On Thursday, 17 February, the CJ Cinema Summit will be focusing on China. We’ll be joined by Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore who will explain how China managed to secure five of the top 10 global box office titles last week. We’ll also hear from Lawrence Wang, the CEO of Vista China about about what lies ahead for the country’s cinema market. Make sure to join us or watch the recap on demand.
The Power of Popcorn
The sale of popcorn and other forms of concessions is once again permitted in French cinemas starting this week. A similar ban is being lifted in the Basque region of Spain. When The Netherlands became the last major European market to reopen its cinemas this January, the previous popcorn-ban was not re-instituted. The white stuff is still not permitted in cinemas in much of Germany, but in pretty much the rest of Europe, cinema concessions are once again selling freely.
Popcorn has been an integral part of the cinema going experience for most of the entertainment form’s 125+ year history. Not just in terms of the experience for customers, but also in terms of the importance of concessions to the bottom line for cinema operators. Purists and cineasts might complain about mixing food and celluloid, but it is plain elitist to object to people having a snack while watching a blockbuster. At least as long as they eat it courteously and hopefully dispose of the litter at the end of the film.
Cinema is meant to be a full sensory experience. More than just immersive sights and sounds, the smell and taste of sweets, nachos, Coke, a Spielburger or just plain popcorn (salt, of course) is how we accessorize and fuel our two-hours of forgetfulness of all that troubled us during the pandemic. How many of us dreamt of popcorn when cinemas were closed? Quite a few, judging by the delivery and curbside collection services that sprung up by entrepreneurial cinema operators, many of which have lasted well into the reopening phase. It seems popcorn is not so overpriced as to put people off buying it – although it is in fact surprisingly cheap.
Popcorn is more than just the difference between profit and loss for cinemas; it is also a sign of normalcy returning to cinemas, after two years of pandemic closures, halting openings, restrictions and closures for the second, third or even fourth time. “There are no real criteria for the end of a pandemic, but it probably feels something like this,” said David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the Financial Times this past week. Or perhaps what is tastes like. Soon mask mandates will be lifted, at least in Europe and North America, and we will once again forget ourselves in the darkness of the cinema auditorium. Popcorn will then no longer have to be the excuse for not having to wear face covering.
One of the challenges of persuading audiences back into cinemas (at least for those that were not swayed by Bond or Spider-Man) will be to remind them that cinema is a safe treat, an affordable indulgence and quick-fix dose of escapism. The smell of fresh popcorn will be a critical component of this.
By the way, Dolby, who sponsors the CJ Marquee, has not yet entered the popcorn making business (Cretors need not fear), but they cater to all the other senses of cinema with their technology. Be sure to check out their auditorium packages.
Event Cinema
BTS Returns To Cinemas in 2022 With A Live Concert Event
Remember that time when BTS, the K-pop band that has become a global phenomenon, released a film of their August 2018 Seoul concert in movie theatres? A quick reminder for those just joining our industry; “BTS World Tour: Love Yourself in Seoul” played in theatres on 26 January 2019 going on to become the highest grossing worldwide event for a one-day-only event, taking USD $12.1million on one day across 102 countries with USD $2.86 million from the United States alone.
So at a time when exhibitors are starving for popular, highly anticipated content to attract post-pandemic audiences back to cinemas, BTS has heard their cry and is coming to the rescue. Or more like, dancing to rescue. In what is being billed as the first live worldwide cinema broadcast of a concert from South Korea (which is a lot of qualifiers, to be sure), the K-pop sensation will beam “BTS Permission to Dance On Stage – Seoul: Live Viewing” to movie theatres in over 60 countries on 12 March of this year.
Trafalgar Releasing is handling the worldwide presentation in conjunction with HYBE, the South Korean entertainment company which represents BTS. The group is currently on their BTS Permission to Dance On Stage world tour and the presumably sold out Seoul date will be shown live, or near-live, in cinemas. The 10 March and 13 March concerts will streamed live online. Even though tickets will sell out when they go on sale 22 February, we think they should consider switching the name of the event to “BTS Permission to Dance in Movie Theatres.” Whose with us? Anyone want to start a petition?
Source: Celluloid Junkie
Current Events
French Cinema Attendance Remains Low
Cinema attendance in France was 25% below pre-pandemic levels at the start of 2022, according to the Ministry of Culture. Ticket sales fluctuated between 20% and 25% below the level of the start of 2019 depending on the show and auditorium. There has also been the phenomenon of “polarisation,” where some screenings sell out and others remain empty. This is a worrying trend for Europe’s largest cinema market, which took an additional hit after the chaotic introduction of the “Covid pass” in the second half of 2021. Cinema is not the only form of entertainment to have been impacted, with live shows also seeing lower attendance.
