Tag Archives: Regal Cinemas

It’s Official - DCIP Gets $660 Million In Funding

DCIP + Money.jpg

A boisterous cheer erupted this morning during the Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF) meeting when the proceedings were interrupted with news that Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) had just officially announced they had received their financing. Indeed, DCIP published a press release stating that they had raised USD $660 million in financing. The funds will be used to roll out digital cinema in North America’s three largest circuits; AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas.

As we previously reported when it was still a widely circulated industry rumor, DCIP’s financing will come in the form of USD $445 million in senior bank debt, USD $135 million in junior capital and USD $80 million in equity from the theatre chains themselves. JPMorgan assisted DCIP in raising the money which is being supplied by a who’s who of financial institutions including Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, GE Capital, Morgan Stanley and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

There are sure to be tons of news stories generated by DCIP’s announcement, especially since it will allow media outlets to wave around the trendy “3D” phrase in hopes of attracting a few extra eyeballs. The reports will cite that nearly 14,000 screens throughout North America will be converted to digital by AMC, Cinemark and Regal who formed DCIP as a joint venture in 2007. (Truthfully, it’s probably more like 10,000 screens when all is said and done). No doubt they may even go so far as to pull press release quote from Travis Reid, DCIP’s CEO, which states:

“We are excited that with the continued support of our owners, studio partners and financial advisors we have completed this critical step in our process. Over the next few years, we’ll be aggressively implementing the transition to digital technology in theatres across North America. Guests will enjoy enhanced presentation and additional entertainment options at their favorite theatres as Exhibitors and content providers capitalize on the flexibility enabled by digital technology, including many upcoming releases using digital 3D. Having this substantial financial package and our studio partnerships in place, we’re pleased to launch this new era of technology to guests looking for an exceptional out-of-home experience.”

Check out the way Mr. Reid so adeptly snuck the word “capitalize” into that quote. Pretty slick. It’s funny though, because I always imagined his press release quote would read more along the lines of:

“Phew! That was harder then it needed to be and dare I say it’s about time we landed some money. Thankfully I will no longer have to answer questions every other week about when DCIP will be getting its financing.”

Since the mainstream media will take care of all the cheerleading about how 3D will soon be coming to a theatre near you, I figured it might be interesting to further explain the types of financing DCIP is getting. I mean what’s with all these terms like “senior debt” and “junior capital”? Does the senior debt have offspring named after it? And does the junior capital have a father with the same name? Read More »

Popularity: 2% [?]

More Rumblings About DCIP’s Financing

dcip.jpgLast week both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported that an announcement from Digital Cinema Implementation Partners about their financing was imminent. The opportunity to play 3D content will certainly be welcomed by AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark, however from the way the two newspapers covered the story you might get the impression it was the only reason. The financing would allow Hollywood studios to “roll out more 3-D movies in the wake of the success of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’” wrote the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times said the “money would allow future 3-D film releases”.

Both media outlets seem to have gotten their hands on some internal briefings or at the very least seen an early draft of a press release as they have updated some of the details from previous reports about DCIP’s financing. A more exact figure of USD $660 million was cited by both papers which is down from the original USD $700 million rumor which was first floating around. As well, the number of screens has been upped to 14,000 from 12,000 with the Wall Street Journal putting the number of actual theatre sites being converted at 1,100. The New York Times laid out the details as follows:

According to a draft announcement making the rounds in Hollywood, the new financing, arranged by JPMorgan and Blackstone Advisory Partners, would total about $660 million. Of that, $445 million is expected to come from senior bank debt, $135 million from what is described as “junior capital” and $80 million from equity contributed by the member theater circuits. Nine banks, including Bank of America and Citibank, are part of the lending group. Blackstone raised the $135 million from other investors.

I always find it amusing to see how mainstream media covers the transition to digital cinema in reporting such news. The Wall Street Journal piece states:

In a digital conversion, theaters rip out old celluloid film projectors, and stop receiving weekly shipments of large film canisters. They instead use fiber optic lines to transfer huge digital film files.

