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This kind of pact makes me ill because it shows yet again what a cartel the major motion studios really are because they collude more than they compete. After a more than year-long negotiation, Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate are pacting with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, the biggest exhibitor consortium previously without a studio deal for digital cinema, to fund the costs of 14,000 digital projection systems for the top theater chains. The pact with Regal Cinemas, AMC and Cinemark in the U.S. and Canada is for a three-year period beginning in 2009. The deals also should quicken the conversion to 3-D, with those costs to be absorbed solely by exhibitors. Sony and Warner Bros are still in advanced negotiations. Soon DCIP can tap a $1 billion financing package it’s arranging with JP Morgan and Blackstone to help shoulder the digital cinema pricetag.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Smart move…..and btw, hope you feel better soon.
One world order? More like one studio order… soon enough… soon enough.
What is not to love about this deal? Theaters have been looking for a way to absorb the cost of going digital for a long time.
You say that shows the studios are a cartel, but these are the companies that are driving the future of cinema. Many union types here complain that everything is going to the internet. This deal will strengthen the place movies have in the cinema.
More importantly, this deal significantly lowers the cost to digitally distribute a film, which helps independent producers like myself compete with the giants that you love to hate.
Ugghh…digital cinema…saw the Dark Knight in Digital cinema. The contrast ratio was so bad, some scenes weren’t even visible, all washed out. The blacks were closer to gray…looked muddy and awful. Went again to see it on film and it looked like a different movie.
LCD is an awful technology forced on consumers, and now this…only good digital cinema I’ve ever seen was at the Mann’s Chinese…otherwise…they’re not even going to try.
uh… that last indie producer comment? painfully, naively wrong. If a studio subsidizes the installation of an expensive digital projector, don’t you think there will be a deal relating to content? you think they’ll let the exhibitor play *your* film and still get first dibs on the next blockbuster? this is a back-door return to the sort of vertical integration that was outlawed in this industry decades ago. be very afraid.
There is talk of a “virtual print fee” of $1000. per theatre to show a film digitally. This is supposed to help defray the cost of the digital equipment. That will likely eliminate independent films being shown at all. What about special one time only screenings, where does that fit in? Also there is the cost of a D-Cinema master that is somewhere around $2500. Correct me if anyone has better information.
Jack,
The cost is around $1.500 for an analog print when you make 2.000-3.000 prints. The virtual print is somewhere 1/10 of that.
It’s more cost-effective and you can transmit through satellite and a superfast internet connection…
Everyone that I talk too love the digital cinema format. I’ve been two digital cinemas already. The Malco 17,Madison Ms and the Rave Motion Picture Cinemas in Destin,Florida. Just by experince I can tell you the picture is clear and sharp. Not to mention the sound is incredible. U know most cinema operators are suspicious still of this new techinical format? But it makes going to the movies interesting.
When I saw the Dark Knight in Digital I was blowned away. Picture clarity and everything.
I thought I pass a local cinema update: rumors persist that Vicksburg is going to get two cinemas. So far it’s only rumor nothing announced publicly. I waiting the see results if there are any.
I don’t see this as a studio cartel deal. This is more of a theater cartel deal between AMC, Cinemark and Regal. Only these three chains will have access to the cash, meaning they will move quickly to install digital projectors to crush smaller chains and independent theaters because audiences have shown they prefer digital showings (even if they can’t tell the difference visually, but they have fallen for the digital hype).
From what I read, Warner and Sony will eventually sign on, so you’ll have all the major studios contributing virtual print fees to these exhibitors to pay off the loans from JP Morgan and Blackstone. Other theater chains are currently being left in the dust.
There’s been a huge amount of theater closings this September, usually because a brand new multiplex has been plunked down near an older multiplex or single-screen theater. And those new multiplexes have usually been an AMC, Cinemark or Regal operation. This deal will just hasten the process of crushing the competition.
I think the studios are actually being bullied by AMC, Cinemark and Regal into paying the fee.
I wish the studios acted more like a cartel sometimes. Then maybe we’d have gotten video on the Internet years earlier, adopted HD video disks at least a year or two sooner, finally made an agreement on 10.2 as the next generation of sound for theatrical release, maybe even prevented the WGA and (likely) SAG strikes. In my experience, the studios come together so rarely on something that it’s surprising that anything like this happens at all.
Besides, how does this make things worse for indies? It’s prohibitively expensive to distribute via theatre right now. Switching to digital at least allows for the potential of less expensive releases, and I’m sure there will be some legal wrangling along the way that keeps the studios from setting too high a bar. The theater owners have too much to lose if they can’t use the projectors for anything other than studio films – there’s money to be made with sports, events like the Oscars and the Met, film & tv festivals, even private screenings.
I don’t think some of you get it. Traditional film projection with 35mm prints is extremely cost prohibitive for an independent film. It is not because we are paying for the prints ourselves.
Almost all independent flicks that make it to the theater are bought by studios or large companies anyway. These companies are hesitant to release indie content wide due to cost of prints and the potential loses.
If the per theater cost is brought down, more studios and release companies will take a chance on wider releases for independent content.
It is not in the theaters best interest to lock out content. The studios need every screen at every theater they can get for their tent poll releases.
