Patrick von Sychowski, Author at Celluloid Junkie - Page 55 of 116

By patrick

Odeon for Sale

Weekly Cinema Digest – Friday 28 August 2015

UK – Odeon & UCI group has released its first half-year result. It looks like rather than just cruising on the blockbuster wave of the first six months there are signs of a genuine turnaround – just as the group prepares to be sold. Last years loss of GBP £40 million (USD $61.7 milli…

Baidu cinema ticket

China Cinema Digest – Thursday 27 August 2015

Online ticket sales through Baidu now account for half of all tickets sold at some cinemas, with particularly strong showings during special promotions on Tanabata Day (Chinese Valentine’s Day). Out of 6.8 million tickets sold across China that day, Baidu accounted for 1.7 million or 25%. In s…

JT Bioscopen Dolby Cinema

Why Vue’s Acquisition of JT Signals Merger Mania Ahead

Vue has acquired Dutch exhibitor JT Bioscopen in a deal valued at EUR €85 million (USD $97.5 million). The deal is significant in that it represents the first time Vue is acquiring purely for size rather than growth. It also portents a consolidation of the global exhibition sector, with more mergers…

Yes Planet protest cinema Jerusalem

Weekly Cinema Digest – Monday 25 August 2015

Israel – Protests by ultra-Orthodox jews against the opening of the new Yes Planet multiplex in Jerusalem descended into riots. Hundreds of protesters threw stones at police and clashed with troops. The multiplex is said to have been packed on its opening weekend, with secular residents in Jer…

Aurora cinema victims

Weekly Cinema Digest – Friday 14 August 2015

USA (CO) – The Aurora mass killer James Holmes was spared the death penalty after the jury could not unanimously agree for him to be executed. He will now spend the rest of his life in prison instead. Holmes never expressed any remorse for killing 12 people (above) and injuring many more. Vari…

Stellar Cineplex China

China Cinema Digest – Thursday 13 August 2015

Hong Kong-listed exhibitor Stellar Media International (SMI) recently issued securities (i.e. debt notes) backed by future ticket sales to fund its expansion. This is the first time funds have been raised this way in China. It is also a terrible way of building a war-chest to overtake Wanda. Yes, th…

CineEurope Data Goldmine panel

CineEurope: Data – a New Goldmine?

This post is a transcription composed in real-time during one of the many seminars at CineEurope 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. As such we often paraphrase the presentations being given. The rise of smartphones and internet bookings has pushed cinemas into the digital age, perhaps even more so than the s…

Kurt Hall NCM

Weekly Cinema Digest – Friday 7 August 2014

USA – Kurt Hall is retiring and stepping down as President and CEO of National CineMedia (NCM Inc.), parent company of the largest cinema advertising operator in the US. He was instrumental in building up NCM and reinvigorating the cinema advertising (or “pre-show”) market in North…

Gun shooting cartoon

Cinemas Can’t Prevent Shootings (But Are Forced To Act)

The shooting in the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana unleashed the sort of temporary soul-searching that always accompany acts of gun violence in the United States, whether in a cinema, church, high school, college, military base or other public space. This week saw another gun incident, thi…

Premium seating Peanuts-style (NB: not the session panelists)

CineEurope: Cinemas’ Position in the Experience Economy; The Move to Premium, Driven by Innovation

This post is a transcription composed in real-time during one of the many seminars at CineEurope 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. As such we often paraphrase the presentations being given. The session description summed up this panel well: “Experiences” are what consumers are now looking for, w…