Read More »

Popularity: 11% [?]

JPMorgan Finds $700 Million For DCIP


dcip.jpg That collective sigh of relief you may have heard over this past weekend no doubt came from the North American motion picture exhibition and distribution industries. The Los Angeles Times report that investment bank JPMorgan was finally able to round up roughly USD $700 million for Digital Cinema Implementation Partners must have come as some relief.

Heaven knows we’ve been hearing about DCIP’s quest for financing for well over a year now. It seems at every ShoWest, Cinema Expo or Show East for the past 18 months we’ve been told by investment bankers that money is on the way. Though let’s face it, if the staggering amount of money being sought wasn’t enough to cause a delay, the worldwide credit crunch certainly didn’t help. Financing hasn’t been easy to come buy in any business sector and no matter how lucrative the project.

Of course, DCIP is the deployment entity founded by three of the world’s largest exhibitors; AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas. With anonymous sources close to the negotiations confirming that DCIP’s financing will be announced in the next two weeks, the company can finally begin the rollout digital cinema technology on 12,000 screens across the United States and Canada.

Back in 2008 JPMorgan, armed with virtual print fee agreements from the studios, went looking for USD $1 billion for DCIP to convert 14,000 screens across all three circuits. Since then, AMC has gobbled up Kerasotes adding another 900 odd screens to the mix. There was no word on which screens or theatres will be converted or what will happen to those screens which don’t make it into the first 12,000. Nor was a time frame given to complete the transition, though it has been widely expected to take three years.

Read More »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Report: Movie Theatre Popcorn Makes You Fat (Surprise!)

200911192223.jpg As if theatre owners didn’t have enough to worry about with studios shrinking release windows at every opportunity, they may soon have to start worrying about moviegoers bypassing the real bread and butter of any exhibitor’s business, or more appropriately the popcorn and butter. A new study conducted by the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest and released earlier today reports that the food items found at most movie theatre concession stands are incredibly unhealthy. Lab tests revealed that eating a medium popcorn and soda combo from Regal Cinemas was the equivalent of eating three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter. For those with a more of an interest in nutrition, that’s 1610 calories and 60 grams (three days’ worth) of saturated fat.

The CSPI report also found that the candy sold by most exhibitors is no better. An extra large box of Junior Mints contains 570 calories and 8 grams of fat. Raisinets are 420 calories and 11 grams of fat. M&Ms may be tiny but they pack in 790 calories and more than a half a day’s supply of saturated fat (16 grams). Then there’s the calorie king of all movie theatre confections, Reese’s Pieces which are loaded with 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat. To hammer the point home the study compares the intake of such candy to eating a 16-once T-bone stake with a buttered baked potato as a side order. It’s a miracle that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’s heart was still able to glow after downing all those Reese’s Pieces in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster back in the early 1980s. The alien rightfully should’ve keeled over from a heart attack according to CSPI.

Read More »

Popularity: 10% [?]

DCIP Closer To D-Cinema Funding

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 »

Popularity: 22% [?]

Daily Cinema Roundup - Wed 13 May - “Going forward it will look different after the 3D screens are in place.”

Say hello to my little 8K friend!

Say hello to my little 8K friend!

- For those that decry Imax Digital’s 2×2K imaging technology, perhaps we can interest you in JVC’s new 8K projector? (pictured above) From CrunchGear, “8K content is pretty much…impossible to find right now. Unless you were to make a motion-JPEG movie out of full-size shots from a Hasselblad, I don’t think 8K is even approaching necessary. Fortunately, it also supports 4K (and why shouldn’t it?), a more reachable standard and one at which hi-def cinema cameras are actually shooting.” At 10,000 lumens, it won’t even make a proper size Imax screen blush, but it would do justice to a fully scanned Imax film frame (69.6 mm x 48.5 mm), so you could watch the action set pieces from “The Dark Knight” at home, just as Messrs Noland and Pfister intended them to be seen;

