Western Film is UWO's on-campus Movie Theatre, owned and operated by the University Student's Council.
This blog is dedicated to discussions about movies, movie theatres and the film business in general.
Your host for the evening will be James Waite, the Western Film Co-ordinator and lifelong movie buff.
There were three new films available for next week.
17 AGAIN: I've never really planned to play this film. I think it skews a little too young for our demographic, especially with school out. I'll keep it in the maybe file if nothing good comes off sometime in the next couple weeks.
MONSTERS Vs. ALIENS: I booked this in and then had a thought later, maybe it wasn't a good idea to put a kid's film up against the opening weekend of a new Pixar Film (UP). So I changed the booking and Monsters will play starting Jun 5th with a 7:00 show, weekend matinees and maybe a late show.
THE SOLOIST: I wasn't sure whether to play this but based on how Sunshine Cleaning and State of Play have done I think there's a good market for adult oriented dramas still. I think it will do well.
I'm hoping Wolverine comes off the week after Monsters plays. There's not much else I'm waiting for, maybe Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Star Trek will be a while.
Great little video someone put a lot of work into. I've seen almost all of these movies. There's a few of the older ones I would like to see at some point.
I first saw the trailer for this film a few months ago and thought it looked funny but nothing special. However buzz from screenings has been building and it looks like it may be a major hit.
Here's the trailer:
Here's some comments WArner reported from a screening in Toronto. There's a lot of them and pretty consitent. It looks like I'll have to put up a slide before the movie starts telling the audience there's something in the credits and not to bolt at the first sign of a credit.
At the bottom is funny little promo clip from Funny or Die. Hopefully the embedding works better than the last time I tried. The link below the player should work.
Some comments from the “HANGOVER” screenings Thursday, May 21(from Tribute contest winners across Canada) (there are about 90+) Generally very very good! ================================================================================================== ====
It was so funny that I kept on laughing the whole way throuh. I definitely would recommend it to anyone. Loved it and I would watch it again in the theatres
This movie was awesomely funny and outrageous! The character that really added to the movie was the guy with the beard...don't we all have one of those in our lives?
very funny!
I was surprised by The Hangover - it turned out to be much better than I expected. Funny situational humor - at one point, it seemed impossible to resolve all of the loose ends, but it happened. Would recommend this.
This is one movie u actually have to stay to the end to see what really happens, absolutely loved it thanks again for the passes, Joyce
Yes, by far the funniest movie this year...not very often the whole theater is laughin. I may have to see it again as I was laughing so hard i may missed some jokes..
It was one of the funniest movies I have seen in years. We definitely have to see it again and will be recommending to all our friends.
So funny!!!
Worth going to if you want to have a good laugh. Loved the tiger and the whole story line. Some parts were x-rated, but on the whole, a very enjoyable and funny movie.
I laughed harder than I have in a long time - I was not disappointed!!! I have not stopped bragging about it to friends at work.
extremely funny, haven't laughed that hard in a long time
It was good. Really funny. More different from the other movies in it's genre than I expected. I did think the final scene was more graphic than it needed to be. They still could've got the point across with even half of the nudity in the photographs... or even none of it.
I thought it was pretty funny! Great cast and ridiculous storyline! Great laughs all around!
This movie was excellent. It was a lot of fun. The story is very well done. You don't know what to expect all along. Merci! Thanks for the free movie
This movie was hilarious. Every story had some kind of twist to it. I laughed so hard throughout the entire movie.
very funny and relaxing movie very nice
Super funny movie! Saw the advance screening and I'll probably watch it again once its released into theatres!
Some parts were funny, however, some parts of the movie were pretty dumb, I guess it will appeal to a very certain demographic.
Hilarious...had me laughing out loud, often. A little bit of a slow start..just to get the characters in place..then non-stop off-the-wall comedy!
Above average comedy. A lot smarter than Dance Flick, but that is to be expected.
The comedy built and built so that we laughed so hard my husband said it was a "Pee yourself funny movie". Everyone stayed to see the photos during the final credits and we were still laughing as we drove home.
I did not have high hopes for this movie, but it was hilarious. Some of the gross humour probably could have been left out, but it's worth seeing the movie if you want a good laugh. This movie is for anyone who thought Weekend at Bernie's was a scream.
It was very funny.
Quite funny
This was one of the best movies I have seen in a while. It was very funny, I especially loved the ending where they were showing the pictures.
The film was generally funny although there were some parts that dragged a little. I was very pleased during the film that it didn't take the "low road" by including lots of gratuitous sex and nudity for the sake of ratings. This was true unitl the closing credits when the photos of the lost night were shown. Out came the photos of strippers and oral sex. Very disappointing.
Crazy fun, I recommend this moving to every one who needs a good laugh!
Not laugh-a-minute, but the comedy is pretty even throughout. It's better than amusing and in the words of my brother, I wouldn't mind seeing it again or owning it on DVD.
A surprisingly funny movie about a plan to go awry gone awry. Very enjoyable.
This movie was absolutely hilarious, by far the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. The theatre was constantly filled with laughter. An excellent movie, and I would definately see it again!
Very funny. Wish they would have taken more time scrolling through the pictures at the end though.
Very funny . A kind of movie to forget life problems .
I enjoyed this movie immensely; it was hilarious and unpredictable. Each of the main characters' personalities played a role in the hijinks that these friends got into. Look for a significant cameo by Mike Tyson, and don't expect the chicken to be explained!
It was awesome, I enjoyed so many parts of this movie! Especially the tiger parts! haha!
It was hilarious, entertaining and long over due!!!!!!! I do not remember when last time I saw a good SUMMER type movie was.
In a world of murders, muggings, job losses, etc., it was a relief to watch a movie and be transported to a world of funny stuff. Thanks.
It had funny parts. The baby and tiger was awesome.
Hello, I really like this movie. Very funny and cleverly made especially since you only see waht really happened at the very end .
really funny. I liked how you only find out at the very end what truly happened in Vegas. One scene that was not really necessary was the one where they have the baby doing you know what... but other than that I enjoyed this movie very much. Thank you for choosing my name
Great Movie! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Light hearted, feel good movie. Put a smile on my face.
I went to the see the movie with my husband with not too high expectations but to our surprise we never laughed so much. Each actor portrayed their part so well. The story line was so interesting...trying to remember and retrace their steps to what happened in only 1 night was totally hilarious. Of course, the line What happens in Vegas...totally appropriate. I already recommended this movie to my co-workers. P.S. Baby is really adorable.
