AMC Says ‘Almost All’ U.S. Theaters Will Reopen in July

If everyone drank like you, there'd be no problem. But it's a very addictive substance, moreso for some than others

I would love to quit coffee and plan to. Before I had kids, I drank it rarely and had a very low tolerance. Now, I drink way too much. Also an addictive substance but probably not as bad, plus less risk of immediate harm caused
 
ahalpert said:
When I was 18, I wished the drinking age were lower. Now, I'd rather raise the age of enlistment to 21.
Click to expand...
That makes a lot of sense.

Many years ago when I was in the UK military we worked with the US military on a shared base in Wales (at the same time Bradley Manning Parent's met there. I think I overlapped for about 9 months). The American military loved to use our NAFFI bar because you could be legally served alcohol at age 18. One of the US guys at 19 went and got a part time job, a couple of nights a week, in a Pub in town just for the fun of legally working in a pub and drinking in one two years before it was legal in the USA. I think he rotated back the the US when he was 20 with 2 years bar work experience!

It think it is for deep rooted historical reasons that the US has a problem with alcohol and sex (the Puritan Fathers) but is liberal with firearms (the wild west) It is difficult to change the culture of a country the size of the US.
 
Hbomax is offering 20% off if you sign a 6-konth commitment by Jan 15.

Tempting, but the only movies I want to see are late-year releases (dune and matrix 4 - and let's be honest, matrix 4 will probably suck)

Current HBO Max/ Warner Bros Release Dates (Subject to change)
December 25, 2020: Wonder Woman 1984
March 5, 2021: Tom and Jerry
March 12, 2021: The Many Saints of Newark (The Sopranos prequel)
May 21, 2021: Godzilla Versus Kong
June 18, 2021: In the Heights
August 6, 2021: The Suicide Squad
October 1, 2021: Dune
December 22, 2021: The Matrix 4
Release dates unknown
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Malignant
Those Who Wish Me Dead
King Richard
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Reminiscence
The Little Things
Mortal Kombat (reboot)
 
The problem with counting the subscriptions off a major release is the churn rate. HBO Max might get a 2,000,000 bump in subscriptions and get very little left within a year. There's a lot of competition for streaming and this is going to get extra testy in terms of promotions and so on. And your $200,000,000 tentpole is really going to turn into a huge loss.
 
The 6-month commitment will run you $70. The math is starting to get interesting

I've been saying for a while that they should stop month-to-month commitments due to churners like me. Dunno if it would fly though. Maybe a 3-month commitment
 
I think this theatrical window change is a desperation play since HBO Max isn't performing anywhere close to where they hoped it would be.

Like most HBO subscribers, I haven't even logged into my account even though it's included in my subscription. There are a couple of shows I want to check out I haven't felt any sense of urgency. If people who get it for free aren't logging in how do you plan to get people to pay? Maybe this will work.
If things doing turn around soon I think the board of directors might take a few heads.

Since taking over, Kilar has accelerated Stankey’s burn-it-down strategy to boost HBO Max. As part of the restructuring, WarnerMedia has conducted several rounds of layoffs, including more than 1,000 employees in November
Click to expand...

Almost all of the executives who spoke to CNBC — including several still at WarnerMedia — felt the HBO Max experiment isn’t going particularly well so far. Only 8.6 million people have signed up to activate the service since it launched in May. Compare this to Disney, which has signed up 73.7 million people for Disney+ in less than a year.
Click to expand...

“Jason’s belief is — wrongly — if any piece of content available anywhere other than HBO Max, it cheapens HBO Max,” said one recently departed executive. “Jason is forgoing billions in revenue by turning his back on licensing to preserve content for HBO.”
Click to expand...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/04/att-dismantles-time-warner-to-battle-netflix-the-inside-story.html
 
Gary T said:
I think this theatrical window change is a desperation play since HBO Max isn't performing anywhere close to where they hoped it would be.

Like most HBO subscribers, I haven't even logged into my account even though it's included in my subscription. There are a couple of shows I want to check out I haven't felt any sense of urgency. If people who get it for free aren't logging in how do you plan to get people to pay? Maybe this will work.
If things doing turn around soon I think the board of directors might take a few heads.







https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/04/att-dismantles-time-warner-to-battle-netflix-the-inside-story.html
Click to expand...