- National CineMedia Q1 2009 Earnings Call Transcript has been posted online courtesy of Seekingalpha. It’s been a good quarter for NCM with revenue up 17 per cent. “The improving reach of our networks, especially in the larger DMAs, is continuing to aid our strategy to broaden our client base. Several new clients are buying our network for the first time in 2009, including clients in the retail, import auto, broadcast TV, cable TV, and restaurant categories. I was most encouraged by the fact that several clients who had previously bought Screen Vision exclusively began to buy our network.” Which leads us to conclude that Screenvision’s Q1 was probably not as good;

- HBO will not be sponsoring Washington DC’s Screen of The Green, ending the outdoor summer cinema tradition after nine years, according to the Washington Post. “Ah, memories. The persistent bugs, the hateful humidity, the evening thunderstorms rumbling in the distance, the veggie plates and the contraband alcohol — Screen on the Green allowed us to experience all the hallmarks of a summer in D.C. at once, with a classic film unspooling on a giant screen on the grassy expanse between Fourth and Seventh streets NW. It was fine viewing on prime real estate.” There is a Facebook group to save the Screen on the Green event, but unless a new big sponsor is found, don’t expect President Obama to dig into the TARP funding to rescue this tradition. Other outdoor screening continue, though, in the suburbs, “Rosslyn is running movies from the ’80s every Friday through September at Gateway Park near the Key Bridge. Crystal City is doing the same thing with superhero movies. Other outdoor festivals are hosted in Bethesda, Rockville and elsewhere in Arlington.” As far as cheap or even free cinema entertainment goes, outdoor screenings are hard to beat, particularly in these tight financial days;

- The hunt is on for the Norwegian projectionist believed responsible for camcording and uploading a recent local hit Max Manus, according to Screen International. “The film was released on 103 prints but was illegal copies were made available online shortly afterwards. Filmkameratene tried to trace their origin from the so called ’water marks,’ different signals on each film copy which are not visible to the audiences, but readable to computers. The result has not been reported.” It sounds like the copy was made off a digital cinema screening, though it could also be the more primitive cap coding on 35mm prints. We will try to track this one;

- While box office taking are good, US exhibitors like Regal Cinemas are still having to scale back their growth plans because of the tighter credit climate, according to Reuters. “But plans to build 10 to 12 new theaters per year have been tempered by the ability of shopping center owners to move forward with projects, Campbell said. Regal expects building to be slowed to five to six theaters per year for the next three to five years, he said. The company’s participation in Digital Conversion Implementation Partners — a partnership with the No. 2 and No. 3 U.S. theater chains aimed at converting screens to digital and 3D projection systems — also had been slowed in the financing stage.” Regal is expecting growth to continue at four to five per cent for the next five years, but that is without calculating the added growth from 3D, which they say is “harder to project” (no pun intended). Quote in headline from new CEO Amy miles;

- More signs of the recession, UK’s Vue is putting on free film screenings, The Times tells us. Just don’t expect “Star Trek”. Instead Metrodome is providing some…interesting…choices. “First up, on May 15th, One Eyed Monster.  What sounds like a classic piece of schlockeroo starring adult film legends Ron Jeremy & Veronica Hart with”Buffy The Vampire Slayer” pin-up Amber Benson. Expect slimy alien creatures and unwise costume choices from an array of screaming starlets. And, most importantly, expect it for free.” The participating cinemas are: Vue West End, Vue Cambridge, Vue Edinburgh Omni, Vue Manchester Lowry and Vue Bristol Cribbs Causeway and you can get a ticket by e-mailing creditcrunch@metrodomegroup.com. Bless;

