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Movie theater chains Regal and Cinemark are taking it on the chin on Wall Street this morning after a weekend of disappointing box office sales — and the close of an even more dispiriting quarter. Regal’s stock price is down about 4.6% in early trading. Janney Capital Markets downgraded its stock recommendation to “sell” from “neutral.” Lazard Capital and Merriman Capital also lowered their cash-flow projections for Regal. And Cinemark is down about 3.5%. Janney Capital changed its recommendation to “neutral” from “buy” — with Lazard and Merriman also cutting their forecasts. Analysts say that the 4.4% increase in box office sales in the second quarter vs. the same period last year fell far short of their forecasts: Lazard’s Barton Crockett expected a 10% pickup, while Merriman’s Eric Wold thought sales would improve at least 11%. And the holiday weekend didn’t lift their spirits. Crockett says that the $182 million generated domestically by Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon in its first seven days was $29 million less than he expected.
Investors Slam Movie Theater Chains As Box Office Sales Miss Expectations
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Funny, corporate America is slashing jobs left and right, in a misguided attempted to inflate profit margins, and somehow they’re surprised when people don’t have money to pay for goods and services anymore.
There needs to be a “Like” button on this site – LOL
We still have plenty of money, the difference is we are now much more choosey about that which we spend it on. TF3 and Larry Crowne both looked like garbage, so people either stayed home, or went to Cars 2 instead.
If you want to blame anyone, blame the studios for their lack of originality, and the god awful movies they’ve been pumping out lately.
“…corporate America is slashing jobs left and right, in a misguided attempted to inflate profit margins, and somehow they’re surprised when people don’t have money to pay for goods and services anymore.”
Hush, you. Do you want these geniuses to actually start thinking beyond their next earnings’ quarter?
Well two things:
1 – It’s not the chain’s fault for Hollywood producing nothing but Tween movies or terrible RomComs (yeah, an overstatement but you get my drift).
2 – I used to go to the movies just about every weekend. Now I go about 1-2 times a year. There is one sole reason for that and it isn’t Redbox, Netflix or even bad movies. It is because of the rudeness of the other patrons. People talk, text answer the phone, etc. The theater chains do NOTHING about it. All it would take is some minor policing of the theater and the problem would stop. (There is one theater here in L.A. that does it and it’s never a problem – but it’s a bit of a haul for me).
So, Theater owners, POLICE YOUR PATRONS. Either that or put in headphones.
AMC should also be slammed for charging more than the other theatres, claiming that it is because they now have reserved seats. Landmark hasn’t raised their prices and provides a much better movie going experience AND a better selection of movies for people who can still think.
Sorry, but that’s an idiotic comment. Put in headphones? That’s what I want, to wear headgear that hundreds have worn before me. It’s enough to unwrap a pair of 3D glasses and buy the illusion that they’ve never been worn before. Ugh.
If you have to wear headphones to watch a movie, you might as well hop on a plane.
AMEN!
I totally agree. For years I saw 1-2 movies a week. Great movies, mediocre movies, it didn’t matter, it was fun to go to the movies. So far this year I’ve seen one, even though there are lots more I’d like to see. I just can’t stand being around moviegoers.
So, you don’t go because it is a ‘haul’. That is the reason you went from going all the time to 1-2 times a year?
I don’t know why they’re so surprised that no one is going to the movies, when you have to take out a second mortgage for a ticket, popcorn and candy for more than one person. Geez, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.
Hey Doc. Let’s figure $25 to see the movie and buy a drink and popcorn (bring your candy from home). With trailers and an average running time of the movie let’s say the total experience is two and a half hours. Your saying $10 an hour is too much to sit in a comfortable chair in an air conditioned environment and watch exclusive content that is unavailable anywhere else on the planet? Give me a break.
Give you a break? WTF you moron….what planet are you living on? You must be a union rep…didn’t you pay any attention to what happened to the music industry within the past decade? You might look into it…b/c that’s what’s currently happening to the movie industry.
Yes, for most Americans $10 an hour IS TOO EXPENSIVE to sit in an uncomfortable chair in a semi-air conditioned ‘environment’ listening to other selfish patrons text on their ‘smart’ phones during a bad movie that will soon be available via several formats for practically nothing within the next few weeks (if its not already available on the internet or from some street vendor).