I've actually started watching most of the channels like that via their apps on Apple TV or my projector, because the quality is SO much better than DirecTV or cable. Streaming is almost as good as disc, at least compared to the HEAVILY OVER COMPRESSED sat and cable services. Heck, live Sunday NFL is close to unwatchable via satellite now on a 120" screen.
 
Run&Gun said:
I've actually started watching most of the channels like that via their apps on Apple TV or my projector, because the quality is SO much better than DirecTV or cable. Streaming is almost as good as disc, at least compared to the HEAVILY OVER COMPRESSED sat and cable services. Heck, live Sunday NFL is close to unwatchable via satellite now on a 120" screen.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. Time Warner now Spectrum is stuck in 2010. Even HBO suffers horribly from compression artifacts and many of the sub-tier channels are so much worse.

I think remember you having an LG OLED. Do they have a native app?
 
Gary T said:
That's good to know. Time Warner now Spectrum is stuck in 2010. Even HBO suffers horribly from compression artifacts and many of the sub-tier channels are so much worse.

I think remember you having an LG OLED. Do they have a native app?
Click to expand...

I actually watch very little on the OLED, now that I have a 4K projector(also LG). But yes, there are many native apps for some of the streaming services available. And yes, the lower the tier of channel, the worse it is on DirecTV, too. I also think that they do some type of adaptive compression depending on time of day and the "top tier" programming that is going on. I'm watching a channel right now that is not showing football and the motion/frame jumping is bad.
 
Run&Gun said:
I actually watch very little on the OLED, now that I have a 4K projector(also LG). But yes, there are many native apps for some of the streaming services available. And yes, the lower the tier of channel, the worse it is on DirecTV, too. I also think that they do some type of adaptive compression depending on time of day and the "top tier" programming that is going on. I'm watching a channel right now that is not showing football and the motion/frame jumping is bad.
Click to expand...

I sit about 4 feet away from my 65" OLED so Spectrum's image quality makes me want to scream several times a day, especially when I freeze frame to study a scene. My TV isn't connected to internet but I'll probably connect it soon. I've been holding out for the next-gen Apple TV but Apple seems determined to frustrate me. I'm a bit of security freak and like to connect a few devices to the network as possible.

If Time Warner is serious about streaming they will eventually have to offer 4K, but then that will make cable even less attractive.
 
ahalpert said:
I would love to quit coffee and plan to. Before I had kids, I drank it rarely and had a very low tolerance. Now, I drink way too much. Also an addictive substance but probably not as bad, plus less risk of immediate harm caused
Click to expand...

Five months ago I had a transient stroke where one eye went black for a few minutes. A month ago it happened again, in the other eye. Both times I was drinking really strong espresso in the morning and my doctor said it could have precipitated it, as caffeine constricts blood vessels in the brain, and espresso beans especially deliver a concentrated dose very quickly. Since then I've been drinking decaf. Other than a mild headache the next day, it hasn't been too hard.
 
The problem with the streaming services now is that they have no choice either. AT&T just has to go fully into it. At some point, there'll be mergers because the market isn't likely to absorb a dozen streaming "majors".

As to the subscriptions - "six months for $70" will need approximately three million fresh signups to cover the cost of a major release, as there's still significant marketing advertising expense, albeit much smaller than for a wide theatrical run.

Just sizing the business up, there will be Netflix that everyone will have and then 3-5 of the rest, with significant amount of flipping. Some streamers will be more like "TV online", others will concentrate on features, some on bigger budgets, some on more moderate. It's a really a wild race now, with the theater chains in dire straits ... much like Nikon.
 
Batutta said:
Five months ago I had a transient stroke where one eye went black for a few minutes. A month ago it happened again, in the other eye. Both times I was drinking really strong espresso in the morning and my doctor said it could have precipitated it, as caffeine constricts blood vessels in the brain, and espresso beans especially deliver a concentrated dose very quickly. Since then I've been drinking decaf. Other than a mild headache the next day, it hasn't been too hard.
Click to expand...

