Tag Archives: Sony Pictures

Daily Cinema Roundup - Friday 8 May

May 8, 2009

orange-wedensday-witch

- Catch someone taping a film off the screen? You have little choice but to let him (it’s rarely a ‘her’) walk free in the UK, according to Sky News. “Tim Richards, who runs Vue cinemas, told Sky News that while his staff are getting better at catching film pirates, he invariably has to let them go. He said: “We catch these individuals and we can’t do anything with them. It’s extremely frustrating.” But the police say sales of illegal pirated (usually elsewhere) DVDs are a bigger problem and the UK government urges cinema to go after the cinema camcorders with the Fraud Act. Yes, really, don’t laugh;

- UK mobile phone carrier Orange has been running its two-for-one mid-week offer for five years and have clocked up 14m uses (that’s 7m couples). From newmediaage, “The Orange Wednesdays offer has encouraged an average of 300,000 people to go to the cinema each week, saving them an estimated £30m, the operator said. The five most prolific users have redeemed the offer an average of 70 times each.” Apparently “Mamma Mia!” has been the most popular film.Notice that the Orange Witch [Surely she's green and wicked, not orange? - Ed.] from the advert (below) is brandishing a Celluloid Junkie icon popcorn box knock off. Definitely not authorised by us;

-Imax’s finances are slowly improving, with Q1 of 2009 showing a narrow loss as the company waits for digital to kick in, according to THR.com. “Toronto-based Imax posted a loss of $2.6 million to March 31, compared to a loss of $10.2 million in 2008, on revenue up 43% to $33.7 million, against a year-earlier $23.5 million. Imax recorded sharply lower R&D costs compared to 2008 when it incurred steep digital projection rollout costs. The first quarter operating profit was $2 million, compared to a loss of $5.6 million in 2008.” Perhaps more interestingly than digitla itself was that revenue from bigged-up Hollywood releases such as “Watchmen” and “Monsters vs. Aliens” doubled from around $15m to over $30m in the quarter;

- Sony Pictures “Angels & Demons” had its world premiere in Rome using Sony Electronics 4K SXRD projector. From the press release, “Oliver Pasch, head of digital cinema in Europe at Sony Professional says, “We’re delighted to have played a part in helping Sony Pictures premiere Angels & Demons. The studio understands the phenomenal value of 4k projection and how it allows audiences from across the world to see more detail than ever before, thus creating a truly unique cinematic experience.”" The film will be released in 4K, so best place to catch it will be Norway or an AMC cinema - click here for full list of 4K locations.

-With the stand-off in Bollywood between Indian film distributors and multiplexes still not showing any sign of ending, exhibitors are starting to look for small films to distribute themselves. From liveMint.com, “In a clear signal that the gloves are off in the dispute with
producers, Fame India Ltd has joined forces with its fellow leading
national cinema chains INOX Leisure Ltd, Cinemax India Ltd, Adlabs
Films Ltd, Fun Cinemas and PVR Ltd and set aside around Rs40 crore [$8m] to
acquire a film on the open market for release in multiplexes, where the
deadlock has seen all new releases being put on ice since 4 April.” A handfull of candidate films are hten listed. Meanwhile distributors are saying that they will release their films in single screens and independent multiplexes. Still no word if Hollywood distributors will soon start releasing their films during the stand off;

- If you think Indian multiplex operators have it hard, spare a thought for their colleagues in Iraqi, where cinemas are dying a slow death. From LA Times, “Before the 2003 invasion, Baghdad had 40 cinemas; now there are only
eight. In those days, the theaters opened at 8 a.m. and closed just
before midnight. Today, the theaters shut at 1 p.m. Hashim says only
the riffraff and lowlifes frequent his theater…. Other theaters have closed rather than cater to the new
market — the owners of the now-shuttered Nujoom (Star) cinema
described their clientele after 2003 as “drug addicts, alcoholics and
freaks.”” We have highlighted the plight of Iraqi cinemas before, but it is sad that there appears to be no hope in sight;

- Reasons why 3D is plenty D’s enough, from UK’s The Mirror. “A cinema at a National Sea Life Centre is so realistic it is causing visitors to feel seasick. Bosses at the £1million 4D screen in Birmingham are handing out sea sickness bracelets after customers complained the images of giant waves, vibrating seats and water spray made them ill.” Isn’t ayone complaining bout the water sprays making their popcorn wet?

