Marvel Cinematic Universe

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For those who have seen it.. Venom: Thumbs up or Thumbs Down

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    Votes: 86 62.3%
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    Votes: 52 37.7%

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    138

Rural

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Feb 3, 2010
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The movie theaters I frequent teeter on the brink of survival in normal times.
 

Triggermv

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Jul 16, 2010
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The movie theaters I frequent teeter on the brink of survival in normal times.

Yeah, I hope they hang in there as I still really do value the movie theater experience, especially with all the upgrades and improvements most of the big chains have made lately. In Cedar Rapids here, I love going to our local Marcus theater now after they made their renovations a few years back. It truly is a much better and more comfortable experience now. All of the theaters were in dire need of these upgrades. My only knock now on Marcus Theaters is I wish they would now offer something similar to AMC's A-List. With the logjam of movies coming up in 2021, next year would be the year to likely want to enroll. However, with the dire financial position of all theaters, including Marcus, I'd be shocked to see them be able to invest anytime soon in anything, much less an A-List type program.
 
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BryceC

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I was going to start an OT thread about this, but wasn't sure what the reaction would be.

It's a super interesting topic. For those that don't want to read the article, the gist is that the CEO of NBC Universal said that Trolls World Tour did so well as a Video on Demand release that they plan to release Universal Studio pictures in theaters and VOD at the same time.

This obviously would be a huge blow to movie theaters, so AMC announced that they will not show any Universal movies in their theaters, which includes their theaters in US, Europe and Middle East.

Movie theaters are going to be so hard up there is zero chance they don't end up showing Fast 9. I think this is a game of chicken AMC is going to lose easily.

I also think the lesson of Trolls World Tour isn't a consistent one. I paid 20 bucks for it because I'm stuck at home in a pandemic. There is ZERO chance I do it on a consistent basis.
 

CycloneErik

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Jan 31, 2008
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rememberingdoria.wordpress.com
Movie theaters are going to be so hard up there is zero chance they don't end up showing Fast 9. I think this is a game of chicken AMC is going to lose easily.

I also think the lesson of Trolls World Tour isn't a consistent one. I paid 20 bucks for it because I'm stuck at home in a pandemic. There is ZERO chance I do it on a consistent basis.

There are times when I would do it. We saved a lot in terms of food and whatever other surprises we'd spend money on.
But, we first watched on a Friday night during the pandemic. To no surprise, we had occasional buffering, and we missed out on the theater chairs, which really are pretty nice, in our little view.

So I'd do it again, but it really took a pretty unique circumstance to make this work for Universal.
 

bos

Legend
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Apr 10, 2006
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Movie theaters are going to be so hard up there is zero chance they don't end up showing Fast 9. I think this is a game of chicken AMC is going to lose easily.

I also think the lesson of Trolls World Tour isn't a consistent one. I paid 20 bucks for it because I'm stuck at home in a pandemic. There is ZERO chance I do it on a consistent basis.


World Tour was rubbish. The first one was good.
 

bos

Legend
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Apr 10, 2006
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Our daughter did not like the rock trolls, so that pretty much killed it for her.
I thought it was OK, but I didn't really expect a whole ton from it. Just some cute and some fun.

she isn’t an Ozzy fan? Pssssh
 

jdcyclone19

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Apr 14, 2017
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https://www.comicbookmovie.com/othe...response-to-trolls-world-tour-success-a174944

Not Marvel related, but just movie industry in general related is the battle that has completely blown up between Universal and movie theaters right now. This counter-punch by AMC is quite a big one too.

While going to the theater is nice once in a while, not dropping $30 in tickets and $10 on popcorn for 2 people and just spending $20 at home with a $.30 bag of popcorn, I can see how that would be a big selling point to families.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Disney put the squeeze on theaters with D+ and Hulu for their movies and Fox.

I use to like going to the Cinemark in Altoona but we stopped going there. The last 2 time we went there you could see moths or bugs flying around on the screen. For that new of a theater, that shouldn't happen. If the wife and I want date night we just go to flix for movie and a dinner now (cost is about the same in the end and kills 2 birds with 1 stone). Its closer to us and ok food. I cancelled the cinemark movie club a few months ago, still have some credits left, that program was actually pretty good with the coupons and ticket prices. Will make to make the gander out to jordan creek and use those up if that ever happens.
 
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coolerifyoudid

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Feb 8, 2013
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KC
Movie theaters are going to be so hard up there is zero chance they don't end up showing Fast 9. I think this is a game of chicken AMC is going to lose easily.

I also think the lesson of Trolls World Tour isn't a consistent one. I paid 20 bucks for it because I'm stuck at home in a pandemic. There is ZERO chance I do it on a consistent basis.

