A Great Big Case of “I Told You So”

I know I’m not the only one who laments the demise of the American movie house.

No, no, no. It hasn’t died. Yet. For a whole host of reasons, it’s been gradually dying for about three decades now. Arguably, the price of admission – coupled with the rising cost of refreshments – is the greatest factor working against the cinemas; when it becomes almost as expensive to take the family to see “Finding Nemo 3: Something Smells Fishy” as it is to take them to see the Seattle Mariners’ baseball game, then you may as well place an order for the tombstone. Not the pizza. The one for a gravesite.

And Hollywood hasn’t done itself any favors, that’s for sure. Each year, the studios continue to turn out film after film that kinda/sorta pokes fun at what has been the social norms of the past century (traditional marriage, American Exceptionalism, the nuclear family, etc.). The emergence of a class of people who refuse to spend money as a form of endorsement against their personal beliefs or convictions has Tinseltown accountants creating even more contorted forms of math to “qualify” studio profits.

But hey – I didn’t start this column as a political statement, and I won’t end it that way, either.

About two decades back, I had made a casual observation to some friends over dinner that the multiplexes would eventually struggle to grow an audience because Hollywood won’t forever be able to fiscally support ‘event pictures’ surrounding every possible event on the calendar. (I did have a possible solution, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself … stay tuned for later in this same column!) Lo and behold, this last summer most of us on this street of the Information Superhighway were debating that very proposition – the one tied to observations made by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, no less. The media moguls postulated an end to the same studio dynamic I (and, I’m sure, many others) had said would led to ruin decades before, and I pointed out the irony of the two guys who practically invented the ‘event picture’ calling for their end. (Many suggested I was off-base in my evaluation of their comments, but it is what it is.)

Whatever their central point was, the reality remains that Hollywood needs to think outside the box – a sentiment both misters suggested – in finding a way for theatre owners to better utilize its space.

When solving any problem, it’s imperative that one start with clearly knowing what an effective solution looks like. For theatre owners, it can always be summed up as, “Well, we need to make more money” (because that’s how Hollywood inevitably makes more money), but that’s an honest oversimplification. Growing an audience may not always be the answer; giving consumers a reason to come to the cinemaplex is.

The ‘event picture’ is, merely, the path of least resistance. Find some popular novel; film it; and, “if you build it, they will come,” is the easiest approach. Market the beast well so that anyone who is anyone will know ahead of time that in order to maintain their popularity they have to (have to! have to!) see the latest film in the Twilight Saga. This will guarantee the motion picture will have to show on ten screens in a twenty-screen ‘plex’ in order to keep up with demand in its first week of release … and voila! Profit City! Population: Us!

That’s the logic that pushed the ‘event picture’ into bigger, broader, and bloated company. Even today, studios still jockey months or even years in advance to capitalize on a certain calendar date – everyone wants to be the first official summer blockbuster, or every art-film has to open on Christmas Day. Knowing when to book a film for the masses has become a huge chess match played between studio heads, and they’re all hoping to cry ‘checkmate’ when it comes to cornering the market.

However …

Another way to approach this problem – the lack of an audience – is to figure out where else there is an opportunity to bring butts in for the seats.

The BBC knew it had a good thing with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. Its long-running sci-fi franchise has often been rumored to be heading to the big screen – the dirty little secret is that it’s been there before, but I won’t mince words with trivia – and why shouldn’t it? Whovians – think ‘Trekkies’ but for the Doctor – are a legitimate worldwide phenomenon, and there’s no doubt these fans would pony up their twenty bucks to see a big budget blast-off of their favorite Time Lord.

Well, the BBC finally made it happen.

Kind of.

Audiences were given a chance to take in this special event – the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who – in a big way: in the cinemas. Digitally. In 3D.

Now, this takes me back to that conversation I had about two decades ago with friends. In fact, this is precisely what I had suggested.

(Paraphrased) “If I’m a fan of, say, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the show is premiering its new season with a slam-bang-whiz huge two-part episode, then why shouldn’t I be given the chance to see that on the big screen?”
The counterpoint is simple: why would consumers spend money to see something on the silver screen when they can see it for ‘free’ at home?

No one said anyone had to pay extra to see it at the multiplex.

My point was that I would be willing to.

I’m old enough to know that if I’m the only one willing to pay extra for something special then I’m rarely alone in those sentiments.

As I’ve already written about here at Unreality Magazine, I’ve attended a handful of showings sponsored by Fathom Events. On several occasions, Fathom has partnered with Paramount Pictures to digital broadcast in theatres special HD episodes of the original Star Trek as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation. And every one of these screenings has been nearly filled to capacity.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this past weekend’s digital screenings of Doctor Who’s “The Day of the Doctor” achieved terrific results. Returns show that the BBC netted just over $10 million, with $4.7 million of that coming from the United States alone.

So again I ask you: “Which of us wouldn’t want the chance to pay a bit extra for the chance to seeing our favorite sci-fi TV franchises on the big screen for special events?”

Of course, I can’t see how this would work for hit shows like Storage Wars or Duck Dynasty. But properties like Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5? I think they were made to be experienced in such a way; and it’s good to see that – after two decades – Hollywood is finally taking notice.

What about the finale of Breaking Bad?

Or how about a special Halloween episode of The Walking Dead?

If movie houses could produce even modest studio profits that could then, in turn, help ease the costs of highbrow boob tube programming, why not pursue it?

Could TV simulcasts ultimately save the American movie house?

There’s no way to answer that today because, frankly, the data – what little there is – would be (at best) inconclusive or (at worst) incomplete. But it would give theatres a new lease on life and a fighting chance to survive as our entertainment choices continue to evolve.