- A novel way of attracting customers to cinemas? Bag of cocaine found in Reel Cinema in Grantham by 10 year old. From the local paper, “”Obviously this is a family entertainment venue and children are present. It is very worrying when a ten-year-old comes into possession of drugs like this.” Jonathan had only recently started to let his son do things on his own but the experience has made him worry. He said: “What if a child had picked it up and thought it was sherbet? Or what if he had walked in to find someone taking drugs?” I’ve heard of weed smoking to Cheech and Chong and LSD for “2001: A space Odessey”, but cocaine to “X-Men Originas; Wolverine” seems like a desperate way of improving the film;

Popularity: 32% [?]

Posted in Daily News Roundup

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Daily Cinema Roundup - Fri 24 April

By Patrick von Sychowski

April 24, 2009

- Imax’s presence in China is expanding through a new deal, according to THR.com’s Asia edition. “Imax on Thursday signed a deal with China Film Group to open a super-size screen in a new multiplex in Tianjin, China, this October. The deal brings to 41 the number of screens Imax expects to have by 2012 in China, its second-largest market after the U.S.” We also note and congratulate our friends and colleague Patrick Frater, who has joined THR Asia, thus completing the hat trick of working for Screen, Variety and now THR, having done stellar work at them all;

- Projector makes Christie has given details about its digital cinema NOC (network operation centre). The press release gives some impressive stats, “Christie Managed Services currently provides round-the-clock monitoring of 32,431 devices, including 3,780 digital cinema screens and 4,700 pre-show advertising screens in over 830 sites across North America. It is staffed with over 180 remote and customer service personnel and field technicians.” Make sure you visit it if you ever pass through Cyprus, CA. Any time. We hear its open 24/7;

- The first European live 3D broadcast over satellite went out to multi locations across Italy on April 19th, showing a of a complete basketball game. This was part of an announcement at NAB about the coming together of several stereoscopic distribution pioneers, “International Datacasting Corp and Sensio Technologies announced today the beginning of their first operational roll-out of live 3D in high definition for digital cinema in Europe” and “OpenSky has formed the 3D Stereoscopic group (3DSG), a partnership with dBW Communication and Eutelsat for the end-to-end production and distribution of 3D live events across Europe.” Expect to see more in the coming year;

- On an adjacent frequency, Dolby has formed a partnership with Arqiva to deliver alternative content across Europe, according to today’s press release. “Dolby Laboratories today launched Dolby Direct Distribution Services—a pan-European satellite content delivery network for digital cinemas. The service is provided in association with leading digital network solutions provider Arqiva and uses their international satellite infrastructure to distribute feature movies, trailers, and advertising content direct to their participating exhibitors and cinemas throughout Europe.” The interesting question is whether they will open up this network wider and be a service provider, rather than equipment vendor;

- Sony does deal with Sony for digital cinema in Asia, is the essence of this press release. “Sony Pictures Releasing International Corporation (SPRI) has entered into an agreement with Sony Electronics’ Digital Cinema Solutions and Services (DCSS) group for 4K DCI-compliant digital cinema deployments in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.” But trust us, even a seemingly semi-internal agreement like this is much more difficult to orchestrate than you might think. Now the challenge will be to get more Hollywood studios to sign up. And why no India?;

- UK’s Cinema Exhibitor’s Association (CEA) is kicking off a digital road-show this coming Monday in Manchester. “The events, which the CEA is running jointly with the UK Film Council and with the support of Screen Digest, are intended to give all of those attending an opportunity to hear a comprehensive and objective summary of the challenges and opportunities presented by digital cinema projection, with discussion of funding, operational and technical matters.” It is 8 1/2 years since the last major road show in UK (‘Celluloid or Silicon?‘) that discussed the implications of all things digital cinema. [insert joke about digital cinema's long time in the coming HERE];