The cost for the major studios to produce a 35mm print can actually range from $600 to $1500 depending on film length, stock chosen and where they are produced and currently it is often MORE expensive to release a film in digital as the “virtual print fee” is about $1100.00 per location. This doesn’t include the fee to deliver the hard drive to the theatre as the industry has yet to convert to transmitting the print via the net or satellite. The hard drives are still “bicycled” to theatres just like their “old school” counterparts in film cans.
One of the chief delays in the majors converting from 35 to digital has been the tremendous cost differences in equipment and the fact that the technology keeps evolving. On average it costs between $50 and $75k (depending on manufacturer and type) to equip an auditorium with a 35mm projector (including platters etc.). Said projector lasts *conservatively* 50 years and the expense can be amortized over the course of several years. A digital projector costs nearly DOUBLE and they don’t know the lifespan of the projectors nor how long the current 2k format will be the “standard”! A digital projector purchased for $100k could be obsolete in 2 years and work for 5! The exhibitors have been smart to wait it out because in the long run the studios are the ones that can take advantage of the decreased costs -
Passionate, knowledgeable cinefiles can engage in debate resolution and image quality but the reality is that the average moviegoer CAN NOT tell the difference between the two formats – most don’t even realize there are different aspect ratios…
The TREMENDOUS advantage of the digital format is the overall QUALILTY of the presentation. Outside of key theatres in the LA and NYC area the presentation in theatres across the country has gotten so piss poor that it’s not surprising consumers stay home. Okay okay blah blah blah ticket prices…sticky floors…blah blah blah but the fact is that AMC, Regal and Cinemark have been building for years new theatres with better sightlines, bigger, more comfortable seats and other amenities but the biggest single area that can kill a movie going experience is presentation – it is what they are there for after all!
In the early 90’s the unions were ousted from the projection booth* leaving it to theatre staff to handle. All it takes is one missed roller, incorrect tension in the film gate and WHAM…green scratches down the film…pops and crackles from damage to the sound track or a film that starts late, goes out of focus or the horrible times when part of the film falls off the platter and the entire show is lost. The inconsistent and unsatisfactory presentation in theatres for the last 20 years has contributed to the erosion of the marketplace. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into a theatre 25 miles from the center of Hollywood (where you get the best equipment, sound and attention in the booth) and had a flat trailer played with a scope lens (and no turret system to accommodate both formats) – on a Saturday night – which means it’s been playing that way for at least 8 showings…or gone to a movie opening night and had scratches down the center of the film making it virtually unwatchable.
Before anyone goes off half cocked I’ve threaded projectors and while it’s not hard to do there is finesse required and while I can appreciate that there are many theatres with staff that care and try to put on a good show but all it takes is one mistake and the print and all future showing can be ruined. Digital conversion will virtually eliminate this problem.
Digital is coming my friends…35mm will always be around…but for those in independent film – they stand to gain the most…anyone who says differently doesn’t know what it costs or how distribution works. With digital doors will be opened far more than the 35mm world…
*Don’t get me started on that one…the union blew it with ridiculous pay rates – $100k a year to work 36 hours a week! Puhleese!!
Indie producer u want to know another effect on the box office? Cinema closings. I remember when a release made billion of dollars on the weekend and holiday openings. Now they make only millions I suspect due to cineam closures that are taking place.
There are many dinosaurs in this industry who never adapt or figure it out too late. So a film projector lasts 50 years – that is a great business model for a dollar theater, but not for a state of the art cinema experience, which is what the consumers are demanding.
There are more screens than ever. It is just that they are in these mega-plexs. I understand that small theaters are being replaced, but just look at Wal-Mart. They were once vilified for putting mom and pop stores out of business, but now are loved (ok – that might be a stretch) because the value and savings that are offered.
People in this industry love to hold on to the past. The problem (or significant advantage to the Indie Producer) with that is innovation and technology does not stop and wait for them to catch up.
The cinemas that close are locations that are:
A)Under-screened – you need continual product to keep the doors open
B)Run down and it’s too costly to upgrade
C)Competitors have built and the audience base has shifted
Indie cinema can flourish with digital conversion. Look at the inroads that digital has already made – in theatres across the country audiences can see the Metropolitan Opera – and it’s a huge success – sell out crowds and in some markets the performances are beamed in live. Audiences who can’t afford to fly to can see lavish performances typically reserved for the elite!
Everyone groans about a 20 plex and a blockbuster opening on 5-6 screens but with digital indie filmmakers could get creative – it’s all about getting your movie seen on the big screen right? Today a true indie film opens in NY/LA and then the prints are bicycled around from one crappy art house to another around the country until the print is virtually unwatchable. If you live in the LA area check out the Laemmle in Santa Monica. It’s disgusting – the seats are ancient, it smells, the sound is substandard – the picture angle and screen placement are awful. To be honest I’m worry about getting the clap from the seats – and not the bathroom ones!
The theatre chains are open to new ideas – new ways to generate revenue and foster movie-going and the standard “grind” (4 to 5 shows a day per screen) can be and WILL BE altered to accommodate a variety of new programming (sporting events, concerts, theatre etc.). There is no reason that indie film can’t be a part of those changes. Isn’t the true spirit of independent film one of innovation? Since the marketplace is ever changing with the internet and new technology playing a huge role the indie film movement has the most to gain – if it would only stop whining and get on with it. Free yourselves of the stale “old school” distribution way of doing business!
Get ahead of the curve – stop trying to hold onto the tail end!