Tag: theaters

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Tom Cruise Says He Would Not Allow ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ To Debut On Streaming

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As most of you know, the ‘Top Gun‘ sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ is finally entering theaters in just one short week after a two year delay, thanks in large part to COVID-19. It was originally supposed to be released in June of 2020.

It was then pushed back multiple times, and at one point, some wondered if the film would simply premiere on a streaming platform.

But Tom Cruise would not let that happen for a couple reasons. One being he and the director filmed this movie specifically for theaters. The high flying stunts in the movie were designed for the big screen.

The second reason? He loves movie theaters.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with theater owners. The people that serve the popcorn, the ones who make this [happen],” he said before the film’s premiere at Cannes.

The actor said he called movie theater owners with a message: ‘Please, I know what you’re going through. Just know we are making ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Top Gun’ is coming out.’

He added that he makes movies for the big screen, and that’s how it’ll always be. He’s truly one of the last blockbuster action stars we have today, whether you like him or not.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is set to hit theaters on June 24, 2022.

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Barb and Star…Go To The Theaters? Alamo Drafthouse Is Bringing The Comedy Duo To A Theater Near You!

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Alamo Drafthouse, one of the best theaters in the world, has plans to bring the outrageous comedy film ‘Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar’ to their theater locations across the country.

The cinema chain made the surprise announcement this week. According to the report, the first screening will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse location in Los Angeles on September 12.

The event, which doubles as a record release party, will feature a live in-theater musical performance by Richard Cheese, a lounge singer who has a memorable presence in the film. Audience members will be able to buy culinary nods to the movie, such hotdog soup and a fishbowl drink (with a buried treasure at the bottom, of course). Attendees will also receive a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl.

Following that grand event, it’ll then hit all their locations on September 19. And get this, the chain plans to remove their strict “no talking” rule for the screenings. They want people to party with Barb and Star.

Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League had this to say…

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is an audience movie if ever there was one. It was the most joyous movie-watching moment of the entire COVID times. There are a few of us at Alamo who are raging devotees to this movie, and we made a pact when theaters were back open, we wanted to share this movie with more people.

Dreams do come true, huh?

Lionsgate originally wanted to release the comedy inside theaters, but the pandemic pushed everything back, and eventually they decided to simply release it on demand. It worked out well for them. We have to imagine it was one of the more popular films released during the pandemic.

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Sets Pandemic Box Office Record With A Cool $48.5 Million Debut

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It’s official, folks. Movie theaters are back. Maybe not 100%, but they’ll be there in a couple months.

The Warner Bros./Legendary Entertainment film, Godzilla vs. Kong, set a pandemic-era box office record this past weekend with a hefty $48.5 million five-day total. $32 million of that came over the weekend.

That exceeded the industry’s expectations and easily marked the biggest debut since coronavirus hit. Prior to this weekend, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ had the biggest three-day start with $16.7 million, followed by ‘Tom and Jerry’ with $14 million.

The movie played in over 3,000 cinemas across the country. This performance is especially impressive because you can watch the movie on HBO Max without even leaving your house.

This means that even with the option to watch it at home, a lot of consumers were still itching to get back inside a theater.

It’s very good news for theater owners. Honestly. I think it’s more than enough proof that theaters are not dead, and they won’t be dying anytime soon.

At the international box office, where ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ opened last weekend, revenues for the monster mashup have surpassed $236 million. It brought in another $71 million overseas this weekend, including a strong $44 million in China, bringing the film’s global tally to $285 million. The movie cost $165 million to produce and will require outsized ticket sales to turn a profit.

This summer should be exciting, as long we avoid any unnecessary surges with different COVID variants.

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Warner Bros. Strikes Deal With Regal Cinemas, Will End Same Day HBO Max Release In 2022

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When Warner Bros. announced that all their movies in 2021 would be released on HBO Max on the same day they hit theaters, the movie world nearly collapsed.

People were POSITIVE this would be the end of theaters, but of course, those people were wrong. People have been predicting the death of theaters for decades now.

And while theaters have greatly suffered this past year, they’re ready to make a big return this summer. In anticipation of this, Warner Bros. just worked out a deal with Regal Cinemas, the number two theater chain in the world.

For now, Regal will agree to show Warner Bros.’ films even though they will be streaming on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters. But starting in 2022, Warner Bros. has agreed to give its new releases 45 days of exclusive theatrical engagement at Regal before putting them on the HBO Max streaming service.

