Movies Source: Trolls World Tour made more money for Universal in three weeks on digital than the original did for five months in theaters

[SaysWho?]

 

Studios retain 80% of a rental/purchase fee as opposed to 50% at the box office.

 

With so many people at home and fewer things to do and fewer things people can buy, I'm not surprised it was successful, though the length of which it was is impressive. Once things open back up but some movies continue to be released digitally early on, I wonder how they'll do.

[Remarkableriots]

RIP movie theaters....

[Guest]

I’m on pace to be sold out for all 7 nights of Trolls World Tour starting May 1st at the drive in. It’s almost like something out of the ordinary is happening causing people to change their entertainment habits

 

Even our Monday screening of crappy Rise of Skywalker will likely be full 

[ort]

Yeah, this is such an unusual circumstance, it's hard to really extrapolate much from this.

 

Trolls was kind of a surprise hit. No one was expecting it to be so popular. I think it didn't do that well in theaters, but gained more of a following later.

 

The first Trolls was movie I didn't even give a second glance. It looked dumb and bad. My kids saw it somewhere at some point and liked it... and then we saw it and it was actually pretty cute... and then the sequel announcement came and it had actual hype...

 

And now we're in a flipping pandemic and people are all stuck at home... it's not normal...

 

I think I'm talking in circles, but a lot of unusual factors are playing into this so you can't really make any sweeping judgements about what this means.

[Chris-]

7 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I’m on pace to be sold out for all 7 nights of Trolls World Tour starting May 1st at the drive in. It’s almost like something out of the ordinary is happening causing people to change their entertainment habits

 

Even our Monday screening of crappy Rise of Skywalker will likely be full 

Hot boxing a car and watching Trolls honestly sounds like a pretty good time. 

[ort]

Anyway, my youngest was super excited for Trolls World Tour. He had been looking forward to it for like a year or more. He was pretty bummed that we wouldn't be able to see it, so we made a whole event around it. We decorated our TV room with a bunch of printed Trolls posters, put up streamers and made a little house party out of it. It was nice distraction.

[ort]

In other news, Trolls World Tour is a loud confusing mess of a movie. Like a technicolor fever dream. It's not really bad or good... it's more of something you just let wash over you. Like getting shot in the face with a shotgun loaded with glitter, manic pop music and colors.

 

It also has fuckall to do with the first movie. It's like they exist in two completely different worlds.

[Guest]

@ortyou’re a good dad!

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

well yeah. For one thing more kids are home. No school. No day care. Secondly the barrier of going out to see the movie is eliminated. Some may not normally have the time to go out, or if they have kids too young to take out wont go to the movies. 
 

Not every movie will see this kind of success. I doubt if End Game had to release in this climate, it would have made as much money. But I can see this helping some movies. Especially kids movies. 

[PaladinSolo]

You don't say....  I'm just waiting to see when Disney drops their next big movie straight to Disney +, which has more than doubled its sub count to over 50 million since January, wonder what the next marvel movie would do to that.

[silentbob]

My sister wish they released this for purchase and not just a rental because my nieces watched it 5 1/2 in the 48hr Window they had. They are obsessed with anything Trolls and they still watch the hell out of the first movie. So I guess a 3rd movie is all but confirmed with such a high profit already on the property

[Keyser_Soze]

I didn't know COVID-19 infected the brain.

[TwinIon]

In the wake of this success, NBC Universal's CEO said that even after theater's reopen that they would release some movies digitally. AMC apparently didn't take kindly to that idea, and immediately decided that they would no longer be showing Universal movies in any of their theaters, which is, of course, insane.

 

Maybe Universal is going to re evaluate which films get which distribution strategy, but as far as I can tell, what they're proposing is nothing new. Disney put the Lady and the Tramp remake directly on Disney Plus, but AMC didn't immediately ban all Disney films. Is AMC really going to decide against showing Fast and Furious 9 if the next Trolls movie is direct to Peacock?

[Ghost_MH]

9 hours ago, ort said:

In other news, Trolls World Tour is a loud confusing mess of a movie. Like a technicolor fever dream. It's not really bad or good... it's more of something you just let wash over you. Like getting shot in the face with a shotgun loaded with glitter, manic pop music and colors.