You can go take your break alone at one of the many empty movie theaters soon to be closed. I, along with most Americans will choose to stay home.
You can keep saying such things, but there’s a reason why theatres are suffering. When a family of 4 for a matinee out in the sticks is 50+, there’s a problem.
When you multiply that by a family of three or four? Or if you add in the cost of a babysitter if you live your children at home? Yes, it IS too much. The vast majority of the population is feeling a pinch right now, and “exclusive content” is not as important as “exclusive living space” and “exclusive food.”
Responder, you must work for a theater or movie company. Let’s just take a look at the 20-30 minutes of trailers alone. When you purchase anything now-a-days, all advertisement is removed. Why? Because you have paid!
Now, the ten bucks an hour to be surrounded by idiots that have no concern for MY movie going experience is too much. PERIOD! Until the movie chains learn a bit about customer service, I will take the money I save from not going to the movie theaters and continue to add on to my own home theater. My sound is better, my picture might be smaller, but I would argue that it is clearer. Throw in the not being surrounded by idiots, and the money I save in Gas alone, I am now a happy camper. Movie theater concessions are a joke. Take your date to a nice meal instead.
Public venues that make their money from “exclusive content that is unavailable anywhere else on the planet?” need to learn simple customer service. If I am greeted by a nice, personable staff that ARE concerned with my experience in their “home,” I might return more often, but that my friend, just does not exist.
Since I started typing this response, WTF summed up my personal feelings about you quite adequately. I am sorry to say that I agree, you are an out of touch employee of dinosaurs entertainment executives. You will all be extinct soon enough. In the meantime, I will enjoy my home environment.
I have not been to a movie theater for three years. The combination of extortionate ticket prices, average films and screaming kids has no appeal for a thirtysomething guy like myself. Theaters have become hang-outs for juvenile delinquents who will one day be working in them behind the food counter flipping burgers with a bad attitude.
Troublemaker and Ma’at are both right. On the East Coast matinees are $8-10 and prime tickets are $12-15. Thats if it isn not 3D, you dont have to pay for parking, a babysitter and you sneak in your own junk food. So a ticket costs what a lot of minimum wage people work an hour for.
You cant blame a chain for the crappy movies. Larry Crowne? Green Lantern? Mr Poppers Penguins? You want me to give you a few hours of my time and $8-15 for:
A. Movies that are not even as good as the better TV shows – The Wire, Breaking Bad, Lost, Bones
B. Overpaid stars who coast and mug through performances then use the publicity tour to air their political views.
C. Patrons who dont even have the slightest idea of how you behave in public.
D. Movie times that are not accurate – you can count on a good 20 minutes of trailers and COMMERCIALS!
Like Ma’at we used to go to the movies every weekend and sometimes 5-6 times a month. Now it is a ‘good’ year if we go 5-6 times a year. Its not worth the money or the aggravation, not for the inferior movies and not to support the income of an industry that is getting a lot more blatant about how much they underestimate the taste and intelligence and values of the people who support them.
You hit all the nails on the head, Jon!
1) Crappy movies + Crappy expensive + Crappy theatre/audience talking-babies-etc + Crappy movies = Crappy me staying home hugging my Netflix/Redbox/On Demand.
I do miss going. Fix it and I’ll come back.
It’s a sad day when a movie nearly makes back its entire production in the first week and we call it disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, the Transformer movies are total crap, but come on, without even including foreign grosses this movie will more than likely make a huge profit.
Some things that are never reported about the theater business because of the fear of having movie advertising pulled:
1. A theater’s financial success isn’t measured by ticket sales as much as by how the engagement is settled. Distributors often discriminate in favor of chains when it comes to revising terms because they need chains more than they do indie screens.
2. Theaters can make money on cash flow in addition to net by delaying rental payments, thereby giving themselves interest-free investment capitol. Until the distributor CODs them for nonpayment, that is.
3. Action films drive concession sales whereas adult films do not.
4. No theater can make money if it cost more to build or acquire than it can generate in cash flow.
5. Theaters who demand to make the advertising buys make money on commissions even if they have to kick some of it back to the distributor (who doesn’t necessarily credit the kickback to the producer’s account).