This means Warner Bros. will no longer be allowed to premiere movies on their streaming service on the same day of their theatrical release…starting in 2022.

This is likely the first of many similar deals WB will strike with other theater chains, and it certainly appears as though when movie theaters return, the new normal will be a 45 day window. Before the pandemic, theater chains held fast to a 90-day window of theatrical exclusivity before a film was eligible to go on streaming or VOD.

So while this might’ve changed the theater industry, it didn’t kill it. People still want to see movies inside theaters. They also want to watch movies from their bed. Both can be true and both can exist together.

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‘In The Heights’ Release Date Gets Moved AGAIN, But This Time It’s Being Moved Up!

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COVID-19 caused complete chaos inside most Hollywood studios, with execs scrambling around trying to figure out new release dates for all the films that were supposed to be released last year.

The movie-musical event ‘In The Heights‘ was supposed to hit theaters back in June of 2020, but the release was pushed back indefinitely due to the pandemic.

Later in the year, it was revealed they were shooting for a new release date of June 18, 2021.

Okay, great, right? Well, now it’s changing again…BUT ONLY BY ONE WEEK AND IT’S ACTUALLY ONE WEEK EARLIER!

The new release date is June 11. The director of the film, Jon M. Chu, announced the news on his Twitter account…

Exciting news for fans. This feels like a movie that should be watched inside a theater. You need that energy, you know? So it’s nice to see it’s still getting a theatrical release, alongside the HBO Max premiere.

Check out the trailer below…

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Theaters In New York City Are Now Open, After Being Closed For A Year!

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We have been dealing with this COVID-19 pandemic for a solid year now, and for the majority of that time, movie theaters have been closed.

In the past couple months, theaters in smaller markets had opened back up, but major markets like Los Angeles and New York City remained completely shutdown.

And while theaters in LA haven’t opened just yet, the cinema in New York City is back…kinda!

Movie theaters have been allowed to reopen in NYC at 25% capacity.

When Cuomo announced the reopening on February 22, he limited theaters to one out of every four available seats and no more than 50 people. That’s a lot of X’s on the seating chart. If you reserve at an AMC, the system automatically blocks out the seats on either side.

But still, 25% capacity is so much better than 0%. I think we can all agree on that. And as long as we avoid another outbreak, this should give theaters enough time to prepare for the summer blockbuster hits.

Come May/June/July, theaters should be fully open in smaller markets, and at least 50% to 75% capacity in the bigger markets like NYC and LA.

And people in NYC are excited, even NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. He plans to celebrate with a date night…

That dinky, and let’s be honest, tacky, sign in LA can’t mask the fact NYC is the real entertainment capital. So get your popcorn ready, folks, because movie theaters are back in action and it’s date night at the Yang household.

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Christopher Nolan Slams HBO Max And Warner Bros. For 2021 Release Strategy

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Christopher Nolan has been making movies with Warner Bros. for nearly two decades, but now it looks like their relationship has soured.

As we told you earlier this month, Warner Bros. revealed a new release plan for the upcoming 2021 movie season. They plan to release all their upcoming blockbusters on HBO Max at the same time they enter theaters.

They claimed it was because they knew 2021 would still be a turbulent year and they wanted to get ahead of the curve. But others say it was more of a protective move.

Surprisingly to some in the industry, sources say the idea was the brainchild of Warner Bros. COO Carolyn Blackwood who, looking at a relatively weak 2021 slate, saw an opportunity to avoid the humiliation of potentially bad grosses while currying favor with streamer-obsessed higher-ups. 

Well, Nolan talked to The Hollywood Reporter about this move by Warner Bros., and it’s safe to say he was not happy.

Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service.

Warner Bros. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing. Their decision makes no economic sense, and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction.

Ouch. Now we all know Nolan has a pretty strong theater fetish. I mean, I do as well. I love going to the movies, but Nolan is like…IT DOESN’T COUNT UNLESS IT’S INSIDE A THEATER!

This is kinda similar to the political world right now. You have extremes on both sides. You have people like Nolan, and then you have people who seem to believe theaters are dead and we should just forget about them.

There is room in the middle, and honestly, I’m not thrilled with Warner Bros. decision either. I think it’s a big hit to theaters when they can’t afford to take any other hits.

So, hey, I guess I’m all for this rant by Nolan. But at the same time, you can’t just stick your fingers inside your ears and pretend everything is going to be back to normal in a few months.