- Want to sell liquor for consumption with screenings of operas and sporting events in your cinema? It’s not as easy as you might think, according to this article from Grand Rapids News. “Celebration Cinema owner John Loeks Jr. must spell out the type of “special events” at which he wants to serve alcohol before city planners will allow him to uncork any bottles or tap any kegs.” Asked to define ’special events, Loeks told the commission, “I’m not sure there is a precise definition.” So much for grouping it together under the moniker of ODS (other digital stuff);

- And yet more proof if needed that box office is doing well across the globe, this time from China, courtesy of AFP. “China may be a paradise for addicts of pirated DVDs, but the box office is also booming thanks to a growing audience of well-off young urbanites and more big-ticket Chinese films… “The crisis is actually a godsend because as everyone talks about the economic crisis, people want to go to the cinema to relax,” said Zhao Jing, a Beijing marketing executive with cinema operators Wanda Group.” Wanda (pictured above) is expanding from 40 cinemas to 100 by 2010. As noted in the article, a pirate DVD may cost one tenth of a cinema ticket, but it just does not give the same EXPERIENCE;

- Only India appears to be suffering badly, with the non-release of new Hindi films entering its fourth week. A journalist from Indian Express took a tour of the deserted cinema halls and chats to employees. It’s grim. ““We’ve closed down one screen for renovation and are on a cost-cutting spree. We’ve switched to low voltage bulbs and keep half the lobby lights switched off. The air-conditioning too is not switched on till before the show.”” Not even any major Hollywood films are opening this weekend (unless you count “My Mom’s New Boyfriend“). Soon weevils will start blowing through the corridors;

- But it’s even worse for one Indian exhibitor. “Sebi on Thursday barred Pyramid Saimira Theatre promoters Nirmal N Kotecha and CMD PS Saminathan from trading in the equities market, accusing the latter of allegedly forging a letter from the markets regulator, the revelation of whose contents last December sent the company’s stock price soaring. The Sebi letter had purportedly asked the promoters to make an open offer to buy out minority shareholders.” Ouch, but the Securities & Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) can come down hard at times;

- Ending on a semi-positive note, at least if you are living in Detroit. ‘Unemployed? Movie theaters offer free tickets.‘ The headline says it all.

Popularity: 53% [?]

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Sony Pictures VPF Deal With Regal & AMC Makes Warner Bros The Only Hold-Out Studio

By Patrick von Sychowski

April 17, 2009

Sony Pictures has become the next-to-last Hollywood studio to sign a virtual print fee (VPF) agreement with DCIP, the digital cinema integrator representing the three largest US cinema chains (AMC, Regal and Cinemark). This should help DCIP re-start the intended 3 1/2 year roll-out of digital cinema to all of its screens as of this summer, when credit is predicted to start flowing again. Variety only did a brief item on the announcement, covering the bare basics:

Sony’s deal with the Digital Cinema Implementation Group, a consortium repping Regal, AMC and Cinemark, means that Warner Bros. is the odd man out. Every other major, as well as Lionsgate, has already signed its own agreement with DCIP.

DCIP intends to use the studio deals as collateral in securing a multimillion-dollar line of credit that theaters can use to pay for the cost of the conversion. Those efforts have been sidelined by the economic crisis.

THR.com went a little more in depth with the analysis and implications, particularly as to why Warner Bros might be holding out:

“We’re in the middle of negotiations,” Warners domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said. “We’re close. So we might be the last one, but we’re going to get there.”

Sony signed its VPF pact with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners several weeks ago, but the news was delayed pending internal review of the formal announcement.

Through VPFs, studios volunteer to pay the equivalent of print costs for years after switching to digital distribution as a means of defraying most exhibitor costs to convert auditoriums. Sony refers to its VPF as a “digital conversion fee.”

For Warners, set to release more films this year than any other distributor, the cost of a VPF is likely to run considerably higher than that for studios with lower annual output. Sony also is among the most prolific film distributors.

