s Publishing & Broadcasting and West Australian Newspapers. In a press release statement Hoyts CEO, Delfin Fernandez, was not shy about highlighting the financial benefits of the venture. Besides offering incremental revenue from increased attendance, Fernandez said:

“. . . IMAX Digital projection system eliminates the need for film prints, which significantly lowers operating costs and enables us to offer our customers a wider range of IMAX content.”

In an effort to stay relevant during a time when the industry is trending toward digital cinema IMAX launched IMAX Digital System in June. The projection system provides the same large format visuals that IMAX built it’s reputation on in both 2D and 3D. Despite their financial woes, over the last seven months the company has been busy signing contracts with exhibitors for upwards of 180 systems, 50 of which will be installed before the end of the year. Last December, IMAX signed a deal similar to the Hoyts agreement with AMC Entertainment that will have 100 new IMAX Digital theatres opening in 33 markets across the United States over the next three years. Like the Hoyts deal, the AMC pact doubles the number of IMAX screens in the territory. Then in March, IMAX entered into an agreement with Regal Entertainment Group to build 31 new theaters in 20 U.S. markets by the end of 2010.

You might be asking yourself where the cash poor IMAX will be getting all of the dough for such rollouts, though back in May the company lined up financing through Wachovia Capital Finance Corporation as well as an USD $18 million investment from their largest shareholder.

One of the benefits for Hoyts in doing a deal with IMAX is that the chain will be able to deploy some form of digital cinema equipment at time when the company has halted such rollouts to wait out the virtual print fee (VPF) battle between Australian exhibitors and Hollywood studios. Because Australian theatres are usually alloted recycled prints, the studios have shown little interest in giving exhibitors in the territory a worthwhile VPF.

The first three IMAX theatres will be installed at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter 12, the Carousel 16 in Perth and the Highpoint 17 in Melbourne. The fourth theatre will be built next year in Melbourne.

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