 

It also has fuckall to do with the first movie. It's like they exist in two completely different worlds.

 

Ever watch the holiday special? A Technicolor fever dream is this entire franchise in a nutshell.

[number305]

9 hours ago, ort said:

In other news, Trolls World Tour is a loud confusing mess of a movie. Like a technicolor fever dream. It's not really bad or good... it's more of something you just let wash over you. Like getting shot in the face with a shotgun loaded with glitter, manic pop music and colors.

 

It also has fuckall to do with the first movie. It's like they exist in two completely different worlds.

I kind of felt like world tour had no more story than what was in the trailer. The whole thing was just pop songs wall to wall with very little dialog in between. Great to entertain some adhd kids. Like eating a bowl of sugar for an adult. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

In the wake of this success, NBC Universal's CEO said that even after theater's reopen that they would release some movies digitally. AMC apparently didn't take kindly to that idea, and immediately decided that they would no longer be showing Universal movies in any of their theaters, which is, of course, insane.

 

Maybe Universal is going to re evaluate which films get which distribution strategy, but as far as I can tell, what they're proposing is nothing new. Disney put the Lady and the Tramp remake directly on Disney Plus, but AMC didn't immediately ban all Disney films. Is AMC really going to decide against showing Fast and Furious 9 if the next Trolls movie is direct to Peacock?

Some movies should go direct to consumer with limited theatrical runs. 
 

I have gotten into so many arguments with theater owners about the exclusive window. If exclusivity of product is the only reason people go to your theater, you’re doing it wrong. 
 

But the studios need to be more flexible on bookings and terms if they are going to forego the exclusive window.

For starters, they need to let theaters program content however they want. We currently have to play new releases “clean”, so no splitting a screen with another film. There is no reason my four screen indoor shouldn’t be able to play 10 movies at a time, programmed to maximize ticket sales...except that we have to play screens clean.

 

They also need to go back to sliding scales, where films get cheaper the longer you hold them over. Give incentive to theaters to keep playing your product by reducing film rental over time.

 

And like a million other little things that would allow theaters to program content in a way that draws more people in.

[number305]

50 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Some movies should go direct to consumer with limited theatrical runs. 
 

I have gotten into so many arguments with theater owners about the exclusive window. If exclusivity of product is the only reason people go to your theater, you’re doing it wrong. 
 

But the studios need to be more flexible on bookings and terms if they are going to forego the exclusive window.

For starters, they need to let theaters program content however they want. We currently have to play new releases “clean”, so no splitting a screen with another film. There is no reason my four screen indoor shouldn’t be able to play 10 movies at a time, programmed to maximize ticket sales...except that we have to play screens clean.

 

They also need to go back to sliding scales, where films get cheaper the longer you hold them over. Give incentive to theaters to keep playing your product by reducing film rental over time.

 

And like a million other little things that would allow theaters to program content in a way that draws more people in.

I'm honestly not rooting against you. But you are talking about what the movie studios need to give up to the theater. It seems to me that theaters have less leverage now than ever. If anything I think the discussion will be dropping the 50/50 split to something more in favor of the studios. 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, number305 said:

I'm honestly not rooting against you. But you are talking about what the movie studios need to give up to the theater. It seems to me that theaters have less leverage now than ever. If anything I think the discussion will be dropping the 50/50 split to something more in favor of the studios. 

The 50/50 split doesn’t exist.

 

And the theatrical business generates 40+ billion in revenue for the industry. There is a reason Disney didn’t just date all their flicks for D+ that were ready to release. 

 

Universal leaking sales numbers to the trades initially is just gamesmanship towards the exhibition industry...just as AMC claiming they won’t play Universal product is. Both sides do best when they work together.
 

But yes, if studios want to forego the arrangements we have made with the exclusive window, we won’t go along with their antiquated policies either. They made sense when the studio was shelling out $2000 to make that 35mm print we ran, but they don’t anymore and no theater is going to do it if they don’t get what they think makes it worth it (the exclusive window).

 

When Universal counts all their receipts, they will be missing a lot of revenue from not having a theatrical release for Trolls. It’s already lagging behind the first film comparing PVOD vs box office, and it’s regular physical media and streaming rental/purchases are going to be depressed.

