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Movie theaters officially dead


Michael Knight

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Yeah, it was a bit long-winded.  I'll get you the highlights in your next 'People' magazine.  Sorry, it was the "95%" thing, that's exactly what women say when they know they really mean like "10%."  I need to meet more Asian women, hard-working, good at math.  

Edited by Lobo
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Ouch. Are we going to kill any production companies that have hundreds of millions in production costs that they either don’t get back with release or have to sit on indefinitely?  What is the financial position of such companies?
disney should be fine, though I’d love to see their overall 2020 finances to see how big a hit they are absorbing from all their revenue streams. 
are the other big guys like universal and warner ok?
what about smaller companies?


Maybe we’ll just get to the actual movie sooner


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54 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Those responsible have been sacked. 

I don't know what this means but I think it's from a movie. ;)  

Edited by Lobo
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  • 3 weeks later...

when you're timing the lifespan of your existence on a movie entitled "No Time to Die"...you're screwed.  

I don't know if there's such a thing as Ironical Real Estate, but this has to be it.  

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2 hours ago, freyguy said:

"I just want IMAX to survive long enough for both Dune movies and Top Gun: Maverick"

indiana jones father GIF

Yeah Dune in IMAX needs to happen. I’ll see it at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and pay $30 for parking if I have to. 
 

I saw Dark Knight at the IMAX in the Bob Bullock Museum the first day it came out. Holy shit, what a great day. 

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Just now, billfromlaketravis said:

Yeah Dune in IMAX needs to happen. I’ll see it at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and pay $30 for parking if I have to. 
 

I saw Dark Knight at the IMAX in the Bob Bullock Museum the first day it came out. Holy shit, what a great day. 

Agreed brother.  Nothing compared to seeing Blade Runner 2 at the Bob Bullock.  Bass was so heavy, it shook the metal rafters.

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10 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:


Yep. The Regal Westgate was my favorite non-Alamo theater.

Alamo Drafthouses really don’t exist Inside the Beltway in Houston. Closest thing is a Studio Movie Grill in City Centre. I fondly remember buying my wife $15 Sidecars there. 
 

There was a Sundance Theater downtown, but’s an AMC now. 

Edited by billfromlaketravis
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Yeah, Regal Westgate was probably the theater I saw more movies at in Austin besides Drafthouse.  

Who was it that ran that Arbor House indie joint from like 2005-2015?  Saw some flicks there as well that you couldn't see anywhere else.  Theater itself sucked, even the sound system was garbage.  But they ran some really great foreign films you couldn't see anywhere in Austin, even Drafthouse.  

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4 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I believe the Dobie Theater is still open. Most uncomfortable movie theater seats I’ve ever sat in. My college roommate thought he was the next Tarantino. I saw plenty of art house flicks there. 

image.gif.037fd04920c129dc7bbf3f60ffc4ff50.gif

lol the theater at Dobie has been gone for over a decade.  

 

Edited by Chet Steadman
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On 9/15/2020 at 4:26 PM, HoustonFrog said:

Side note - I’ve found that COVID has actually turned into an awesome time for dining out and seeing movies. I can go to a restaurant, nobody is inside, and let my kids do whatever they want because nobody is there. I was the only person in my Tenet showing, remarkable and no risk.

I've considered going to the local AMC, even going as far as checking within a few minutes of showtime and seeing that no tickets have sold.  If I were sure of having the theater to myself I would go but I worry someone else would also show up last minute.  Right now they're showing Empire Strikes Back for the 40th anniversary.  Maybe I'll try for that.  I've never seen it on the big screen.

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21 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I believe the Dobie Theater is still open. Most uncomfortable movie theater seats I’ve ever sat in. My college roommate thought he was the next Tarantino. I saw plenty of art house flicks there. 

Yeah buddy, and then after the movie...we're all going over to Player's for burgers and beers.  

Hi...How Are You?  You okay friend?  

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The Arbor was great but the world really needed another Cheesecake Factory. 
At this point is there anything left on the docket besides Dune that hasn't pushed to 2021 yet? 

That was just a regular (but yes, great for the time) movie theater that was killed by Gateway opening nearby.

The Arbor people are talking about that shows great indie movies is across the street in the space that was formally the Great Hills 8.
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Man, the original Arbor Cinema was something. First in Austin with THX and 70mm. And of course the clouds on the ceiling of lobby that would thunder & lighting from time to time. It was originally 4 screens & then they crammed 3 more smaller screens to make 7.