Thought the movie was very funny. Loved the little baby. Truly, enjoyed going.
when I first saw the preview for this movie I thought nah, it's just one of those stupid funny comedies. I have not laughed like that I'm a long time. It kept laughing throughout the whole movie!
very funny
I thought the movie was definitely one of the best I have seen in a while. It was remarkably funny, and it made me and my friend laugh alot. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will most definitely be recommending this movie to all of my friends.
Incredibly funny! The story was non-stop twists that kept you laughing. Each scene was funnier than the last. Ed Helms from the Office played such a hilarious part...definitely a must see for any friends who've experienced one of those rough crazy nights!
I thought it was funny and quite believable considering the myths about Vegas!! lol
Pretty good!
It was the funniest movie I see in years. 5 stars
Very funny, laugh out loud movie. The fact that the guys have no memory of what they did the night before makes it unpredictable. Funniest movie I have seen in a while!
Very funny, I couldn't stop laughing. I am going to tell my friends to see this movie.
Pretty hilarious movie!
the movie is hilarious. Men hanging over with a baby with differents problems... Strongly recommended.. you won't waist your money at all
I expected it to be all Juvenile teenage boys jokes but was pleasantly suprised at the comedic content.
This movie is absolutely hilarious. Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does. It will have you rolling in the aisle with laughter. Truly, an enjoyable and fun movie to see.
Some very funny moments in the movie. My son enjoyed it more than I did. Maybe more a movie guys can identify with.
I had read that the movie tested very well and in advanced screenings and that the studio had already ordered production of the sequel, so I thought that I might be seeing a hidden gem. I found, however, that there were very few hearty laughs during the course of the movie and the most entertaining part came at the very end.
It has some funny parts - and was what I expected. Overall a good rental but I don't know if I'd come out and pay to see it in theatres.
the funniest film we have ever seen in 71 years!!
great movie!! very funny and the characters were fantastic! would pay to go and see it again!!
The Hangover is the funniest film I have ever seen in my 71 years, we went expecting not much, and laughed through the entire time, the film never lets up--you have a real winner here! Thank you so much for an hysterical evening. We are still laughing about it today!
Very funny movie! I think it will be good summer entertainment.
The most hilarious movie I have seen in a long time.Laughs from start to finish.
This movie was the funniest things I have seen in a LONG time. I laughed out loud until I cried. Actors were fabulous and movie was well directed. Good job guys. I would love to buy the DVD when it comes out to see all the bloopers. Just NON STOP laughing all throughout. I can't even pick my favorite moment because it was all too good!
This was the funniest movie that we've seen in a long time. It had surprise after surprise and you never knew what to expect next! Even the passing off of the tuxedos on the road was reasonable, but still unexpected! I would highly recommend this as a must-see and my boyfriend said after the movie that he would want it in his selective DVD collection.
Very funny. Although the premise has been done before, this was handled well, with just enough vugarity and filth to keep it interesting. The slideshow at the end was hilarious.
Laughted myself silly , had to wipe my eyes a few times . Please send me another pass to see it again .
Hilarious. Couldn't stop laughing. I had been looking forward to this since the first time I saw the trailer and it did not disappoint. Would recommend this to anyone that loves laughing. Mike Tyson singing? Nothing funnier. Will definitely purchase this DVD.
I find it great. The idea is original and we can not predict in advance what will happen. The guys are hilarious, I'm sure everyboday will enjoy this movie.
We thought this was a very funny film and I will not be hesitating to go see it again when it comes out June 5th.
We really enjoyed the movie and everyone was laughing from start to finish. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see The Hangover. I will recommend to my family and friends. :)
It was good entertainment. There were plenty of laughs, not necessarily where you were doubled over with laughter, but it never dragged.The best part was how the characters kept leaping from one crazy situation to the next. The movie is not appropriate for children due to the extensive nudity.
I thought it was funny
My wife and I were lucky enough to view an advanced screening of this film and it was a riot! One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long while. Zach Galifianakis was hilarious from his first scene until his last. Not to say that the rest of the cast didn't do a bang up job, each were just as funny in their own right. Wolf-pack forever!
The cast, the plot,the trailer, what more can be said ! This is definately goin' to be a blockbuster,laughed my you know what off during the trailer.Really can't wait for this one,love a good comedy and this will for sure top the all time best list !
The movie is really good and funny to see. It's so cute. I suggest to go to see it. It's a good investment
HILARIOUS! The pictures at the end were the best!
The movie was funny with no political messages which I enjoy. A super summer movie that a lot of people both young and old will enjoy.
It was much better than I had expected it to be and I am so glad that I won tickets from Tribute. I will definitely be recommending this movie to my friends. Thanks, Tribute!
This was a super funny film. Its not very often that you laugh so hard that you can't stop. It touched all the right notes without being offensive. Was a great night out and I would recommend it highly for an evening of pure humour.
Hilarious and awesome
The movie was just what I needed that day! It was fun and one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. The hilarity just never stopped. And the audience was great too - adding to the fun with great infectious laughter! I'd recommend it to anyone!
There were only 2 new films available for next week.
OBSESSED: The movie did well overall but wouldn't do anything at Western Film, especially this time of year. I might have played it as a late show when the students were still here.
STATE OF PLAY: based on the results of the Sunshine Cleaning experiment (see previous posts) I should play this film. It did okay and has fairly good awareness and star power. Reviews were generally positive. It's more of an adult film which is what I should be playing this time of year. I think it will do well but not great.
I'm pretty sure Monsters Vs. Aliens will come off for the following week. UP! will bump it out of the 3-D theatres which is probably the only reason it's still playing, that and the lack of family films until Night at the Museum 2 and then UP! come out.
I'm planning to play matinees and a late show. The late show may not work but I'm hoping there will be some adults who don't want to see it with kids in the audience. Matinees of kid's films are a pretty safe bet. One thing that might get interesting. This will be the first film Western Film has played that was strongly marketed as being in 3-D and WF can't play 3-D. I'm curious how many people will show up expecting 3-D, not realizing that it takes special, very expensive, equipment to play 3-D that not every theatre has.
If Monsters isn't available I might have to get creative again.
One thing I keep mentioning is how the attendance and hence booking patterns for Western Film are different from almost any other theatre. To illustrate this I'm going to compare two films.