 

My business model (drive ins) doesn’t even need new content to do well. We have one of the only theaters in the nation that actually makes money showing classic movies like our annual Grease screening. Selling experiences is and always has been the key. 
 

Go day and date, doesn’t make a lick of difference to me, even though I think it’s a dumb idea for the studios  

[Guest]

To add one more bit, Universal is booking Trolls World Tour for 25% because they went PVOD with it. I’ll gladly play their movies for 25% in exchange for losing the exclusive window!

[Chris-]

Yeah, clean runs are a scourge. Want to know why so few single-screen independents are left? Exhibit A. 

[TwinIon]

@sblfilms Can you clarify a bit about clean runs? I'm not sure what the rules are or what exactly they're getting out of them. If I understand you correctly, let's say you have two screens and two movies booked. You can't maximize the number of showings by mixing and matching which film plays on which screens because the studios want a screen dedicated to a given film? What is it that they get out of that? More showings? I guess I figured that screens were typically dedicated to films because it's a pain to switch them over or something.

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

@sblfilms Can you clarify a bit about clean runs? I'm not sure what the rules are or what exactly they're getting out of them. If I understand you correctly, let's say you have two screens and two movies booked. You can't maximize the number of showings by mixing and matching which film plays on which screens because the studios want a screen dedicated to a given film? What is it that they get out of that? More showings? I guess I figured that screens were typically dedicated to films because it's a pain to switch them over or something.

It ostensibly has to do with the cost they incur to put a movie into theaters and their desire to profit maximize their film. But they fail to understand that when I play their new horror movie on Friday morning to an empty auditorium instead of playing something the grey hairs would like, they aren’t actually making the most money. 
 

Allowing theaters the flexibility of programming content in a way that puts the most butts in seats over the course of the year is absolutely in the best interest of the studios, they just haven’t changed with the times yet.

 

There are so many small changes that would allow theaters and PVOD to live in harmony if the movie studios weren’t run by a bunch of dinosaurs.

[johnny]

I’ve noticed that all these theater CEOs are just petulant children. Yeah ok I’m sure AMC who is apparently broke won’t want Fast 9  or the next Jurassic World shown in their theater. Try explaining that one to the people who actually run the theaters. 

[Chris-]

51 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

It ostensibly has to do with the cost they incur to put a movie into theaters and their desire to profit maximize their film. But they fail to understand that when I play their new horror movie on Friday morning to an empty auditorium instead of playing something the grey hairs would like, they aren’t actually making the most money. 
 

Allowing theaters the flexibility of programming content in a way that puts the most butts in seats over the course of the year is absolutely in the best interest of the studios, they just haven’t changed with the times yet.

 

There are so many small changes that would allow theaters and PVOD to live in harmony if the movie studios weren’t run by a bunch of dinosaurs.

It’s also important to note that studios want clean runs that last 2-3 weeks; in a medium where new content comes out nearly weekly, if you don’t have a lot of screens that becomes a lot more challenging. 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Chris- said:

It’s also important to note that studios want clean runs that last 2-3 weeks; in a medium where new content comes out nearly weekly, if you don’t have a lot of screens that becomes a lot more challenging. 

Yeah, this is really killer for singles and twins because they end up playing stale old content because the studios dump so much stuff out all year long. It was fine 60 years ago when movies weren’t front loaded, but they are and the studios  act like they aren’t. 
 

We have though for a long time about adding a couple of high end screening rooms to our four screen just to get more booking flexibility.

[Remarkableriots]

7 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Yeah, this is really killer for singles and twins because they end up playing stale old content because the studios dump so much stuff out all year long. It was fine 60 years ago when movies weren’t front loaded, but they are and the studios  act like they aren’t. 
 

We have though for a long time about adding a couple of high end screening rooms to our four screen just to get more booking flexibility.

Add D-box seating!

[EternallDarkness]

On 4/28/2020 at 10:33 AM, Remarkableriots said:

RIP movie theaters....

 

no one. Perfect storm for them to do well. Kids at home driving their parents crazy. If all movies get released like that they won't all be hits. Some/many movies are fun because of the shared experience.