I saw pretty much every mid-late 80s blockbuster there. It was pretty much high school date night destination. But rediscovering it when they went arthouse in the end was awesome. Mrs Ghost & I went there to see something when we were dating only to find it was sold out. They happened to be screening This is Spinal Tap which she'd never seen. She laughed her ass off which pretty much told me she was the one.

The last film we ever saw there was Gosford Park on the last weekend it was open. Damn, that was almost 20 years ago.

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52 minutes ago, DanRydell said:


That was just a regular (but yes, great for the time) movie theater that was killed by Gateway opening nearby.

The Arbor people are talking about that shows great indie movies is across the street in the space that was formally the Great Hills 8.

Yeah... The one next to Barnes and Noble.  Whatever that one was called. 

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2 hours ago, Chet Steadman said:

The OG Arbor thunderstorm clouds and movie followed by Amy’s Ice Cream and chillin’ with the cows was my youth.  

3 hours ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

The last film we ever saw there was Gosford Park on the last weekend it was open. Damn, that was almost 20 years ago.

Loved that theater.

The last few movies we saw there were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Brotherhood of the Wolf.  

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17 hours ago, Chet Steadman said:

The OG Arbor thunderstorm clouds and movie followed by Amy’s Ice Cream and chillin’ with the cows was my youth.  

I'm so glad other people share memories of this place like i have. I stumbled into the Usual Suspects havingn NO IDEA what it was, and it BLEW MY MIND. Also saw Napoleon Dynamite with my then-girlfriend (now wife) there when something else was sold out. Fun times.

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23 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Alamo Drafthouses really don’t exist Inside the Beltway in Houston. Closest thing is a Studio Movie Grill in City Centre. I fondly remember buying my wife $15 Sidecars there. 
 

There was a Sundance Theater downtown, but’s an AMC now. 

I loved when it was Sundance.

Fuck AMC. 

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^

that stinks to hear.  I wish they could figure out a way to just show some of their clip shows for free but have a minimum F&B charge.  I’d go have lunch and a beer  there with just a couple dozen people in the theater and watch some of their clip reels for 45mts and leave a nice tip.  Their food is better than most chain restaurants.  

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They added a second showing of the AGFA Secret Screening at the Richardson location tonight (They showed The World's End, which was the first movie shown there with Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg in attendance) and I went to check it out since it looked like they had sold maybe 10 tickets when I checked.  The guy who runs the Dallas locations spoke before the movie and said something about not reopening until next summer, which sounds bad. 

Edited by Continental Op
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So it’s a mess.  This is straight from someone at a high level in the industry:

1.  Theaters hyped that loosened restrictions and the release of Tenet and Ninja Turtles would jump-start the business.  It didn’t, and the studios pushed everything back.

2.  The result of everything getting pushed to next year means a lot (I mean a lot) of screens will close permanently in the US, unless there is a bailout.

3.  Without a lot of screens, studios will release movies overseas (where movies are faring much better) and less so in the US, and move more to streaming

      — the studios were already ready for this.  Think about it — Disney has a streaming platform (and owns 20th Century in addition to its own studios); NBC/Comcast, which now has a streamong platform, owns Universal.  ATT/Warner owns Warner Brothers and New Line. and has a streaming platform through HBO; CBS/Viacom owns Paramount, and has a streaming platform.  That leaves Sony.

4.  The secondary fallout will be large.  Lenders could previously hope for a sale, or a Ch 11 with a sale process, but there won’t be buyers.  The hard assets are worthless.  Oh — and what are landlords going to do with these giant boxes?

 

Edited by AustinMT
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7 hours ago, Continental Op said:

They added a second showing of the AGFA Secret Screening at the Richardson location tonight (They showed The World's End, which was the first movie shown there with Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg in attendance) and I went to check it out since it looked like they had sold maybe 10 tickets when I checked.  The guy who runs the Dallas locations spoke before the movie and said something about not reopening until next summer, which sounds bad. 

That sounds really bad. Unless, they're getting some breaks on their rent, I'd think they're going to have to permanently close some of their locations. They overexpanded, especially the Las Colinas location. I'm not sure how that could pay off. 

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36 minutes ago, AustinMT said:

The secondary fallout will be large.  Lenders could previously hope for a sale, or a Ch 11 with a sale process, but there won’t be buyers.  The hard assets are worthless.  Oh — and what are landlords going to do with these giant boxes?

It’s not just the theaters.  Think about all of the businesses around those theaters, that relied on that traffic,  that will go under.  

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