Neither of the two articles makes an explicit link between the SPE-DCIP deal and the earlier announced deal between DCIP member AMC and Sony Electronics to equip its cinemas with SXRD 4K projectors. While the SPE deal would not have been contingent on the AMC-4K deal, it most likely didn’t hurt and may have acted as a sweetener.

So what does WB have to hold out for? Noit much. Coming in last amongst all the studios means that the it will benefit from whatever best terms have been previously agreed under the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) provisions that states that DCIP cannot offer a better deal to a future studio unless those terms are offered retroactively to those already signed.

This means that DCIP will be resisting getting squeezed on VPF terms by WB, who in turn (as the biggest releaser of 35mm prints) will have seen the price of celluloid prints [acetate prints actually, as true celluloid was phased out decades ago, only 'Acetate Junkie' doesn't sounds as good; Ed.] drop significantly as Kodak offers cheaper and cheaper film stock prices to maximise what is left of the film print stock business. Why pay a VPF of, say, $725, when a print has dropped to, say, between $600 and $500. Particularly in these times of plunging DVD sales.

If DCIP want to blame anybody for the delay in Warner Bros signing a VPF deal, the telephone number for Kodak’s switchboard in Rochester, NY, is 1-800-621-FILM. See how far you get arguing with a sunset industry.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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How Good/Bad Is Sony Pictures’ Deal With Cinedigm?

By Patrick von Sychowski

February 21, 2009

read_between_the_lines Reading between the lines of digital cinema related press releases is often required to understand what a deal really means, as opposed to what those issuing the release want you to think it means. This appears to be the case with the recent announcement that Cinedigm (formerly AccessIT) has signed a virtual print fee deal for North America with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). On the surface it looks like great news for Cinedigm, who has the financial commitment from an important Hollywood studio that has not always been the first to sign up to any third party financing scheme (unlike, say, 20th Century Fox). But is the deal all that it seems to be and what does it really tell us about the studio/third party vendor dynamics?

The press release opens as follows:

Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. (”Cinedigm”) (NASDAQ: CIDM) (formerly AccessIT) today announced an agreement with Sony Pictures Releasing Corporation (”SPRC”) supporting its “Phase Two” Digital Cinema Deployment Plan for up to 10,000 digital cinema projection systems. Over the next three years, SPRC will supply its upcoming pictures in a DCI-compliant format to Cinedigm installed theatres in the United States and Canada, when booked, and will make financial contributions for a limited time to promote DCI-compliant digital cinema technology (a new and higher quality delivery format).

The two big caveats that scream out (at least to the trained ear) are “when booked” and “ for a limited time”. In themselves they would seem obvious enough - you would not pay VPF for a film that’s not booked in a theatre and obviously VPF payment would not continue until cinemas close down for Armageddon (the Biblical one, not the Michael Bay film). But what do these terms actually mean? Short of reading the actual agreement, we can only indulge in speculation.

Many studios, especially Sony, have been quite strict about the conditions under which they will VPF. Specifically, they will not pay a VPF for any print which is not shown as having been “officially” booked in their own internal systems. At first blush this seems to make some sense. That is until you discover that in practice, most film buyers will only book one print per mutliplex, no matter how many screens they actually intend to play the movie on. After all, one of the benefits of digital prints is their ability to be placed on multiple servers in a theatre complex without having to have an additional physical print on hand.

The problem of course is that while a VPF can be collected on the first screen, the second, third, fourth, etc. screens will not receive a VPF since they weren’t booked directly with the dsitrbutor. This has put Cinedigm and similar third party integrators in a sticky situation, forcing them to argue with studios over how many screens a film has actually played on rather than letting them pay based on what appears in a their computer systems. Thus, the throw away verbiage of “when booked” might have very purposeful implications in the agreement between SPE and Cinedigm.