FAST AND FURIOUS- $70 million dollar opening (biggest April opening ever), $153 million total box office, 4th in a series, some fairly well known names although Vin Diesel and Paul Walker aren't as big as they used to be. High awareness. Did about $500 for the week at Western Film which is quite low for us.
SUNSHINE CLEANING-$219,000 opening in 4 theatres, $11 million total, original, not a sequel or remake, some lesser but still well known names but on the way up (Amy Adams, Emily Blunt). Low awareness. Did almost $800 for the week, still low but not bad.
Seems counter intuitive doesn't it? This is a general pattern at Western Film although it does have exceptions. The Dark Knight was still one of the highest grossing films at Western Film.
There's several reasons I think this occurs- For many movies the audience who wants to see them go see them first run, this is why Western Film doesn't play horror films and most smaller action films. In many cases they don't want to wait until WF plays the film even if we are cheaper.
Part of it is timing, it depends on the time of year the film plays.
Smaller movies aimed at adults can do well here. Adults are more likely be willing to wait and/or want to see it for less money. Western Film is also less busy and crowded. Although I wouldn't mind seeing that change.
Smaller films often don't play in theatres much. Sunshine played for a couple weeks at the Westmount, F&F played at all the theatres in the city.
By the time WF gets a film word of mouth has spread and if it's bad it will affect us. The opposite effect can occur with good word of mouth for the smaller films that start in the bigger cities then spread out from there.
Being a University theatre our primary market is a more intellectual and discriminating group. They are more likely to take a chance on something that looks different. They are also less likely to seek out out only escapist fare.
The best example I can give is Hotel Rwanda. It was the biggest grossing movie at WF the year it came out however it did only $20 million in overall box office.
As written in an earlier post my decision to play Sunshine Cleaning the week that just ended was a bit of an experiment. There were no bigger movies to play and I didn't know how Sunshine would do as it had low awareness but good reviews. I heard 'never heard of it' a lot this last week. I decided to try it because with the lack of students I thought something more aimed at adults might do okay.
Result: The experiment worked. While it didn't go great overall it did better than a couple of the last films. It actually did a bit more than my most optimistic prediction. I can pretty much guarantee it did better than FIGHTING which was the only wide release film available.
This is a fun little clip to promote the movie The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. I think the movie looks good and the advance word from screenings say it is. Language is NSFW but bleeped.
Update: The embedding doesn't seem to be working. Click on the text along the bottom to link to the video.
I did something this week I haven't done in years. I saw the same movie twice, two nights in a row. I've been Star Trek fan since I was little and have been really looking forward to the new film.
I found the film exciting and a lot of fun. There were a couple places that seemed a bit forced (the guy in the water tube) and some logical inconsistencies ( how can a supernova threaten the galaxy?)
Overall the characters were good, the action was fun and the effects were flawless. There were never any of those moments where the effect is so obviously an effect it takes you out of the film. Wolverine had some of those.
Part of the reason I was it twice was I was checking out the new theatres at Westmount. I saw it on Sunday in one of the VIP theatres. It was cool but I was off center of the screen and it wasn't a real big theatre so I really noticed it. On the way out I talked to the manager who said theatre #1 of the regular cinemas has a 50 foot screen and almost 400 seats. I had to check that out! I figured Star trek would only play in that theatre for a week and Angels and Demons would take over on Friday. I went back on Monday for the late show and saw it in #1. That theatre is huge and the showing was impressive. I was able to sit in the exact center of the screen as I like it.
Some Star Trek fans are upset with the new film because it doesn't stick to the established canon. I don't think they could have stuck to the canon and made a film a lot of people want to see for a couple reasons.
-after 10 movies and several TV series I would imagine the canon is so twisted and complicated anything they did would contradict something. It would also severely limit the options for some of the characters.
-obviously since there is no TV series running and the last couple movies fizzled there isn't enough interest in Star Trek as it was to warrant making another film.
I'll probably watch Star Trek again when it plays at Western Film. I'm looking forward to the sequel. The characters have been reestablished so they can just go straight into a hopefully interesting story.
There was only one higher profile film available for next week.
FIGHTING- It was a good film but I wouldn't have played it at Western Film even during the school year. Just not the kind of film we do well with. It's especially true right now considering how bad Observe and Report and Fast & Furious have done. All three appeal to a similar demographic and they just aren't around this time of year. This is always the worst time of the year.
I decided to try an experiment. Since the younger patrons aren't around I'll try something that appeals more to older movie goers. It's a good week to experiment as whatever I experiment with can't do much worse than what I've been playing and could do better.
I considered playing Waltz With Bashir but decided it was too serious and I was told by the booker it didn't play well anywhere in Canada.
I decided to try playing SUNSHINE CLEANING. It's apparently a good, funny film but has low awareness so I'm not sure what will happen. It played for a couple weeks at the Westmount, it must have done at least some business since they kept it for a second week.
I'm not sure what I'll do the following week if Monsters Vs. Aliens or something similar isn't available.
I don't think we'll have to wait too long for Wolverine considering the word of mouth and big second weekend drop. I'm still planning to play it as it is a big release and while it wasn't great it wasn't horrible either.
In response to a recent comment. During the summer the hours of the UCC building have been reduced but Western Film is still open as usual. This is the first year that has happened. In previous year the building stayed open normal hours but since Campus Rec (the gym) moved into their new building there is no reason to keep the entire building open during the summer. Western Film is pretty much the only thing open on the weekends except the radio station.
I can't remember what they are called right now but I'm referring to the trailers that show off a particular part of the equipment , usually the sound system. The various Digital Sound systems all have their own, plus THX has some. Anyone who goes to Western Film knows we play a DTS one before every movie. I wish they would make a new one, that one is getting a bit overplayed.
Generally I prefer the Dolby Digital trailers, they seem more inventive and there are more to choose from.
I noticed few theatres seem to play them any more. I'm not sure why, it's not a big deal to put one on, we just attached our DTS one to the Feature Presentation and treat them as one unit.
If Western Film ever gets Dolby Digital you know I'll be playing the trailers.
This is a collection of THX trailers. The original THX trailer is still one of the most effective in my opinion. THX used to be a specific way of building a theatre to meet set criteria. If a theatre met THX specs you knew it was a good theatre. However it seems to have fallen out of use. Probably because theatres didn't want to pay the licencing fee every year to keep using the THX name. It's used on home equipment but in a very different way. I have a copy of one of the earlier ones on film and every so often I'll play it and crank the sound system.
