Those not used to them by now must live in some remote area of the world. Some clever artist needs to paint the world with masks including animals, plants, trees … every living thing should be masked.
And then like the band Kiss, after a vaccine is available, we can all unmask and sing, Lick It Up.
Ok, I’m being silly. I’ve been working more lately because, ironically, we lost a bunch of our temp labor and a lot of people aren’t wanting to work right now because they will make more on unemployment + the $600/week CARES Act. Yeah, don’t get me started on that.
But it’s good to know that all three movie theaters will require masks, but not inside the theater when eating and drinking. I was wondering how convenient it would be eating popcorn and drinking soda with a mask on.
“For the safety of our guests, employees and communities, Cinemark will require that face masks be worn throughout our theatres. Masks may be removed when eating and drinking inside the auditorium,” reads an updated Cinemark Standard safety policy on the chain’s website.
I’ve finally found a mask I like that doesn’t fog up my glasses very often. It’s got big comfortable string that’s yarn-like soft and comfortable. The fabric is double-mesh. My son gave it to me from his job because he wanted to wear a different type of mask. His loss, this mask is great and the price — free — even better!
Have you gone creative with your mask? Found one with some style or are you strictly the “give me whatever you have paper mask?” type?
Simultaneous theater and home release streaming is coming April 10, 2020 with Trolls World Tour, “thanks” to the coronavirus, at the rental cost of $19.99.
The streaming is about the only thing that is guaranteed.
Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” will be the first movie it will simultaneously debut online and in theaters on April 10. Other films that are currently in theaters, like “The Invisible Man,” “The Hunt” and “Emma” will be available for a 48-hour rental as soon as Friday with the suggested price of $19.99.
Again, that is if the theaters are open again by April 10.
We’re in Las Vegas right now and it’s a real dead zone here, except for drive-thru, take out only food, grocery stores and gas stations. The casinos are saying they will start taking reservations again on May 1.
Again: May 1.
So, it might be a bit optimistic to think the movie theaters will be open again three weeks from now. We weren’t able to catch I Still Believe or Emma in theaters as planned here in Vegas before the theaters all closed, so going to have to catch those on streaming.
It’s too early to speculate if this Trolls Word Tour simultaneous release will be a one-off blamed on the virus, or the start of releasing more movies simultaneously in the theater and VOD (Video On Demand), but it’s definitely getting some buzz.
Theater owner groups disagree.
“To avoid catastrophic losses to the studios, these titles must have the fullest possible theatrical release around the world,” a statement from the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) reads. “While one or two releases may forgo theatrical release, it is our understanding from discussions with distributors that the vast majority of deferred releases will be rescheduled for theatrical release as life returns to normal.”
I’ve weighed in on this topic numerous times here and am a fan of reducing or even eliminating the theatrical window. Naturally, I didn’t want this virus situation to be a catalyst, but it might just be the thing that gets something started.
If I have a choice to pay $19.99 to watch at home or watch in the theater — if they are open — the theater is where I’ll be seeing it on April 10. Where will you be seeing it?
Currently 7 out of the top 20 movies are making money at the box office after 4 weeks of release
The current theatrical window is around 90 days. Look above at the current number of week new movies have been playing in the top 10 via Box Office Mojo. As of last weekend (10/11/2019) 7 of the top 20 movies with screening are making money.
The average number of movies people see in the US is 3-4 movies per year
I haven’t done a deep statistical analysis of the numbers, but it looks from casual observation that most movies drop somewhere between 30-60% in sales from week to week. Sure, there are some films that perform outside this window, so if we consider a movie opens with 20 million and has 50% loss of revenue the first four weeks, here would be the hypothetical performance:
Week #1: 20 million Week #2: 10 million Week #3: 5 million Week #4: 2.5 million = 37.5 million
Now if the theatrical window was reduced to four weeks, as being proposed, and streaming were allowed then what would be the impact if the theater continued to show the same movie? Would the dropoff increase to 60-70%? Or would it stay about the same roughly 50% dropoff?
That’s one question. The bigger question is how many movies even make it past the first four weeks still having screenings? 45 more movies out of the bottom 65 listed for a total of 52 out of 85 (61%) continue to have screenings beyond four weeks. What is the total revenue for the bottom 65 compared to the top 20? Movies ranked 21-85 only make $20 million versus the top 20 movies make $120 million.
The data is obvious: the top 20 movies make the most money and the freshest movies in release time make the most money. So, the amount of money a movie makes decays drastically — except in a small, few movies (like Lion King that has continued to make money over a couple months) — over the course of the first few weeks. After a month, the money most movies make from the box office is minimal.
While most sources we spoke to agree that a day-and-date release strategy is simply too drastic of a jump from this current system, they do think a three-to-four-week-after-release model could become a reality in the near future.
My wife and I really aren’t the average moviegoers. At least not since August 2019. I’ve seen over 31 movies in the last two months. That’s almost ten times the number of movies the average moviegoer in the US sees in a year. Prior to becoming Regal Unlimited Members, I still saw over 25 movies in the theater in 2018, which is still way more than the average of 3-4 movies per year.
We love seeing movies in the theater. I enjoy the movie theater experience and do not want to see it go away. I do want to see it evolve and change with the times. Waiting 90 days to stream movies doesn’t make any financial or logical sense any more. I’m going to see the movie the first four weeks, so it matters none to me personally whether or not the theatrical window is reduced, but it will allow people who don’t go to the movies very often to see a movie while there is still buzz through streaming.
Will some moviegoers wait for the streaming instead of going to the movie theater? This is Hollywood’s fear. I doubt the numbers will be significant. The people who want to see the movie as soon as it is released will still go to the theater. As long as there is some theatrical window — and I’m not advocating for same day in theater release to streaming — because I think that would hurt the movie theater traffic.
What do YOU think? Keep the theatrical window the way it already is (90 days)? Reduce to 30 days? Reduce to some other number of days? Or just leave it the way it is?
Can’t decide what to watch now playing in the theaters? Step onto the escalator with us …
We watch and review — no spoilers — (almost) every movie that plays in the theater. Follow, like, this blog and our Letterboxd to receive daily movie reviews covering all genres.
NOW PLAYING AT THEATERS REVIEWS – Opened Week 9/20/2019 – RANKED Click movie title to read the full review
Downton Abbey ⭐️⭐️⭐️ – #1 in sales/popularity, #2 most entertaining covering what it is like for servants and the rich inside a mansion in the early 1900s. No tie required.
Villains ⭐️⭐️⭐️ – oh yeah, we enjoyed this dark comedy update of two Bonney and Clyde types who stumble onto a very eccentric family.
Ad Astra⭐️ – Brad Pitt stars in this artsy fartsy space exploration flick that is neat to stare at, wonder and analyze but not much fun to, well, watch.
We hope you always enjoy your time at the theaters. Remember, we review movies based on what entertains us (see our review criteria). Movies are there to entertain you. If you enjoy a movie that we did or didn’t, we think that’s great. Tell us what you loved or not in the comments, blog it, log it, like it.
Movies, Movies, Movies 