The French government has pledged additional support to the arts world. Already the French state is estimated to have spent 14 billion euro in aid of the cultural sector since the start of the pandemic. According to Allo Cine:
In a press release, the government indicates: “The National Center for Cinema (CNC), the National Center for Music (CNM) and the Association for the Support of Private Theater (ASTP), which will manage this system, will benefit from support of €14 million”. Without specifying how much will be allocated to each. Worst month of January since 1994: the French box office collapses
Thus, a compensation system will cover part of “the loss of turnover over the entire restriction period” caused in particular by the ban on consuming confectionery and drinks in cinemas since January 3. last. This ban, which was to end on January 23, has been extended until Tuesday, February 15.
Approximately 15% of the revenue of French cinemas comes from the sale of concessions. From 28 February it will no longer be mandatory to wear masks indoor in cinemas and other cultural venues in France. It is hoped that this easing of restrictions will help boost attendance numbers.
Source: Le Monde
Cinemas
AMC Picks Up More Shuttered Venues; EVO Moves Into Virginia
When the COVID pandemic shut down movie theatres all over the world in 2020 there was lots of concern over how many cinemas may never reopen their doors. Though there is no official count, more than a few theatres shut for good, at least under their current ownership. In the United States, where circuits such as Pacific Theatres and Cinemagic, went completely out of business, we are beginning to see signs of hope.
Having already picked up shuttered Pacific and Arclight Cinema locations in Chicago, Northridge, San Diego and Washington DC, AMC Theatres announced they would be taking over the former Cinemark location Evanston, Illinois. The Chicago area 12-plex is slated to open later this year.
Meanwhile, EVO Entertainment shows no signs of slowing their expansion after scooping up the Dallas, Texas based ShowBiz Cinemas chain in January. This week EVO announced they had begun construction on a dine cinema and family entertainment complex in the Hampton Road region of Virginia. This marks the company’s first new-build expansion outside of Texas. The eight-screen movie theatre will feature push-button service, recliner seating, a nine-lane bowling alley and video game arcade with a full restaurant and bar. The venue will be located at the Peninsula Town Center at the site of what once was a Studio Movie Grill. The exhibitor is aiming for an April opening.
Source: Celluloid Junkie
Mergers & Acquisitions
Vista Cinema Acquires Cinema Software Company Retriever Solutions
We still may be in the early days of 2022, but Vista Cinema doesn’t want to lose any momentum this year. One week after landing Wallis Cinemas in Australia as the first exhibitor to deploy Vista Cloud, the company’s new hosted cinema management software platform, Vista announced they have acquired the entertainment technology provider Retriever Solutions.
Based in the United States, Retriever offers a broad suite of IT products to cinema owners integrated theatre management, point-of-sale, kiosks and web sites. If that sounds a lot like the kinds of products and services Vista Cinema currently offers, you’d be right, though the company says Retriever’s software will continue to be supported, including its web services, signage, back office, multi-site management, film rental and point-of-sale solutions.
The deal has Vista Cinema acquiring all of Retriever’s software, intellectual property and over 100 customers, not to mention its current employees. Retrieve will benefit from gaining access to more resources to support clients and ongoing product development.
We’ve spoken with Vista about the acquisition and will be publishing a piece with more details in the coming days.
Source: Celluloid Junkie
Advertising
Hollywood Trailers Return to Super Bowl
Hollywood studios have given a vote of confidence in the return of cinema goers to blockbusters on the big screen, by spending record amounts to showcase their trailers during the Super Bowl. The American football event was watched by 117 million people and fetches some of the highest prices for advertising slots in broadcast television. In addition to many adverts for crypto, there were new trailers for Disney/Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in May and Disney’s Pixar’s “Lightyear” in June. Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Nope” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” Tom Cruise popped up to promote “Top Gun Maverick”. Paramount had “The Lost City” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
In addition to the cinema releases, there were trailers from Netflix for its entire 2022 films slate it seemed and Amazon Prime Video’s “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and Disney+ series “Moon Kight.” Meanwhile AMC (the broadcaster, not the multiplex operator) showcased “Better Call Saul”, “Interview With a Vampire” and the last season of “The Walking Dead”. This demonstrates that while theatrical blockbuster have primacy, the spending on prestige television shows is not diminishing and is claiming equal footing with the big screen outings.
Source: Quartz
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Celluloid Junkie is the leading online resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business. The Marquee is our newsletter focused on motion picture exhibition; keeping industry professionals informed of important news, the latest trends and insightful analysis