‘For a limited time’ typically means X number of years or until the studio considers the equipment payed off, whichever comes sooner. Typically X has, true to its Roman usage, been ten (10) years for digital cinema, as witnessed by the recent Paramount’s VPF-directly-to-exhibitors agreement. But what if it is just five years, or even two? You might ask why Cinedigm would settle for anything less than ten? The reason is that when it comes to negotiations, there are just two variables that can be adjusted. One is the per print size of the VPF (the Paramount one is $725 for a standard 2D film in digital). The other is length of time of payback. IF you have given a commitment to previous Hollywood studio VPF signee that they are getting ‘best price’ you cannot offer a lower price to the next studio. This just leaves the length of time to be shortened.

So when a third party integrator is in a hurry to close a VPF deal and a studio is reluctant to committ to a particular pricing, they have to compromise somewhere. This was evident in the deal between Walt Disney and Arts Alliance Media:

Under the terms of the agreement, Disney will supply European exhibitors with its feature films in digital format and will make provisional contributions towards the digital cinema hardware costs of AAM-deployed DCI-compliant screens.

The key phrase here is ‘provisional contributions’, which rings a lot more hollow then ‘ten year fixed-price VPF contributions’. Just how ‘provisional’ is ‘provisional’ in this case? Again, we won’t know unless the details of the deal are made public, which they will not.

So we thought we’d ‘crowd source’ the speculation and analysis of how good this and similarly worded deals might actually be. Do you have an opinion or insight into the terms of the deal or Cinedigm’s announcement. If so, then please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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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 »

Popularity: 60% [?]

Posted in Digital Cinema, Integrators

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Sony US follows Sony Japan in alternative content

By Patrick von Sychowski

May 25, 2008

Sony Pictures has woken up to the fact that the big screen real estate will not be occupied 100 per cent by feature films in the future and that third party operators like AccessIT and Arts Alliance Media are getting in on the game. That is why they have launched their own division for alternative content entertainment. From Reuters:

The new venture, dubbed the Hot Ticket, will launch in August with a presentation of the final staging of the music and dance extravaganza “Delirium” from Cirque du Soleil, which closed its worldwide tour in London in April.

In September, the final performance in the 12-year Broadway run of the hit musical “Rent” will be presented.

“Our mandate will be to identify the one-of-a-kind, and sold-out events that people around the country most want to see … and present them to audiences everywhere,” Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said in a statement.

Hot Ticket presentations will be shown in high-definition format for limited engagements, starting out on roughly 400 to 500 screens in theaters across the country, with audiences paying roughly $20 a seat, Bruer said.

What most US and western media covering this announcement, such as LA times, have failed to pick up on in regurgitating the press release is that this type of venture was already announced by Sony Japan several months ago and covered here at CelluloidJunkie.com when it happened. Don’t be surprised if other Hollywood studios follow suit, with Disney already halfway there through the ‘Hannah Montana/Milly Cyrus’ concert film, wildlife films in cinemas and ESPN’s deal with AccessIT.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Posted in Alternative Content

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A cinema holiday bigger than Thanksgiving

By Patrick von Sychowski

November 11, 2007

That would be Diwali, celebrated in India, its neighboring states and NRIs (non-resident Indians) all over the world. The five-day Festival of Light has in recent years become the favourite holiday for the big ticket Bollywood film releases. And this year was the biggest of them all, with the head-head battle of ‘Om Shanti Om‘, starring the King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan, versus the Sony Pictures-backed ‘Saawariya‘.The proof of just how big the Diwali release event has become is amply demonstrated by the fact that ‘Saawariya’ out grossed ‘Lions for Lambs’ at the international box office. From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Saawariya,” a nearly three-hour musical in Hindi with English subtitles based on Dostoyevsky’s “White Nights,” brought in an estimated $15.4 million from 900 screens in 13 markets. Almost all of the gross came from India, where the film opened No. 2 with an estimated $14.4 million from 754 screens.

“Lions,” director Robert Redford’s reading of contemporary events in Washington and the Middle East, opened at 2,681 screens in 45 markets for an estimated $10.3 million, less than $4,000 per screen. The film, costarring Cruise, Meryl Streep and Redford, also opened this weekend as the No. 4 film domestically.