Agreed. It may take a certain percentage away, but some movies need to be seen on a big screen with a crowd. It's still a treat and a social event for a lot of people. I assume families with multiple children would take advantage of the home-viewing option more than every other demographic.

I personally think it's a dangerous move for Universal to play the "we don't need you" card after one successful venture during a very unusual worldwide situation.

If I'm another movie theater chain, I'd have a hard time giving Universal the same considerations that I'd give other studios. If other studios release a blockbuster on the same day, I wouldn't want to commit my largest theaters to the studio that is trying to "steal" customers from me.
 

BryceC

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Mar 23, 2006
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There are times when I would do it. We saved a lot in terms of food and whatever other surprises we'd spend money on.
But, we first watched on a Friday night during the pandemic. To no surprise, we had occasional buffering, and we missed out on the theater chairs, which really are pretty nice, in our little view.

So I'd do it again, but it really took a pretty unique circumstance to make this work for Universal.

I've got theater chairs in my house and a 100 inch screen. In some ways watching movies is better at home. But the thing is, if I'm watching a movie in my house I'm not paying 20.00 for it under normal circumstances. I'm a patient person and I'm totally willing to wait until it comes out on video.
 

3GenClone

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Jun 28, 2009
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The Russo's will be producing a live-action adaptation of Hercules for Disney. I found this worth mentioning in the MCU thread because it shows that Disney is willing to keep the Russo's around. It's early, but it could be that Disney is trying to replicate what they did with Jon Favreau: they gave him the reigns to two live-action adaptations (Jungle Book and Lion King) and now he's one of their biggest contributors in the Star Wars universe. The longer the Russo's stay with Disney keeps them on the list to return to the directors chair, perhaps for another MCU Team-up (Avengers) or possibly take a stab at Star Wars.
 

BryceC

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Russo's are currently making Cherry with Tom Holland, which if you've read the book, is just a gnarly story. Very small beans too.
 

Triggermv

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Jul 16, 2010
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According to IGN, which they have confirmed with Sony, the official name of the Sony-Marvel films is called:

Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters

This article also states that a Kraven the Hunter film is also in the works (this was only rumored previously).

https://www.ign.com/articles/this-is-the-official-name-of-sonys-spider-man-marvel-movie-universe

Whatever. I thought the original Sony Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC) was too big an acronym. Now they gotta shimmy in another letter to make it that much harder for people to remember.
 

HFCS

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Aug 13, 2010
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LA LA Land
AMC is also the biggest movie theater chain out there, so that would be a tremendous blow back against Universal. Then also at play is AMC's very much still shaky financial situation right now as they teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. There is definitely a lot at play right now in the Movie Theater business.

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Those theaters are customers of mine and the studios grant approval for my products. Things are tense to say the least, as a designer I deal more directly with studios but I hear about the customer side from sales.

For years we did very little in-theater product business in the US while the rest of the world's theaters were selling tons of products in the theaters. In the past couple years years we've seen American theaters start selling products. Maybe it was fear they'd lose out on concessions money.

I do think the studios need the theaters in the long run, some of those you listed were doing better than others before this. AMC is actually owned by a giant Chinese conglomerate.
 

Triggermv

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Jul 16, 2010
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A VOD pre-order for New Mutants was briefly listed on Amazon today. It has since been taken down, but makes it look like VOD is more likely than a theatrical release

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-new-mutants-movie-now-available-for-pre-order-on-amazon

I've held for a while now that this thing was bound for Hulu or Disney+, which I think is ultimately what they would have preferred to do if they actually owned the initial streaming rights. Problem is they don't. HBO Max does for all the 20th Century Fox movies for a few more years, which is why Dark Phoenix is currently on HBO. Therefore, their choice pretty much remains either taking it to theater or VOD. I've also heard a theory on a podcast lately which does make sense for possibly why Disney hasn't given it a release date yet. The theory states that Disney is saving it back as essentially their canary to send into the gold mine for when theaters do open up. Therefore, whenever that date is, the theory says it could be one of the first movies to drop for Disney as a test subject. So, for Disney to do that, they need a title that both they can be flexible with for a drop date, and also a title they are okay not having a big marketing lead up for. In both categories, New Mutants is perfect as the movie seems to be finished and I don't think Disney has any interest in pouring too many more marketing dollars into this sink-hole of a project. As for the viability of the strategy, sure, people will be hesitant to go to the theaters. However, it could be one of the few new movies available at the time, which maybe creates an opportunity as it could be playing on nearly every screen in the theater. I do think this theory is a possibility and maybe even a good idea.
 
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