This one holds a special place in my heart. My best friend and I at the time were trying to build a theatre here and we wanted it to be THX. When this segment of The Simpson's came on we laughed so hard it hurt. I saw this on the big screen once at the Uptown, my favorite theatre in Toronto, since torn down. It was a huge old palace and when the bass notes hit you could feel your chest vibrate.
This is one of the better Dolby Digital trailers. I love the bass in this one, again you could feel it in your chest.
Murphy loves the movie business. When I used to work as a projectionist at the other theatres I ended up dreading working Tuesday. This was when everyone had a discount Tuesday so it was busy. Things always seemed to go wrong on Tuesday even though as far as operation of the booth is concerned it doesn't matter whether there's 2 or 200 people watching a film.
Here's some recent examples.
One of the motors on the platter which pays out the film was making a funny noise so I took it in to be repaired. The shop changed the bearings. When I hooked it back up it's running considerably slower that the other motors even though nothing has changed on the platter and the shop didn't change anything else.
I was away last weekend, planning to leave on Friday morning. Thursday afternoon OBSERVE and REPORT hadn't been delivered yet. I called and Technicolor thought we were picking up the print from Silver City but I was told one would be delivered. The problem with this is since it was still playing at the Silver City Thursday night it couldn't be picked up until Friday. Naturally this had to happen when I wasn't planning to be in town on Friday. I had to get one of my staff to pick up the film.
While I was away the juice fridge stopped working but no one thought to tell me until Monday night. I called Coke who showed up on Wednesday to fix it. The fan in the refrigeration unit had gotten jammed. The Coke guy fixed it and it seemed to be running fine. At the end of the night I noticed a burning smell and opened up the fridge again. The fan had stopped working completely so something must have burned out. Now I have to get Coke back in, and we'll have warm juice again.
Since we are the only place on campus that's open at night during the summer I sell hot dogs for the people that are looking for something closer to real food than popcorn. We haven't sold any since we started, not unexpected since summer school hasn't started yet. Tonight the machine wasn't working and we had two people ask for hot dogs. The rollers are sticking so I have to find out what one uses to lubricate a machine that comes in contact with food. Somehow I don't think WD-40 would work quite right...
FAST AND FURIOUS - I booked this for the 7 pm show. I'm not sure how it will do. It opened huge, biggest April opening ever, and did quite well but I can see it being one of those films where most who wanted to see it already did.
TAKEN- Fox was finally willing to let me split it but I decided not to play it. It comes out on DVD on Tuesday and there's no one here to see it right now.
CRANK 2 was available but I never planned to play it. It's a fun completely over the top film but wouldn't do much business at Western Film even during the school year.
Looks like I made one of my occasional misjudgments. I was away for the weekend and came back and my jaw just about hit the floor when I saw the numbers for OBSERVE and REPORT. It had done $72 all weekend as opposed to several hundred for I LOVE YOU, MAN?! I haven't had a film do that bad in years. I thought there was a chance it might not do great but had no idea it could do this bad. I don't think it's just based on the movie although it seemed to be one of those movies where people either liked it or hated it. It's mostly timing, exams are over and summer school hasn't started yet so there's few students around. It also occurred to me tonight that a lot of our regulars saw it at the advance screening we did.
So there's no late show next week based largely on that. I don't like running single shows for the sake of my staff who get about half the hours they normally would but if there isn't anything I think people will come see then I can't play a late show. This is generally the worst time of the year for us so I just kinda hunker down and try to lose as little money as possible.
There were only a couple to choose from this week.
I LOVE YOU, MAN. I was kind of surprised we got this one this fast but Wolverine opened on so many screens it pushed it off early. I booked it for the 7pm show.
OBSERVE AND REPORT- I wasn't sure whether to play it but decided to try it. I figure the dark humour makes it a good late show and Seth Rogen is popular. I wish I could have played it before the students all left.
I expect MONSTERS VS. ALIENS to come off soon. I'll probably do matinees for that one.
There were a few movies available this week but it wasn't too hard to choose. It'll be a bit of a weird week as there are no shows on Thursday. I rented the theatre to a military history conference that wanted to play Passchendale then have a discussion about it. The screening is open to the public and free for anyone who wants to see Passchendaele on the big screen. It's at 7pm.
KNOWING- an interesting film but not something that would pull at Western Film. Most of those who want to see it will have already done so. If I get an opening I might throw it in just to see if I'm wrong.
TAKEN- would like to play it but it's Fox so I can't split it. I'm hoping either they will let me split it in a later week or I get a week where there's nothing else available.
DUPLICITY - I booked this for the 7pm show. It appeals mostly to adults, some students (of those that are left ) will probably also want to see it.
HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU - I booked for the late show. I wish I could have played this a little sooner before the majority of the students left. I think it will still do okay.
I Love You Man may come off soon. Observe and Report seems to be leaving the first run screens pretty fast. I'm not sure about playing it after the students have left.
There's going to be another change in the theatrical landscape of London soon. The last one was the closing of the Huron Market Place last September.
Cineplex is building new theatres out at Westmount Mall which is in the south end of the city, quite aways from Western Film.
Currently there's a somewhat antiquated six-plex in the mall, the new theatres are in a separate building which I can't tell if is going to be connected to the mall or not.
According to the Cineplex website it will have 8 stadium seating screens, three of which are their VIP cinemas. The VIP cinemas cost extra but have extra comfy chairs, serve food at the seats and are licensed so they are 19+ only.
There's several questions and things I find interesting about the place.
They built it behind the mall where it's not visible from the street. I thought this seemed odd but I figure they probably got the land/lease for very little back there. The mall itself is dying so it doesn't need the parking.
What will the admission price be? The current theatre is $7.50 but I would be willing to bet the new ones will be about the same price as the Silver City which is $11.00. That would leave Western Film by far the cheapest theatre in London, the closest would be Rainbow downtown which is $7.50. In Toronto the VIP cinemas are $4.00 more than the regular cinemas.
Currently they tend to play a lot of 'art' product there. Will they continue to do so or go more Hollywood? My feeling is they will put the art product in the VIP cinemas assuming the people who want to see those films will be willing to pay the extra. I'd certainly consider it just to get away from the damn teenagers and their cellphones.
I'm not sure when it's supposed to open. I would imagine they want to open ASAP to catch the summer business.
Will the VIP cinemas work in London? especially right now. Probably but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't charge as much extra as in Toronto.
It says some theatres will be 3-D. Will any of the VIP theatres be 3-D and will they then charge an extra fee on top for that as most 3-D theatres do? That would be getting close to $20.00 per ticket.