6. Studios, distributors, and production companies go out of business all the time. When’s the last time a movie theater chain filed for bankruptcy?
Thanks for the reasonable, fact-based analysis.
As for all the complaints, if you hate going to the movies, it’s kind of strange that you’re online spending valuable time reading about movie theater chains and their stock prices.
No, it’s not strange. Not enjoying going to the movies is not the same thing as not enjoying movies. But I am surprised to see how many of you, who once went weekly to a movie theatre, no longer go or go seldom. I thought it was just me and my crowd.
And it’s not because of rude patrons. The Arclight Theatres are very good about policing the patrons who misbehave, they sell assigned seats on the net and they have 21+ theatres where you can actually get a cocktail. Not that I would choose to pay the prices for one.
But, honestly, it’s a lot more fun to watch on the home theatre and a lot more comfortable. I can have a group experience and invite friends or watch solo dressed in my jammies. Or both!
And comfort doesn’t just mean wearing my jammies. I know I’m not alone in totally hating where sound mixing has gone. The sound effects and music are too damn loud at the expense of the dialog, which often seems an afterthought.
Am I alone in thinking that there should be NO background music when actors are speaking???
Definitely some terrible mix places/stages/studios out there. Combined with theaters not properly calibrated = garbage sound. Saw TF3 on film in a Regal. The trailers playing before it alternated between analog & digital. When MI4 trailer came on, it sounded all distorted. Either a bad print or the theater screwed up.
But…I will say, theaters definitely suck at sound overall. TF3 was turned down WAY too low. My guess is someone complained in earlier screenings that it was too loud so they just lowered it when it starts. I heard the mix as it was originally intended back when Greg was working on it & it sounded awesome.
Hey Sound Guy – Greg and Jeff at Sony Post are two of the best… their sound mixing on TF3 and other action films is part of what makes the movies a real experience!
@Santayana: About 10 years ago, Regal went through chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy, United Artists did the same a couple of years before being taken over by Regal. Loew’s just before being taken over by AMC. Before that, it was a fairly regular ploy for smaller chains to dump their bad locations and unpaid bills through “bankruptcy”. But the big one is coming:
The exhibition empires Regal and AMC together now control almost 2/3 of the screens in the US and are partners in digital conversion. This conversion made it possible to downsize (fire) experienced projectionists, claiming managers could run movies by pushing a button. Floor staff has been cut to the bone. There is no one to check auditoriums for texting, talking, or poor presentation of the movies (either poorly run film or video), in other words, to care about the actual moviegoing experience of their “guests”. Once they have your $$$, nobody cares!
I don’t go often either because it’s just plain irritatng most of the time.
This is not a shabby movie theater either but dark picture quality, scratched up film like an old silent movie just drives me crazy and I want to complain but this is supposed to be a relaxing experience, damn it.
I also feel like I have to be the teacher disciplining students when I go.
As a Canadian moviegoer, I pay 12.75 to get into the theatre [15.75 if it's an AVX - enhanced sound, bigger screen - or 3D presentation; 17.75 if it's a 3D/AVX presentation], plus 19.98 for the large popcorn/large drink/bag of M&Ms. That’s anywhere from $32.76 to $37.76 for ticket and snacks. For eight movies, that coumes to from $262.08 to $302.08. [There are no cheaper prices for matinees...]
For our local pro football team, I can get a season’s ticket [nine games] for $150 [granted, not premium seats] – and my city’s team, had the best record in the league last season. After you factor in snacks, the average price is much the same.
Movies/pro sports. Shouldn’t the former be significantly cheaper than the latter?
And these bozos wonder why admissions are dropping – and 3D is losing its lustre? As Bugs Bunny would say, “Wotta bunch a maroons.”
Dear Sheldon,
ofcourse its going to cost you $150 its the CFL….
Hahaha. Exactly. Try going to an NFL game with a date or your family. Food and drinks. Parking. You’re paying two to three hundo. Just for one game. And those are with cheap seats.
VOD…DAY & DATE…as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow…and, at a price point people will like…so much for the theater experience and the outrageous costs.