- THR.com uses the Cannes premier of Pixar’s “Up” as a jump off point for two in-depth articles about 3D in general and in Europe in particular: ‘Who’ll pay for 3-D glasses? Exhibitors, studios squabble over who should foot the bill‘ and ‘3-D accelerates as ‘Up’ opens Cannes - Film’s exposure at the fest could give 3-D an international push.’ Both articles are well worth reading and we particularly like Chris Morris’ illustration of what the black tie screening might look like (right), though perhaps XpanD as one of the sponsors and technology providers of the event might want to have a word with him for drawing anaglyph red-and-blue glasses instead of the Nuvision active glasses. We hope to bring you a picture of Co-Editor Sperling on site with glasses for comparison. Possibly even a report on the event if he can tear himself away from the Cannes parties. Follow him on Twitter here, where he reports: “The press in Cannes loved Pxar’s “Up”. Many in the press screening audience were all teary eyed at the end.“;

- Slight relief for Indian multiplexes (and cinema goers) as Bollywood film “99″ opens this Friday in defiance of the Distributor-Exhibitor stand-off, while Sony Pictures is going ahead with the release of “angels & Demons” on 29th of May. But two films don’t make a box office summer and the dispute remains unresolved.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Cinemas: “Recession? Bring it on!”


coffee recession

Recession is now a fact, but cinemas appear fairly nonplussed. Is this wishful thinking or actually born out by past experience? The UK’s The Guardian seems to think the latter, pointing out that box office takings rose in five out of the last seven recessions in the US:

“Hollywood gets bump from slump” was the trade bible Variety’s front-page headline, and industry analysts believe the relatively low cost of going to the cinema and the prospect of offering an escape from financial concerns for two hours will give cinema chains some resilience.

In Britain, box office revenues and cinema attendances continued to rise throughout the late 1980s and early 90s as the multiplex revolution swept through the country and going to see a movie again became a viable, low-cost leisure option for millions.

“Box office revenues definitely came up in the early 90s. As far as I can see there’s very little evidence to show cinema attendance suffers in a recession. If anything, it does quite well,” said David Hancock, head of film and cinema at Screen Digest.

This sentiment was echoed by the heads of both NATO and Regal cinemas in a recent interview in THR.com:

THR: Exhibition tends to be recession-resistant, but wouldn’t a spreading recession hurt concession sales?

Campbell: This is the most affordable out-of-home entertainment option that consumers have available, but at some point, do people stop buying concessions? I don’t think so. At some point, people may be a little more selective in some of their purchases, but at this point in time we haven’t seen that.

THR: Do hard times hurt smaller chains and mom-and-pop exhibitors more?

Fithian: I don’t believe there is a different impact on smaller chains in hard economic times. In fact, it is often the consumers in smaller markets who are most challenged during recessions. So they don’t take the vacation. Higher gas prices mean they don’t go for long drives to theme parks or other places. They stay closer to home, and when people stay closer to home, they tend to go to the cinema more often.

The optimism seems to be backed up by numbers from screen advertising in the US, again from THR.com:

CAC president and chairman Stu Ballatt predicted that the industry’s double-digit percentage growth path would continue “for the next few years at least.”

He said a sluggish U.S. economy does not seem to slow marketers’ willingness to put money into cinema promotions. For example, Ballatt cited increased activity across many sectors, with cinema ad spending by packaged goods and retail companies showing particularly strong growth during the past six to 12 months.

Cinemas and Hollywood are ‘fortunate’ in the sense that the past couple of years stagnation and even slump (once you look at actual attendance, as opposed to BO growth) could be blamed on poor films, whereas this summer’s crop has performed better - and this is before the fantastic Dark Knight opens (we’ve seen it and we know it is going to make Iron Man look like Tin Man when it comes to both critical and audience acclaim).