Will it change booking patterns at all? That kinda depends on what they do with the art product. If they go more Hollywood that would leave pretty much only Western Film and the Hyland playing anything non Hollywood. Currently at least a couple of the studios consider us to be far enough from each other to play the same film at the same time. That might change with their higher price.
I'm kinda surprised it's only 8 screens. I didn't think anyone built less than 10 or 12 these days.
I'll check them out as soon as they open and report back.
Watchmen was available so I booked it in. It's very long so there's no late show, plus there wasn't really anything available to play as a late show. If there had a been a short comedy or something available that would make a good exam study break then I might have put it in.
I'm not sure how Watchmen will do. I think it will do at least okay. It wasn't exactly what people were hoping for and didn't do as well as some thought it would. I figure there's enough people that haven't seen it and some that will want to see it again to play it.
Next week wasn't too hard to book. There weren't any new films available so I just picked a couple I hadn't played yet.
The Reader is the early show. I think the long weekend is a good time to play this as I think it has more adult appeal that student and most of the students will be gone for the weekend.
Confessions of a Shopaholic will play at 9:30. The audience for this is mostly young women so they will come to the late show, although I expect the weekend to be quiet and it will pick up during the week. It sorta depends on how exams affect it.
That's pretty much it for the titles I've been holding in reserve except maybe for Paul Blart. I think He's Just Not That Into You and Watchmen will probably come off soon. Taken should be available but it's Fox so I won't be able to split it. That's a hard one to decide on, it's the kind of film we don't normally do well with but was an unexpected hit, it's actually the third highest grossing film of the year. Maybe it will come available on a week where there's nothing else available and I won't have to decide.
For anyone who is curious. We had about 90 people show up to the advance screening of PontyPool, pretty good for a Canadian film with no stars and a hard to explain premise. Most of the people seemed to like it but I think many (including me ) didn't understand it. Financially it worked. While the people didn't pay to get in we sold enough stuff at the snack bar to total more than we would have made from the showing of The Wrestler it replaced.
We had 320 people show up for the Observe and Report screening, that's almost a sell out. Considering there was a $5.00 ticket price that's pretty good. Warner sent a ton of prizes so almost everyone got something. I did get caught off guard a bit by how early people started showing up and we weren't quite ready. The silly popcorn machine decided to act up and we kept running out of popcorn. That lead to lines which probably hurt snack bar sales. Financially we were way better off than showing Gran Torino. The $5.00 admission went to charity so we didn't make anything on the tickets. However, snack bar sales were probably one of the highest single showing totals ever.
Naturally I hope the studios want to do more screenings...
Slumdog Millionaire was finally available so I booked it in. So this means we are playing it a week after it came out on DVD. I still expect it to do really well. Initially I was told I couldn't split it so it's playing by itself. On Tuesday Fox called and said we could split it so I had to decide whether to book in another film for the late show. I decided not to for a couple reasons:
It figure it will still do well enough to justify both shows even though it's out on DVD.
All of the films that I could play with it either needed to play the 7pm show (The Reader) or I wasn't sure I want to play at all (Paul Blart) or both (Coraline).
I had already put out all my advertising, while it can be changed it's a pain to do.
Confessions of a Shopaholic is available for the following week so right now it would be The Reader followed by Shopaholic. I doubt I will keep Slumdog unless it does extremely well because of the DVD thing and wanting to play other films before the students leave.
The previous post reminded me of something I meant to write. A couple of week ago the student newspaper The Gazette did a story on the USC's budget for next year. The VP-Finance was quoted as saying Western Film's ticket sales were 'plummeting' and our snack bar sales were 'skyrocketing'. I'm not sure where he got this from. I think it may be from looking at the numbers from the wrong part of the year. Our ticket sales were down because of weak product in the fall however when the Feb month end numbers came out a few days after the article we were within $300 of the ticket sales at the end of Feb last year. Snack bar sales are up compared to previous years and a higher percentage of ticket sales but aren't skyrocketing. Our snack bar sales are up for a couple of reasons. The new products such as Slush and Ice Cream and sales to non patrons of the movies. This is possible because of the permanent concession stand that opened in the last fiscal year. We couldn't sell things like Slush before because we didn't have room and the whole concessions stand got rolled away over a tile floor each night. A slush machine wouldn't stand up to that kind of abuse for long.
I hate when The Gazette pulls stuff like that out. It's not good for people to think a place is having problems. I always remember what happened to the old New Yorker Theatre. As soon as word got out it was for sale attendance dropped a lot. It's not like anything had actually changed, the owner wanted to retire. I guess people thought something was wrong with it or something.
This comment was left on on older post so I thought I'd respond here.
I know I'm kind of late to comment on this post but out of curiosity, do you get customers at the concession stand who are not going to see a movie that night? Not sure if this is something you can/do track. I just imagine there may be students in the UCC who just want a snack.
Yes, we sell a fair amount of stuff to people who aren't going to the movies. We sell a fair amount of popcorn to people studying or meeting in the building.
We stock some items just to sell to the general public. Red Bull and Rockstar are generally bought by studying students. We sell quite a bit during exams.
This is partly because we run at night. The variety store downstairs closes early some nights and isn't open at all on the weekends so we are the only place to buy some stuff except for vending machines.
During the summer we are the only place open at night at all on the entire campus except for the Grad Club so we get a lot of customers looking for food. We sell hot dogs during the summer only for this reason. Hot dogs are about the only thing I could come up with. Anything else like sandwiches have too short a shelf life for us to sell at a reasonable price.
At one point I planned to turn the concession stand into a mini variety store and carry things like gum but dropped the idea once I checked into it further. For things like gum there's too many varieties and I wouldn't be able to carry very many. Plus I hate gum, it should be banned if people don't stop sticking it to everything. Things like Potato Chips would cannibalize popcorn sales. Pretty much everything else a variety store sells that we didn't already sell I didn't think we would sell enough of to get around shelf life restrictions.
I'm not sure how many people actually read this and are students but I thought I'd mention this. Maple Pictures is looking for a campus rep to help promote their upcoming films and advance screenings. It's a few hours about once a month. Basically organizing promo and then attending the screenings and reporting how the audience reacted etc. It pays $50 each time plus 2 DVDs from their library. You aren't going to get rich doing it but it's certainly interesting. I wanted to do it myself but it was determined to be a conflict of interest with my Western Film job. The last Maple pic was Adventureland, the next one is Crank 2. Maple is the Canadian arm of Lion's Gate.