I’m not surprised. None of my family is below age 17, but if we want to go see a movie together? It costs us around $50, and that’s if we make the earliest showing (harder on weekdays when people work)/it’s not 3D or IMAX/we don’t get any snacks or drinks/have to pay for parking/go to the little dinky theater that’s close and not the big one 40 minutes away. If you add up all of the above things, even if you opt out of 3D/IMAX and snacks, it gets expensive fast. And it’s not like we’re seeing little kid movies – we go see adult movies, action movies, whatever. It’s just expensive to go individually and even more expensive to try and make an outing of it, so the movie that we DO go see has to be worth it.
A lot of people wait to see if their friends liked a movie and then look at how much it will cost vs how much you’ll save if you wait until it’s out on DVD and decide to see it that way. It’s harder to justify spending that kinda money when most of the movies that come out are crap that you can catch later from Netflix or Redbox.
Idiot and greedy analysts at it again! These morons just don’t have a clue as to what is going on, or not going on, in the economy. These are the same folks who cheer job cuts but panic when unemployment numbers are too high. The whole lot deserve to be put out of work and worse! Another reason to stay out of publicly traded companies and to keep your company out of the stock market.
I love movies, I love going to movies, and I believe there are great movies being made today and great movies coming to us soon (as a matter of fact, I’m writing a few of the upcoming great ones myself!). However, I do agree that texting/talking/rude patrons is an issue. That’s why I try to catch early showings during weekdays when this isn’t such an issue, at least in my area of the country. I would love to see “no texting/gaming” policies enforced, but I do understand that the world changes and that many people feel the need to be connected 24/7. I also understand why theatres owners don’t want to raise an issue with rude patrons during a film, thus perhaps ruining the movie experience for other patrons. In my area, there are “cry-baby” matinees where parents can freely take very young (and perhaps loud) children and everyone knows what they are getting in to. Why not have similar type matinees/shows where auditoriums are indeed “policed” for “offenders?” I believe there is a solution for everyone concerning this issue. I would be happy to pay an extra few bucks to know that I could enjoy a quiet movie-loving crowd!
Main probs:
Presentation quality is a 50-50 crapshoot almost every time out at major circuits. The outrageous (or willful) inattentiveness to sight/sound/comfort for EVERY show in EVERY theatre is the very worst and most easily fixed issue. Exhibition investments don’t begin and end with equipment. There is enough money in this business to make sure projectors are run competently and at peak technical capabilities at all times. Studios need to be better partners with exhibition here, perhaps sharing more BO so we can have skilled, dedicated projectionists again. Resulting audience growth will more than make up for it.
The complete vacuum of civility among patrons, with no discernible guidelines or enforcement from theatres. Toothless policy trailers and absentee or powerless employees only feed the problem. If the audience knew that it wouldn’t have to tolerate rude, disruptive misfits destroying their moviegoing experience they would come back in droves. Throw this together with shitty projection and who in their right mind would come back when you can HD the same movie in your home if you can wait 6 months?
Prices are absurd, even without 3D upcharges. A $10+ matinee? $20 a head to see another groin shot and step in #2 montage? The paucity of quality becomes more apparent as the prices rise.
This is the free market at work. The business is not delivering for the cost. People aren’t dumb and most only have so much money to spend on stuff they don’t need.
Honestly, as an adult I avoid chain movie theaters unless I have some specific knowledge that they are different from most (crappy food, annoying patrons, etc). I love going to movies. Movie theater owners need to get with the times, though – provide good, healthy food, etc.
This is not the 80′s anymore. People have become more varied and sophisticated in their tastes. People who go to movies do not wanted to be treated like customers at a crappy fast-food outlet.
Oh, and the commercials are also driving people away. They are beyond offensive.
(P.S. Cinebarre is a rare example of a chain that does it right).
Dull movies, annoying talking people, and not to mention the filthy bathrooms, floors and threat of bedbug infestation.
I think that a lot of people think that it is the other movie patrons that get on their nerves but sub consciously that really doesn’t matter. I think that whether they know it or not that they think of going to a movie and then they think about the price. They don’t want to pay that much unless it is for a move that they desperately want to see. I think that they are more inclined to wait for dollar theaters or red box.
What a bunch of babies this comments section has attracted. How hard is it to adjust your viewing habits?
