The Wall Street Journal reports that AMC stock has halved since May. Regal’s income fell 30% in the second quarter. Cinemark was better with net income dropping only 5%. What’s happening? In 2016, it was reported that millennials are killing the movie business. Why? They want to use their phones during the movie. Theaters thought about it for about five seconds, then decided it was not a good idea.
But, besides some lackluster movies, the real issue is the future. Studios want to stream their movies faster, i.e., within a few weeks (some right away) rather than a few months. Since the theaters make money on long running movies, they are not happy. It is not a good time to own theater stock right now, and it sounds like this turmoil will last for at least another year.
FYI–If the studios do release the movies directly for home viewing, the cost is projected to be in the $30-$50 range. At that price, you could invite your neighbors over and sell them popcorn for $7.00, Pepsi for $7.00, and M&M’s for $5.00. Of course, you would have to pat them down at the door to make sure they weren’t smuggling any goodies into your house.
We have talked about this before but this crystallizes the figure. Studios assume foreign markets compose approximately 70% of ticket sales. Another interesting stat. The highest US and Canadian movie attendance was back in 2004. We are demanding to see our movies when and where we want them.
We have a new record! Nut Job 2 made only $9 million in over 4000 theaters. The previous low in 4000 theaters was The Emoji movie but it made $24 million. If you are into politics, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel has only made $2.3 million after three weeks. The original made $24 million in US. This week–Logan Lucky with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating and The Hitman’s Bodyguard with a 35% Rotten Tomatoes rating (surely Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson can do better than that).
And in a final bitter pill, Jeremy Renner breaks both arms in a stunt. Tom Cruise broke an ankle in a jump from one building to another. A stuntwoman killed on Deadpool 2. Is Hollywood trying to do too much? Where is OSHA when you need it?
Was Logan Lucky, was he good or was he great? See TMJ’s review posted last night!