While THR speculates that ‘Lions for Lambs’ under-performed due to bad reviews, the largely negative reviews of ‘Saawariya’ in Indian press (compared to a much more glowing review from the THR, which clearly does not understand Hindi-language cinema that well) did not hamper its first weekend performance. But while ‘Saawariya’ conquered the international box office, the domestic Indian battle appears to have been won by OSO, according to the Economic Times:

NEW DELHI: The audience verdict is out. The box office seems to favour Shah Rukh Khan’s ” Om Shanti Om ” in comparison to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much-touted magnum opus ” Saawariya “.

While King Khan’s film registered 90 percent occupancy across the country on its Diwali release, Bhansali’s love story managed 60 percent.
…
According to Vishal Kapur, COO of Fun Cinemas, the Shah Rukh film has generated a lot of repeat audience interest in comparison to ” Saawariya “.

“Among our 15 cineplexes across the country, the bigger ones did a business of at least Rs.500,000 and smaller ones Rs.150,000 on Friday. ‘ Saawariya ‘ churned out Rs.350,000 at the big centres, while at the smaller ones it could only manage to collect Rs.78,000,” Kapur told IANS.
…

The difference of how well both the films would do in the coming days is also evident from the advance bookings.

“For Saturday, 50 percent of advance booking has been done for ‘Om Shanti Om’ while for ‘Saawariya’ it is just a little over 20 percent,” said Ashok Bisht, assistant manager of JAM multiplex, Noida.

According to Screen International, OSO took $17m in India, outperforming ‘Saawariya’s’ $14.4m from 754 screens. So when ‘OSO’ goes big internationally we should expect it to perform even better than ‘Saawariya’. The growth of the Indian film industry has been noted by Fortune, which in an article called ‘ Time to short Facebook, buy Bollywood‘ believes that the film, cinema and media industry of South Asia has the better long term growth potential:

PriceWaterhouse Coopers forecasts that India is going to have the fastest growing media and entertainment industry in the world, rising at a compound growth rate of 18.5% between 2006 and 2011. The film business alone is expected to double in size during that period, to some $4.4 billion.

And what is perhaps most uniquely fascinating about the movie business in India is how popular it is domestically — some 95% of movie tickets sold in India are to see Indian films (this despite the increasing availability of dubbed versions of popular Hollywood films and the somewhat overdue arrival of multiplex theaters offering filmgoers much greater choice.)

That 95%, by the way, is roughly in line with how popular American films are in their home market, and dramatically different than how domestic films fare in a lot of other major markets. According to some academic studies, French and Japanese films sell only around 1/3 of the tickets in those countries, the domestic take at the box office is even lower in Britain.

The latest financial figures of the four major Indian exhibitors confirm this verdict - and that’s before the takings of this Diwali’s releases were counted. A Happy Diwali indeed for Indian exhibitors.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Posted in Analysis

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Rumour mill: Technicolor loses a studio while Arts Alliance gains one

By Patrick von Sychowski

October 17, 2007

Two items from the unsubstantiated-but-strong-rumour department.

Technicolor is said to have lost one of their two large Hollywood studio clients for prints and lab work. That would mean that either Warner Bros or Disney have opted to go with Deluxe - and another nail in the coffin for Technicolor. A contract like this would be worth tens of millions, or even hundreds. While digital cinema is set to sweep the Us in the next five years, there’s still a lot of print work to be done in that time and with a clearer end date for 35mm, there is more scope for a single player to dominate without fears of anti-monopoly lawsuits. Plus where print goes, digital tends to follow. It really does not look good for Technicolor at the moment, but it is too soon to write them off yet.

Secondly, Arts Alliance Media is said to be close to announcing a fourth Hollywood studio for its VPF deal, with fingers pointing at Sony Pictures. This would mean that AAM has nabbed four of the Big Six: Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and SPI, with Warner Bros and Disney holding out. Impressive feat and it means that AAM has something that could conceivably entice European exhibitors. At least that aren’t looking to do a VPF deal directly with the studios themselves and cut out the third party middleman.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Posted in Business

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