There were no texting teenagers when I went to see ‘Midnight in Paris.’ There were no crying babies when I went to the 9:30 PM showing of ‘Wall-E.’ You all know who the who the ones with poor behavior are, so make an effort to avoid them. If nothing looks interesting in the big theatre, then see what’s playing at your local indy or college theatre, or go to the 2nd run discount theatre instead if you think prices are too high. Plus, you can avoid texting teens by going to a weekday matinee while they’re still in school or waiting a few weeks after the movie’s release. The teens have already moved on to the next hottest thing and you can enjoy the movie distraction-free.
Instead of buying huge sodas and popcorn for you and a date, just take him/her out to dinner before the show instead. They’ll appreciate it a lot more and it will likely cost about the same.
If your theatre cuts corners on equipment maintenance and operation, then complain to management. If they keep having to give refunds, then eventually they’ll get the hint and it won’t make financial sense to cut corners.
@College Student…
You’ve made some good points, but here’s a problem… there are people who live in areas (both urban and rural) where the big godzilla-plex theater chain is the only game in town.
The local indy, college and 2nd-run discount theaters are becoming an endangered species (there are no movie theaters — indy, college or 2nd run discount — in my Southwest Side Chicago neighborhood, and the “closest” godzilla-plex theater is some 20 miles away out in one of the ‘burbs, which is where I had those 3 horrible movie-going experiences last year). After having to make a 40 mile-round trip on the bus to go to the movies and enduring various aggravations, becoming a “shut-in” becomes unavoidable, particularly if you’re a senior citizen or a person with disabilities (such as myself) who depends on public transportation to get around.
So, I’d rather be a shut-in and watch a movie on VOD or DVD, than to go through the hassle and expense of a movie-going experience which has become less enjoyable and more frustrating.
Uh, so many others have stated it well.
Overall it’s the entire industries fault. From the stars to the studios, to the theatre owners and everyone in between.
They all just keep raising their prices and then wonder why we stop going to the movies.
The last few theatre experiences I have had have not been all that bad as far as the other patrons go but, the over all experiences is horrible.
Over priced bad popcorn with some sort of grease on it, And the drinks..please.
The price of admission? Going nuts.
The quality of some movies? Lousy.
I am sick to death of almost all sequels with few exceptions. I have been to the movies from an all time high of maybe 20 times a year to 2 or 3.
And movies aimed at kids are enough to drive me up a wall.
To the shut-ins that can’t interact with your species, you have my sympathies.
For those that find $10 / hr too dear a price to pay for entertainment: regret you didn’t pay closer attention in school? Ended up with a shit job did ya? Well, we’ll always need your types to sweep up after the party.
So many posters have done an eloquent job of stating what’s wrong with the movie business, and I totally agree with their analysis of the dismal state of the movie biz.
After having endured three hideous moviegoing experiences last year, I decided that it just wasn’t worth the time and money to go to the movies and getting little or nothing in return, except a lot of aggravation and a 3D induced migraine.
In Chicago, adult matinee ticket prices have jumped from $5.00 – $6.00 to $10.00 in the past year, while a non-matinee adult admission is $13.50 (3D ticket prices are $18.50). That’s a lot of money to shell out to go see a film which will make its debut on VOD/DVD/Blu three months later. I’d rather pay $5.00 to watch a movie on VOD in the comfort of my home than to pay $50.00+ to sit in an uncomfortable seat in a theater that’s the size of a Cracker Jack box among a bunch of strangers who are doing everything else but watching the movie.
So, plenty of others have stated what I am about to, but others like to call them out because some haven’t put reasoning behind their statements. Well here are the reasons, so in the words of Chelsea Handler “Suck on that!” Because the theaters are in some serious trouble, and this is why…
1. Ticket Price: Ticket pricing is ridiculous and does not suffice for what you are getting. You have to spend about $12-$15 (or more) for just regular 2-D movies. The prices are even worse for 3-D. Sure, you can try going to a morning showing, but theaters tend to stick the newest movies in the “director’s hall” and such theaters so they can jack up the price. I used to get my friends to go to the random showings (early morning, mid-afternoon, late at night), because they would only be $6 a ticket and maybe a few other people would be there. Most recently, others must have caught on because the last several “random” and cheap showings were packed.