But there are those that doubt that cinemas will escape the brunt of the recession unscathed. Foremost amongst them The Guardian’s resident Hollywood contrarian Jon Patterson:

As for the benighted ticket-buyers, I wonder this time if they’ll display the same bovine sense of product loyalty the moguls depend on when times are tight. During the Depression, a movie ticket bought you a cartoon, a newsreel, a B feature and a marquee-topper - something like four hours of entertainment for a nickel (the price of a gallon of gas or a pack of smokes back then). A bargain if you needed to escape your troubles or just eat up dead unemployment time - and the movies were good enough that around 5bn tickets were sold between 1934 and Pearl Harbor. It was hard to feel Greatly Depressed when Astaire and Rogers, Gary Cooper, the Marx Brothers or Eddie Cantor were living it up on screen.

But things are different now, and films aren’t nearly the draw they were then. In 1938, the movies competed only with such distractions as booze, sex, God, the radio or political agitation; there was no streaming online video, no computer games, no 60in plasma TVs, no home-movie market whatsoever. If the economy collapsed tomorrow, would seeing Transformers 2 alleviate your misery or simply compound it? Dear viewer, you have options!

In the insurgent spirit of that turbulent decade, let’s call for a Netflix Revolution: we just stay home and watch as many movies as we like for 13 bucks a month. Those moguls could use a little sojourn in Hooverville - it might improve their movies, too.

Cineflix or Netflix - the choice is yours. Let’s see where the tally stands at the end of the summer.

Popularity: 57% [?]

Regal’s Not-As-Large-As-AMC’s Deal With IMAX


Imax logoRegal has signed a major deal with Regal for the deployment of its digital 3D system. Major, but not as major as the previous 100 screen deal with AMC. According to Reuters:

Imax Corp said on Monday it had entered a joint venture with Regal Cinemas to have 31 of its giant movie screens installed in 20 major U.S. markets. Imax said the deal expands its joint venture partnership with Regal Cinemas to 38 theaters and will bring Regal’s total number of Imax theaters to 52 by the end of 2010.

Similarly to the AMC deal, it seems that Regal will not be shouldering the costs of the new projectors directly, according to the New York Times, which noted that “The two companies said they would share the cost of installation and the revenue, but declined to reveal more detailed financial information.”Expect more information to emerge when both companies have to file their quarterly reports, because you can’t just give away 31 half a million dollar projectors without telling your shareholders about it - as well as how you are planning on making that money back.The first installations are expected to be in place in time for the IMAX version of the next ‘Harry Potter’ film on Noevember 21st of this year.

Popularity: 28% [?]

IMAX vs. RealD Beowulf 3D smackdown at Regal


An epic battle is brewing at Regal Cinemas this month, with ‘Beowulf‘ going up against itself in on both IMAX analogue 3D and RealD’s digital 3D systems. According to the Regal press release there is even two different names for the movie experience, depending on which one you opt for Beowulf: An IMAX 3D Experience and Beowulf in DIGITAL 3D:

The movie is being offered in IMAX 3D and DIGITAL 3D in a total of 123 Regal Entertainment Group theatres across the country. The new Paramount Pictures release of Beowulf will be available in conventional 35mm format, digital projection, DIGITAL 3D and IMAX 3D. Regal Entertainment Group will host advance screenings of the film beginning at 9:15pm on Thursday, November 15.Beowulf 3D is a terrific and entertaining experience. We are certain moviegoers will enjoy the unique 3D presentation.

“Regal Entertainment Group is proud to offer Beowulf in this exciting 3D format. In numerous cities across the country Regal is pleased to be programming IMAX 3D and DIGITAL 3D versions of the epic tale,” stated Dick Westerling, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for Regal Entertainment Group. “Beowulf 3D is a terrific and entertaining experience. We are certain moviegoers will enjoy the unique 3D presentation.”

So with Beowulf being shown 35mm analogue print, standard 2-D digital cinema, RealD digital 3D and Imax digital 3D, this must be the most formats that a film has ever been released in simultaneously by one exhibitor. Would it have been too much to ask that they also make red-blue anaglyph analogue 3D print as well, just for the fun of having three 3D format and three print formats? I’m sure that most movie goers given the choice will opt for one of the two 3D formats over print or 2D digital. But which one? Here is where it gets even more interesting:

Beowulf: An IMAX 3D Experience will be available at 16 Regal Entertainment Group IMAX theatres across the country. In IMAX 3D, films virtually jump off of the screen and float around the theatre. This is made possible by a combination of IMAXs powerful 3D projector which projects two strips of large-format film and polarized 3D glasses that audience members wear to fuse the left and right eye images. The result is an amazing three-dimensional cinematic experience where the screen disappears and the film becomes a virtual reality.