These are the basic requirements: Student or work on campus here over summer and next school year Most screenings are Wednesday or Thursday night.
Anyone who is interested please contact me at wfilm@uwo.ca and I'll refer you to the person at Maple.
When my boss told me I couldn't take the job myself I got a bit of a backhanded compliment. The problem was I would be sending people to showings at another theatre. Most of the screenings will be at the Silver City. One of my arguments that I should still be able to do it was that someone would be doing it anyway. He said no one would be able to do it as good as me, I'm not sure if he meant it or just said it to make me feel better.
Next week is one of those weeks I'm not sure if I booked correctly. The original plan was The Reader, left over from last week, and Yes Man unless Slumdog Millionaire was available.
Slumdog wasn't available, the only new movie available was Paul Blart. I'm not sure if I'll play that, it was a big hit but plays a little immature for our audience. If I do play it I should probably wait and play it during exams, it'll make a good study break film.
However Gran Torino was doing fairly well as the late show and I was getting a very strong indicator that my original thought that it needed to be a 7pm show was correct. I was getting a lot of people asking about it. The newspaper made a typo that implied there was a 7pm show this past Monday and I got several phone calls about it and a few people showed up. I decided to bring it back next week as the 7pm show. Hopefully I haven't just split the difference between the two weeks.
Yes Man feels old and I'm not sure how well it will do but I've been saying I would play it so I figure I should so it's the late show.
Slumdog is down to one theatre at the Silver City so hopefully they drop it the following week. I'm nervous they'll hold onto it longer than that. If it gets too far past the DVD date and the start of exams I might have to make a nasty choice. Knowing Fox they might still insist on full shows even though it's out on video. Fox has pissed off a lot of theatres. Slumdog is still in the top 10 and they are releasing it on DVD on Tuesday.
If Slumdog isn't available the following week it will be The Reader followed by something, probably Paul Blart. Shopaholic and He's Just not That Into You should both come off soon. Disney will make me wait a week for Shopaholic as they usually do.
We have a couple special things happening at Western Film I don't think I have mentioned on here.
Monday Mar 23rd at 7:00. We are having the London Premiere of a Canadian Film Pontypool, directed by Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo). Maple Pictures asked me to do the screening. Bruce was originally supposed to be here but had to cancel. It looks like a film that's a little hard to describe. The basic descrip would be several people trapped in a radio station by zombies but I doubt Bruce McDonald would make anything that simple. Admission is free at the door.
Monday Mar 30th at 7pm. An advance screening of Seth Rogen's film Observe and Report courtesy of Warner Bros. This is being done as a charity screening through a sorority, I can't remember the name right now. Tickets will be $5.00 at the door. Show up early for good seats! There is a possibility this one could sell out. The original plan was for Seth Rogen to be here for the screening but that didn't happen. I'm almost happy the crowd control and security issues would have been a real pain.
It won't let me embed it but if you can watch the age restricted red-band trailer, it gives a much better idea of the film than the toned down one above.
Here are some comments made on recent posts and my responses. I figured it was easier for everyone to see them if I did it this way.
I would rather see Slumdog Millionaire on the big screen. Hope you decide to play it.
Western Film will be playing Slumdog Millionaire, even if it's a week or so after it comes out on DVD. I think there will still be enough interest.
Will you let us know how the movies did? Did your plan work?
This comment is in reference to my plan to play Revolutionary Road and Milk during Slack Week then switch the order the following week when the students were back. That way both films played for the early show at some point. Basically I would say it worked. Overall Milk did better but the total for each film each week was consistent with normal patterns. I'll have to remember this trick for future use if I have two suitable films at slack week.
thanx for answering bak bout this !--personally- wenever they've shown a bollywood film its been on a single day and invariably i've already got sumthin happenin-- also wen its hosted by a club then sumtimes u dont wanna go coz it feels kinda odd that ur not part of the club--newez-- hopefully we'll get to see sum indian films in the near future ! =)
I'm don't think I ever mentioned it on here but we did do another Bollywood film a couple weeks ago. The guys that had been putting them on contacted me again. I hadn't heard from them for a while so I figured they didn't want to do any more. Turns out they were visiting India?! The show of Billu Barber did fairly well. Enough for me to keep doing them as long as the guys want to do them. They'll contact me next time there's a film they want to play.
The talking at WesternFilm seems to be a bigger issue than anywhere else, and this is true especially during the previews. Sure, the actual movie isn't playing yet, but there are people who want to watch the previews without the VERY loud chatter going on around them. I noticed that WesternFilm doesn't turn down all the lights until the feature film starts and I feel that is contributing to the problem.
There's not much we can do about talking during the previews. To me they are part of the film but a lot of people consider them nothing more than commercials. Part of the problem is I have to play them at a lower volume than the films. Trailers have different volume levels between them so often I'll get a loud one that necessitates turning them all down so as not to deafen everyone during the loud trailer. We readjust the volume for the movie. As for the lights, most theatres don't turn them all the way down for the same reason we don't. There's often still a lot of people coming and going during the trailers. I think we may keep ours little brighter but there's several reasons for this. - For some reason we get a lot of people right when the trailers start or after they have started. We can have 10 people in the theatre at 6:50 and 80 at 7:10. -We don't have any lights on the stairs beside the seats. The edging on the stairs actually glows in the dark if you look very carefully but it never worked very well or has worn out. -We get a lot of older people and seniors. -The damn tablets (little tables) on the chairs, most of them don't stick back out of the way even if pushed into position. If the lights are down a lot of people hit them with their legs. When the room isn't being used for classes any more come about January I may ask if I can take them all off. They do make good cup holders in some cases though.
Any questions I didn't answer feel free to post in the comments below.
Next Week was one of those weeks that hard to program because I had some choices that were hard to make. There were three films available, The Reader, The Wrestler and Gran Torino. All three I plan to play so the first choice I had to make was which two to show. One problem was all of these shows should have played the 7:00 show. However I'm running out of school year so I need to play these films soon.
I decided since Gran Torino is a bit more of an action film it would fit best as a late show. I ended up choosing Wrestler for the early simply because it's the shortest so the late show of Gran Torino can be as early as possible. I'm probably gonna get flack from people who wanted to see Gran Torino but won't go to the late show. Maybe I'll bring it back during exams.