2. The Dirty-@$$ Theater: Movie theaters are so grimy and disgusting. Remember the news story that some theaters had bed bugs in the seats? There is always gum, popcorn, candy, or sticky substance on the floor. People purposely spill drinks on the seats or throw their popcorn. I’m not sure why because if I’m spending $5+ on a popcorn, I’m taking the bag home! Which is a fairly decent point to why the pricing for tickets is not a fair price.
3. Moviegoers: The other moviegoers also ruin a good time and your experience in the theater. They are constantly texting, talking on the phone, talking to one another, or being ridiculous. It is people of all ages also, which is also very annoying. At some rather packed theaters for a PG13 or lower rated movie, you get groups of kids getting up and causing scenes. One time when I was in a theater, a group of teen girls were laughing so loud and got so rowdy that one whipped another’s cell phone at the screen! Not one person from the theater made them leave or even acknowledged it. Another time, there was this group of teen boys who were yelling out curse words to the screen and after other patrons yelled at them they stopped. Last but not least, I was at an R-rated movie and a woman actually brought her daughter (3-5). During a fairly graphic sex scene the little girl yelled out, “What’s he doing to her?” The most annoying thing is when people bring their infants or babies to the theater. Your 6-month old is not going to enjoy or remember the movie. We will remember your baby crying the entire time and ruining it for us though. A big reason to why the price should not be so high.
4. The Theater: Yep, them too. This counteracts with the annoying and selfish moviegoers. How so? Well, they do not even have ushers patrolling the theaters anymore so it is total chaos. All the rowdy and loud people, young and old, are left alone and unspoken to so they continue to do so. They should not allow children into R rated movies, because it is awkward and inappropriate. By “children,” I mean below 13 years of age. Theaters should have rules, and not just the “no talking, no cell phones, no smoking” advertisement 5 minutes before the movie starts. They should have some rules and enforce them. The theaters are also responsible for the filthy show rooms. It’s almost like nobody bothers cleaning them until the theater closes. The employees are so lazy and could care less about annoying patrons or a bucket of popcorn on the floor.
5. Quality: The actual screens in some theaters are really bad. You can see they are cut in half or even four parts. Other times there are dents, holes, or dirt/dust on them. The other thing is that the color seems drained and off. There was that story about theaters being too lazy to change the 3-D lenses or filters.
6. Food and Drink is Pricy: When I was at the theaters just a month back I remembered seeing a bottle of water, not any special brand, for $6! Candy and candy bars range from $3-$5 and most can be found for less than a dollar in your local grocery store. To the people that say to “bring your own food and drinks,” that’s almost impossible to do. The ushers will not allow you to go past them with a soda from Burger King or a bag from McDonalds. They only allow their foods and drink to go through, hence them putting their theaters logo in bold lettering on everything. Sure, you could slip by them with candy, but some theaters actually ask to look in your purse/bags, so if you have a large amount, be careful.
7. DVDs are Cheaper: I can wait an additional 3-5 months after the movie gets a DVD release and find it brand new for $6-$9, and watch it in the comfort of my own home. I don’t have to worry about getting to see it at a certain time, stepping or sitting in filth, or annoying people yapping the whole time. And sometimes DVDs are even close to clearance price when they first come out or are the next week.
8. The Movie: Sometimes the movie itself is not worth the hassle. It may be a big anticipated comedy or summer blockbuster, but in the end you may find yourself saying “I spent that much, sat in a theater of animals, and got gum on my pants for this!?” The only times I ever go to see a movie now is if it is a sequel that I really want to see (Fast Five, Scream 4), or a new movie that looks awesome and theater-worthy (Taken, Alice in Wonderland). I have this thing where, unless it is action-packed, a sequel, and sometimes 3-D, I don’t bother seeing it in theaters.
And sure, the experience is not always horrible, but is it ever good or great? When you are paying for a movie ticket, you are paying for the entire experience, not just the movie. So if the experience is lousy, you are going to bad-mouth the theater and not only be discouraged to return as often but also discourage others from going. Maybe this news will make theaters actually willing to improve their all-around quality, but if not, well… adios movie theaters.
Is anybody from NATO or the individual chains reading these comments and others like them? Please sign on with your company name. Or are you still just in the chair business?
people like tom hanks should forget the $29Mil salaries. those days are over.
it’s all about CinemaLibre nowadays.