Regal Entertainment Group will present Beowulf in DIGITAL 3D at 121 locations utilizing REAL D Cinema Systems. REAL D Cinema Systems are comprised of several components, including a specially-treated movie screen; polarized 3D glasses; and the REAL D Cinema Z-Screen lens that mounts in front of the digital projector, enabling the projector to show three-dimensional images. Customized software by REAL D integrates the components to deliver a flawless 3D movie experience.

So if we do the math then 16 Imax 3D screens plus 121 RealD locations should make it a total of 137 3D Regal sites. But the press release clearly says 123 locations. So this must mean that there will be Regal multiplexes showing both Imax 3D and RealD 3D versions of the film! Which one will people opt for? Will the ticket price be different? How will the various versions be promoted in cinemas? There will be some very interesting number crunching going on at Regal, Imax, RealD, Paramount and elsewhere after the opening weekend. Unlike in the movie, one adversary will not finish off the other completely, but it might give us an interesting pointer of where the 3D battle is headed.

Longer term neither will be the true winner as 3D is already heading to the home. Taiwanese researchers are predicting 3D LCD TVs for the home within two years, which should be just in time for the network TV premier of ‘Beowulf’, so people will now be able to say that they don’t feel like going to the cinema but will catch in 3D at home later.

Popularity: 37% [?]

Regal Q2: BO OK, D-Cine and 3D Plans On Track


Regal Entertainment Regal Cinemas’ transcript of their Second Quarter Earnings conference call provides some interesting insights into their road map for digital cinema and particularly for digital 3D. Overall BO is up slightly, mainly on the back of the billion dollars earnings from the trinity of threequels that was Pirates 3, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3. The digital cinema plans of DCIP remain apparently ‘on track’ with some interesting semi-new nuggets of information from the transcript (courtesy of Seeking Alpha) and particularly the Q&A with investor analysts that followed the presentation:

Our goal at the beginning of the fiscal year was to begin digital installations in our new theaters opening during the fourth quarter of this year, and we are on track to meet that timeline.

We would also expect to begin converting our existing locations to digital during the first half of 2008. And again, we would expect that a complete conversion of our circuit will take approximately three to four years.

DCIP is continuing to work with the studios to negotiate and finalize the virtual print fee contracts. And negotiations of the financing plans are also in process. We remain optimistic regarding the benefits of digital cinema, primarily as it relates to future growth potential associated with 3D film product and other 3D content.

On the subject of digital 3D, Regal is keen on it….

Based on forecasted film slates from the major Hollywood studios, we believe that 3D technology may be suitable for as many as three to four screens in each of our high-volume 16 to 20-screen megaplexes and possibly totaling 1,000 to 1,500 screens circuit-wide for Regal at maximum deployment.

…but not so keen that they want to dig deep into their pocket in time for Beowulf, leaving it up to RealD to make it happen:

Regarding Beowulf, we have currently 109 units. And we’ve made it clear in the past that once we begin our own deployment of digital conversions through DCIP, we could rapidly accelerate the roll-out of 3D screens.

That being said, during that interim period, we have made it clear to REAL D that we would continue to accept additional screens as long as they can provide the projectors that we need free of charge to us to roll out prior to our overall roll-out. So, I guess, the answer is we would expect to probably have a few more 3D screens for Beowulf, but I can’t give you a definitive answer on how many.

The whole transcript is well worth reading for understanding the dynamics of the largest US (and global) exhibitor, who will shape digital cinema reality in a BIG way in 2008.

Popularity: 14% [?]