Things may not be “normal” until August, so studios have to make a plan. You can’t just keep pushing movies back. I don’t know what the solution is.

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Warner Bros. Plans To Release Entire 2021 Film Slate On Both HBO Max And Inside Theaters

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Even though a vaccine is coming, and the pandemic should be (hopefully) going away sometime next year, Warner Bros. isn’t taking any chances.

They just released a major announcement this week. In a never-before-seen move, they plan to release their entire 2021 film slate on their streaming service HBO Max and inside theaters at the same time.

This means, if you have HBO Max, you’ll be able to watch ‘Matrix 4,‘ ‘Dune,’ ‘In The Heights,’ and ‘The Suicide Squad‘ from your home.

Following the one month HBO Max access period domestically, each film will leave the platform and continue theatrically in the U.S. and international territories, with all customary distribution windows applying to the title.

So basically, the films will be released inside theaters and HBO Max at the same time, then after 30 days, the movie will leave the streaming service and only be available inside theaters until it reaches the traditional home entertainment frame.

And while some will see this as a big “f**k you” to the movie theater industry, Warner Bros. claims they’re just preparing for another challenging year…

We’re living in unprecedented times which call for creative solutions, including this new initiative for the Warner Bros. Pictures Group. No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do. We know new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will likely operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021.

With this unique one-year plan, we can support our partners in exhibition with a steady pipeline of world-class films, while also giving moviegoers who may not have access to theaters or aren’t quite ready to go back to the movies the chance to see our amazing 2021 films.

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Regal/Cineworld Confirms They Are Temporarily Suspending U.S. And U.K. Operations

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As some of you may have heard, the upcoming James Bond film ‘No Time To Die‘ was pushed back again over the weekend. Instead of releasing this November, it’s now expected to drop on April 2, 2021.

This was a huge blow to cinemas across the world, ’cause they were counting on the movie to bring back the crowds come November.

But now? They don’t know what they’re going to do, and on Monday it was confirmed that Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld Group will be temporarily suspending operations in the U.S. and the U.K.

In response to an increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cineworld confirms that it will be temporarily suspending operations at all of its 536 Regal theatres in the U.S. and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theaters in the U.K. from Thursday, 8 October 2020.

They talked about how the lack of new releases is making it difficult to attract customers.

Without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the U.S. and the U.K. — the company’s primary markets — with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theaters against the backdrop of COVID-19.

The closure will impact at least 45,000 employees. They did not say when they would return, but sources believe it won’t be until 2021. Although some speculate that if the upcoming Wonder Woman film does get released in December, they might reopen a month early.

Hopefully theaters are able to come back strong in 2021. I’m so hopeful for that. I love going to the movies, and it would be sad to see them go under.

I’m optimistic though. If the virus eases in 2021, then it could be a record year for theaters with all the new releases coming out. It’ll be one giant release after the other…IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN.

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People Are Flying Across The Country To Watch Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Film

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How far would you travel to watch a movie? 20 miles? 30? 40? 50? What about 1,300 miles? A California resident named Tyler Tompkins booked a plane ride to see ‘Tenet‘ in Austin, TX, weeks before tickets even went on sale.

He booked the round-trip flight through Spirit Airlines for a cool $220, and he’ll arrive just in time to watch Christoper Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ film on the big screen on September 1.

I’m seeing the movie like three hours after I land. That’s the whole purpose of this trip. My friends think I’m crazy, going all the way across the country to watch it, but we want to show support for this film and we’ll do anything to see it.

He plans to watch it twice before jumping on a plane and flying right back to Los Angeles. So in total, this trip is probably going to cost him over $300.

When we were certain the film was coming out in the U.S. and I saw the theater I used to go to all the time in Austin was showing the movie on Sept. 1, I immediately bought a plane ticket. We’re just happy it’s finally happening. Nolan and Warner Bros. are taking a huge chance on this $200 million movie. We want to make sure we support it in any way possible.

Not surprising, Tompkins moved from Austin to Los Angeles to chase his dreams of becoming a filmmaker, so maybe this is his way of fitting in.

He’s not the only one though. Several people are crossing state lines to watch the movie. Another Los Angeles resident admitted he was flying to Salt Lake City to watch the movie.

He admitted it was stupid, but “it’s something I’m interested in,” he added.

And hey, no judgement here. If you have the time and the money, and that’s how you want to spend it…do you. I ain’t mad.