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Effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) On Entertainment & Tourism Industry

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RevFreako said:
Out of curiosity, is the antitrust law still in place that keeps movie producers from owning theater chains?
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No. If you're talking about the Paramount decree, it only prohibited specific companies from owning theaters. Smaller exhibitor at the time, including Disney, were excluded. And some already did or do own theaters anyways (Disney, fo course. Universal did for a period). But even if the decree is relaxed, certain things, such as block booking (where in order to get film A you must book films B and C) and set clearence (such as when studios collaberate to schedule films) will not be allowed. Blind bidding has been allowed (where the theaters bid to open a film, before seeing any of it, by posting a minumum amount) but only once a film has been complete. (Due to opening in a large number of theaters, this is rarely used. But I remember when "The Empire Strikes Back" opened in Florida, for example, a theater had to put $1,000,000 upfront, guarentee a minimum of 8 weeks, and have a 70mm projection system. This gave exclusive to the theatre for 4 weeks. As a result TESB opened in just 3 theaters in Florida - one in Orlando, and two in Miami)
 
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OLSinFLA said:
No. If you're talking about the Paramount decree, it only prohibited specific companies from owning theaters. Smaller exhibitor at the time, including Disney, were excluded. And some already did or do own theaters anyways (Disney, fo course. Universal did for a period). But even if the decree is relaxed, certain things, such as block booking (where in order to get film A you must book films B and C) and set clearence (such as when studios collaberate to schedule films) will not be allowed. Blind bidding has been allowed (where the theaters bid to open a film, before seeing any of it, by posting a minumum amount) but only once a film has been complete. (Due to opening in a large number of theaters, this is rarely used. But I remember when "The Empire Strikes Back" opened in Florida, for example, a theater had to put $1,000,000 upfront, guarentee a minimum of 8 weeks, and have a 70mm projection system. This gave exclusive to the theatre for 4 weeks. As a result TESB opened in just 3 theaters in Florida - one in Orlando, and two in Miami)
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Just wanted to add this: Federal Judge Gives Greenlight To Termination Of Paramount Consent Decrees August 2020 started the 2 year sunset phase out.

Movie theaters are going to look very interesting in a few years.
 
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RevFreako said:
I'm gonna print and frame this post.
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The person who thinks the Orlando theme parks are in danger of closing thinks movie theaters won't reopen after this. Not exactly surprising :lol:

I'm not saying that some companies won't go out of business. I think they will and it's to be expected. And if we do get to the point of a reopen, there won't be as many theaters, there just won't. But all of those theaters will just be sitting there across America, waiting for a new company to maybe purchase AMC branding rights or something and reopen under new management. Covid has thrown a huge wrench, but I would almost be willing to bet money that something replaces AMC and Regal if they were to close. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar business in normal times, so I think you'll likely have a few big companies or maybe a group of wealthy people that takes a chance.

If it fails at that point, then consider theaters dead.
 
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I think it's more likely they'll get bought by some larger corporations and we'll see the return of the conditions that lead to the creation of the Paramount decrees but we've undergone so much regulatory and judicial capture that any anti-consumer conditions will just stand unchallenged. We're well on our way to Blade Runner or an Outer Worlds style future
 
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Grabnar said:
I think it's more likely they'll get bought by some larger corporations and we'll see the return of the conditions that lead to the creation of the Paramount decrees but we've undergone so much regulatory and judicial capture that any anti-consumer conditions will just stand unchallenged. We're well on our way to Blade Runner or an Outer Worlds style future
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Billy Idol was right
 
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Grabnar said:
I think it's more likely they'll get bought by some larger corporations and we'll see the return of the conditions that lead to the creation of the Paramount decrees but we've undergone so much regulatory and judicial capture that any anti-consumer conditions will just stand unchallenged. We're well on our way to Blade Runner or an Outer Worlds style future
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Bingo
eventually theaters could be bought out by studios or get a gov bail out or something, people love the movies too much
 
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Grabnar said:
I think it's more likely they'll get bought by some larger corporations and we'll see the return of the conditions that lead to the creation of the Paramount decrees but we've undergone so much regulatory and judicial capture that any anti-consumer conditions will just stand unchallenged. We're well on our way to Blade Runner or an Outer Worlds style future
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That’s exactly what’s going to happen. We’re living in a new world. Successful businesses are being killed because of COVID, once the COVID problem is solved, the business will be completely viable again.

Right now, the businesses with the most cash are going to survive and then they’ll have the market to themselves and be able to buy up assets dirt cheap.
 
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Scott W. said:
That’s exactly what’s going to happen. We’re living in a new world. Successful businesses are being killed because of COVID, once the COVID problem is solved, the business will be completely viable again.

Right now, the businesses with the most cash are going to survive and then they’ll have the market to themselves and be able to buy up assets dirt cheap.
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imagine walmart and Amazon owning all the theaters :lol:
 
Lucky Planet said:
imagine walmart and Amazon owning all the theaters :lol:
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This seems likely. Wal-Mart owns part of Tik-Tok now so anything is possible. I think a company like Amazon/Wal-Mart is actually perfect for the theatrical business in a way as they already run brick and mortar stores and deal with a lot of front line employees. Plus, they can integrate their brand into the theater.

For example, If i'm Amazon, I buyout AMC or Regal and then rip out an entire auditorium in every venue and replace it with a mix of Amazon and Whole foods products, possibly with an exterior entrance, seperate from the theater itself. Prime members would obviously get some benefits, possibly like the Prime Pay (is that what it was/is called) where you just grab whatever you want and the AI knows how much to charge to your account at exit, which would be a big improvement on waiting in long lines. They could build an app where you just sign-in with you amazon account for the theater to make the ticket buying process easy.

There could also be launch day showings of Prime exclusives. Watching The Boys with an audience would be a treat.
 
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"Regal Cinemas might be closing all 543 of its theaters in the United States as early as this week due to continued revenue losses from the coronavirus pandemic."

Movie theaters will have a hard time recovering any time soon.

 
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Nick said:
This seems likely. Wal-Mart owns part of Tik-Tok now so anything is possible. I think a company like Amazon/Wal-Mart is actually perfect for the theatrical business in a way as they already run brick and mortar stores and deal with a lot of front line employees. Plus, they can integrate their brand into the theater.

For example, If i'm Amazon, I buyout AMC or Regal and then rip out an entire auditorium in every venue and replace it with a mix of Amazon and Whole foods products, possibly with an exterior entrance, seperate from the theater itself. Prime members would obviously get some benefits, possibly like the Prime Pay (is that what it was/is called) where you just grab whatever you want and the AI knows how much to charge to your account at exit, which would be a big improvement on waiting in long lines. They could build an app where you just sign-in with you amazon account for the theater to make the ticket buying process easy.

There could also be launch day showings of Prime exclusives. Watching The Boys with an audience would be a treat.
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That's spot on.

Showing their own content as a loss leader to get people through the door knowing that they will probably buy popcorn or drinks and then do a food shop after it.
 
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