So the tentative plan would have The Reader playing at 7:00 the following week however I didn't go ahead and book it in. Slumdog Millionaire comes out on DVD the Tuesday of that week so the first run theatres may all drop it. I do plan to play it even if it has come out on video. That week is the last one before exams start and attendance drops no matter what I play.
This isn't strictly movie related, yet. I just discovered one of these songs today and one a couple weeks ago. A musician friend of mine once said I had very commercial taste in music. Most of the music I like seems to end up being used in various movies so I would imagine these songs will end up in one sooner or later. I noticed on youtube people are posting the Matt Alber one and suggesting it be used in New Moon, the sequel to Twilight. The last album I really liked was Mika's Life In Cartoon Motion, those songs turned up in multiple movies and trailers.
Next week was really easy to book. Benjamin Button was already booked in from last week. It was available for the current week but I had already booked in Marley and Me and Bride Wars. The only question was whether or not to have a late show next week. Because of the running time of Button a late show would have been at 10:15, really late for us. I would only play something really youth oriented that wasn't too long in this case. If it had been available I might have played Taken but it's not available yet.
Turned out there were no new movies available. Yes Man is still hanging around but I didn't want to play it that late. It ended up with just one show of Button at 7pm. One of my projectionists was afraid I was going to play two shows of Button. The late show wouldn't have been over until 1:30 AM. I don't think that would have worked too well.
I discovered today I screwed up some, I waited forever for The Hyland to play Rachel Getting Married and haven't had a chance to play it since they finished with it. It came out on video today so it looks like I won't be playing it. I usually keep a better eye on video dates to avoid this kind of situation.
On a similar note, I don't think we will be playing Slumdog until after it comes out on video. Fox annoyed me and most of the exhibitors by setting the DVD release date as Mar 31 even though it's still doing well in theatres. This has happened before and we still do well with a big title like this even if it has just come out on video. I would imagine all the first run theatres will drop it the week it comes out on DVD so I can pick it up then.
I was in Toronto a couple weekends ago for some training. I had the evenings free so I figured I would see a movie or two. I decided to check the listings for the Bloor Cinema. The Bloor is an old style repertory theatre that plays second run, old stuff and an eclectic mix of new stuff. I'd pretty much go every night if I lived in Toronto. They run Rocky Horror once a month and do things like they recently played a bunch of old James Bond movies.
The theatre is cool. It's an old theatre that's still fairly intact and has that run down feeling that's cool. About the only complaint I would have is the fairly small, almost square screen, it wouldn't look too good for widescreen films.
However for what I was there for it worked fine. I went to see the World's Best Commercials Festival, so it literally was about a movie length of commercials, most were TV commercials but some were Internet and almost short films.
Now you may think it strange that I would pay for such an experience but when I noticed it on their schedule I was quite excited. The New Yorker theatre here in London used to bring this in every year. It was always fun and really popular.
Some of the commercials were public service type but most were for products and most were funny. I laughed more during that festival than I have for any comedy recently.
Some may ask why I don't bring this festival to Western Film? I'd love to do so but I don't think I can for several reasons.
It's only available on video and I don't feel our video system is worth charging money for.
There wouldn't be enough demand to play it all week.
I've pretty much given up on single showings except for things like advance screenings. It's too expensive and too hard to promote and get any kind of crowd out.
For some weird reason I feel this may change in a few years, as cinemas switch to digital projection they will start to show things other than movies, ballet, opera, football games in 3-D etc. Cinemas will become more like entertainment centers and people will get used to the idea of going to the cinema for than just movies again.
I haven't been too excited for the new Terminator film. The last one was good but nothing special. In many ways the new one looked like a transformers rip-off. About it's only saving grace was Christian Bale starring.
However the second full length trailer is out and I'm much more pumped now. This trailer gives a better idea what the story is than just a bunch of admittedly cool looking action sequences.
A happy coincidence occurred for next week that I was able to use to Western Film's advantage. Marley and Me has been available for a couple weeks but I was playing other films. Because it was from Fox I wasn't going to be able to split it so I was waiting for a week where nothing else good was available. I was told last week that Bride Wars would be available for next week but is also from Fox so it couldn't be split. Fox doesn't allow splits more because they don't want to share the screen than anything else. Sometimes I will take their movies but only play one show a night if the movie doesn't warrant a late show.
So it occurred to me to ask if they would let me split Marley and Me and Bride Wars since they are both Fox films. Someone must have been in a good mood since they said yes, to my mild surprise.
This works out great. Marley and Me probably was worth 2 shows a night but I really didn't want to do that. Bride Wars I doubt I would have been able to play at all.
I made Marley and Me the early show since it has more broad appeal. I think some people thought it was a kid's film so some of them will likely show up. Bride Wars appeals mostly to younger females so they will come out for the late show.
Benjamin Button was also available so I booked it in for the playweek starting March 13th.
There wasn't too many to choose from for next week. The new ones were Doubt, Defiance and New in Town. We won't be playing New In Town. I booked in Doubt as the early show and Defiance as the late show. Doubt being the more arty type film had to be the early show. Defiance isn't exactly your typical action film but should work okay for the late show.
Warner is asking first run theatres for a three week, full shows, minimum. That's a week longer than most movies and many titles can be split the second week, especially movies that do no late night business such as kid's films.
So in order to book the film the theatre has to agree to play it for a minimum three weeks playing all shows on each screen. If it's the hit that everyone is expecting that would probably have happened anyway. However if it's one of those weird unexpected bombs those theatres will not be happy. A good example of this would be Speed Racer from last year. I was in England when it opened and it was playing on the main screen at one of the old movie palaces in Leicester Square. It was still playing there a couple weeks later but couldn't have been doing any business as that movie bombed so bad. I would imagine they had signed for a minimum run. I was quite annoyed because I was hoping Indiana Jones would open there. It was a much nicer theatre than the Odeon movie palace Indiana Jones opened in.
Minimum runs are one of the reasons single screen theatres are almost all gone. When I was in high school there was only one theatre with one screen in that city, the entire city! I always wondered why they would open a film and everyone would go the first week but they would keep playing it rather than something new. Some big movies get minimum runs of up to 4 weeks. This is one of the reasons I give to say it's a bad idea when anyone asks about making Western Film first run.
Next week is one of the hardest weeks of the year to book. It's all during Slack Week so there are very few students around. Playing anything 'good' would mostly be wasting it. I usually try to book something more adult oriented since they are still around.
I had planned to book Australia in. It's adult oriented and since it's so long there would only be one show which would save on labour costs for the week.