***YIKES! Are you doing ok now, man? That's scary as hell. I think heavy caffeine usage may impact fertility as well, or so I've heard. I would like to be substance-free, and caffeine is the only drug that I use now. But I use it way too much...

It's interesting - studies of centenarians have shown that a lot of them have a vice or two - but the key is that they consume in moderation. Typically, it'll be a glass of bourbon every night or a scoop of ice cream with dinner, and they do it routinely and never overconsume. I think that what's happening is that at low doses, these toxic substances are a net positive because the benefits of stress reduction that they provide outstrip the harm of the toxins. But once your consumption level rises, your tolerance goes up, and you consume exponentially more toxins to get the same benefit (or maybe you don't even get the benefit anymore)
 
IronFilm said:
America tried that already during the Prohibition Era, and that turned out very very very badly. Let's never do that again. (except we are.... with the so called "War on Drugs")
Click to expand...

I didn't say that we SHOULD or COULD do it....just that I've seen a lot of harm come from the damn thing
 
IronFilm said:
America tried that already during the Prohibition Era, and that turned out very very very badly. Let's never do that again. (except we are.... with the so called "War on Drugs")
Click to expand...

Quite... banning alcohol, just like banning sex before marriage, has never worked anywhere in the world. Ever.
The same with any form of drugs.
The best you can do is education on drugs (from Heroin via alcohol to coffee ) and contraception & sexual health. All in a non judgmental way.
BTW as shown in many countries the more sex education and contraception the lower the rate of abortions.

Before anyone mentions firearms... It is not the number of firearms in a country but the "gun culture". Banning or controlling guns won't do much of itself. Changing the culture well that takes generations, requires education and a cultural shift of the vast majority of a population.
 
So you can be mad about sending your movie to streaming and get a little money from it, or you can sit on it for an unknown amount of time and release to theaters to get more money. And that presumes there will be any theaters left after the numerous lock downs, and also presumes that people will even be willing to go to a theater after this mess.

How much does it cost if you sit on a finished movie for 2 years just to wait until theaters open again? I assume that each days the loans gather interest, or the people that funded the project with their cash want their promised return.

And then again, it also presumes that the studios are actually making products that people want to watch. There has been very little that has pulled me to the theaters in the last 15 years, and some of those were not mainstream enough to be shown near me and I had to stream them or buy a disk.
 
ahalpert said:
***YIKES! Are you doing ok now, man? That's scary as hell. I think heavy caffeine usage may impact fertility as well, or so I've heard. I would like to be substance-free, and caffeine is the only drug that I use now. But I use it way too much...
Click to expand...

I'm fine. I've lost no function. The diagnosis of a transient stroke is a best guess, as there was no evidence of a clot in either eye. One interesting side effect of going off caffeine is that I had a clicking jaw which has completely gone away. I really haven't noticed a difference in my energy level, but before I could have had a full cup of coffee and gone right to bed so I think I had a pretty high tolerance for it.
 
Greg_E said:
So you can be mad about sending your movie to streaming and get a little money from it, or you can sit on it for an unknown amount of time and release to theaters to get more money. And that presumes there will be any theaters left after the numerous lock downs, and also presumes that people will even be willing to go to a theater after this mess.

How much does it cost if you sit on a finished movie for 2 years just to wait until theaters open again? I assume that each days the loans gather interest, or the people that funded the project with their cash want their promised return.

And then again, it also presumes that the studios are actually making products that people want to watch. There has been very little that has pulled me to the theaters in the last 15 years, and some of those were not mainstream enough to be shown near me and I had to stream them or buy a disk.
Click to expand...

The problem for 2020-21 lies in the studio-distributor contracts for the already completed projects. Where Nolan may be correct is that studios are indeed using these new releases as loss leaders in order to up their subscription numbers. Which wasn't in the original plans and can be construed as a gigantic accounting run-around. And any perceived financial noncompliance would, obviously, result in a string of law suits taking years to settle.

PS. The loans are on the books of the production companies. Some have the outside investors; others may share risks with the studios themselves (most actually do). And now, you're talking the exposure and the rest of the two hundred page contracts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top