However Rainbow downtown is finishing with Milk and it was offered to us. If I decided not to take it the print would have gone somewhere else and I might not have been able to get another one any time soon. So I booked in Milk. Revolutionary Road was also offered which I took since I was playing Milk instead of Australia. I may have had a similar print problem with it as well.
So I was left with two dilemmas, I've got two films booked in for a dead week that I know a lot of students want to see and both movies would work best as 7pm shows. There will be a lot of people who want to see both films but don't go to the late show for a variety of reasons.
I decided to do the following which should solve both problems. I've already booked both films in for the following week but I'm going to switch the order. That way both films play at 7pm at some point. The following week is only partly in Slack Week so the students will be here for most of it.
Now watch both films tank...
Marley and Me was also available but it's from Fox so can't be split. It will probably play starting March 27 unless something like Benjamin Button is available. Yes Man is also still waiting in the wings.
However it looks like circumstances are making a liar out of me. I don't think Western Film will be playing Australia. It comes out on DVD March 3. Which really sucks because I told people I would be playing it. However when I told people that there was no reason to suspect that it would more or less bomb in North America. Between it's running length and Fox not letting me split it I never had a full week open I could put in a movie I didn't think would do very well.
One thing I find fascinating is how snack bar sales are fairly predictable in a generalized way but completely unpredictable in terms of individual items.
Generally the snack bar sales are 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of ticket sales for the night. It varies mostly depending on the kind of film. More serious films have lower sales. More populist fun movies and most Hollywood Blockbusters are generally termed popcorn movies for a reason. The best sales are usually for kid's movies.
I calculate out how much each person spends at the snack bar on average each week. That varies in much the same way. The average for Twilight was about twice what Changeling did.
However, what exactly is sold to add up to the snack bar sales is almost completely unpredictable. I can almost never discern a pattern when I put the numbers in. We can sell 5 Combo #1 on one night and sell none on another night the same week with about the same number of patrons.
What prompted this post? Tonight we sold 20 small popcorns which may be a record for one night. It was busy but not overly so. However snack bar sales were just over half box office sales which is about normal.
I guess the guys that put on the last couple Bollywood films still want to do more. They called me to ask about a film called Billou Barber. It opens in Toronto Feb 13th. The booker will be able to tell me on Tuesday when we can play it. It depends on how it does, if it does really well we'll have to wait a little longer since they may still need the print in TO. That's good in a way though as it will likely be more popular here as well.
This comment was left on my last Bollywood post.
thanx for answering bak bout this !--personally- wenever they've shown a bollywood film its been on a single day and invariably i've already got sumthinhappenin-- also wen its hosted by a club then sumtimes u dont wanna go coz it feels kinda odd that ur not part of the club--newez-- hopefully we'll get to see sum indian films in the near future ! =)
The shows aren't put on by any clubs, its generally done as a profit making enterprise (hopefully) by someone.
To be blunt, if one wants these shows to continue you may have to give up whatever is already happening and go to the Bollywood films if you want them to continue. There isn't enough demand for more than one or two shows. We can't play them in the evenings as that would require playing them all week and there isn't enough demand for that. A couple of the local multiplexes tried playing Bollywood films all week and it didn't work.
I was watching the movie Step Up the other night and it reminded me of something I noticed earlier.
I went to see White Christmas at the Hyland during the Holidays. It was pretty cool to see it on film on the big screen. One thing that struck me was the musical numbers. They were shot pretty much live in only a few cuts. The actors had to actually be able to dance! Modern films have dance scenes edited out of dozens or more small segments. In general the new dances are more complicated but still, seems a bit of a cheat.
Here's a scene from White Christmas, notice how few cuts there are between camera shots.
Here's a scene from Step Up. Notice how often there are cuts even in the fairly simple moves at the beginning. It's kind of a shame, you can see from earlier parts of the film that Channing Tatum and the others are actually good dancers. I wonder if they could film a dance scene the same way as White Chrtistmas?
To my mild surprise Frost/Nixon was available. Considering it's nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Editing and Actor I would have expected it to play first run longer. However it's not exactly the highest profile pic and not a subject matter the 'masses' would be interested in. I was also kinda surprised the Hyland hadn't booked it in, normally we would have had to wait for them as well. I booked it in for the 7pm show.
Valkyrie was also available. I booked it in for the late show. If you had asked me before it came out I would have said we would never play it. Every indication was it was going to bomb. However it turned out to be a really good film either because of, or in spite of, Tom Cruise depending on who you talk to. It's more because it has a great director, Bryan Singer. I'm a little leery about it as a late show since it was marketed largely to adults but I think enough students will want to see it.
I had planned to put Yes Man off until the following week but I realized that is a dead week. It's the first week of slack week. The place will be a ghost town. I'm planning to play Australia to 'kill' the week unless something else adult oriented like Doubt comes available.
We may actually get backlogged, Yes Man is available, we should be able to get Doubt and Rachel Getting Married as soon as the Hyland drops them and Benjamin Button was close to coming off. Twilight is still doing pretty good in it's second week that I might bring it back if I have a good late show spot open.
UPDATE: I found out the Hyland is playing Frost/Nixon the same week we are. I bet they aren't too happy. Universal seems to consider us in different zones as this isn't the first time we've both played the same film at the same time.
A couple of the comments lately have been requests for Bollywood (Indian ) films.
Any time in the last couple years Western Film has played a Bollywood film it's actually been someone renting the theatre to show the film and I've just been helping advertise it. There's been three groups try it in the last couple years.
The last group tried charging lower ticket prices in hopes of getting more people. They were also selling their own advertising on the tickets and their own slide show. The lower price worked and they had good turnout but they made a lot less per person than previous groups. I haven't heard from them for a couple months so I'm assuming they don't want to do it any more, or possibly are going to wait for just big hits. I think it was a lot of work on their part to try to market it.
I tried doing Bollywood films myself once but not being part of the Indian community I found I couldn't advertise them effectively.
Part of the problem is we have to wait for a couple weeks after release to play them. The 35mm film prints have to finish playing in Toronto before we can show them. During that time a lot of people have already watched pirated copies. It might be worth trying again in a few years when the conversion to Digital Cinema has occurred. Presumably we would be able to play a film when it's released everywhere else and not have to wait for an expensive 35mm film copy to be available.
Basically it boils down to rampant piracy of Bollywood films and people willing to watch them rather than support the producers of the film or the theatres that try to show them.
