Texas-based exhibitor EVO Entertainment Group has revealed plans to open a new flagship cinema/entertainment venue at Southlake Town Square in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The news was announced today.
The 68,733-square-foot space, which previously housed a traditional movie theater, will undergo a multi-million-dollar renovation to transform it into one of EVO’s “experiential entertainment” centers, complete with seven luxury dine-in theaters with all-recliner seating, a scratch kitchen and craft bar with outdoor patio space, bowling lanes, over 12,000 square feet of video and redemption arcades, an indoor ropes course and rock wall, bumper cars, laser tag, virtual reality, and private event space. Located at 1450 Plaza Place in Southlake Town Square, the venue is slated to open in December 2021.
“After exploring the DFW Metroplex, we determined that Southlake — particularly Southlake Town Square — was the best place to enter the market,” said Mitch Roberts, CEO of EVO Entertainment Group, in a statement. “We are excited to be part of an environment with some of the best retail in a lifestyle destination that truly values the experiential element of shopping, dining and playing together as an elevated human experience.”
The new venue brings EVO’s theatrical footprint to eight cinemas and 79 screens across Texas. Additional new locations will be announced later this year.
Cinema marketing data analytics company Movio and box office collection and reporting platform Numero have jointly launched Behind the Screens, a new weekly podcast that will provide “actionable insights on the moviegoers behind the box office numbers,” according to a press release on Tuesday (June 29).
Hosted by Movio COO Matthew Liebmann and Numero chief executive Simon Burton, Behind the Screens will begin each episode by discussing the prior weekend’s box office and analyze key audience trends. The podcast will highlight box office information supplied by Numero and make use of Movio’s big data technology to offer predictive information for the entire cinema ecosystem. Interview segments will feature studio and exhibition partners of Vista Group – Movio and Numero’s parent company – along with data scientists and other experts.
“There are already some great industry podcasts out there but we believe Behind The Screens fills a gap by providing insights on the people in the seats – the cinema-going audience,” said Liebmann in a statement. “We’ll use Numero’s box office data and Movio’s audience and propensity data to really drill into moviegoers. Who are they, what have they watched and most importantly what are they most likely to watch next?”
“We have Vista Group companies working with different data sets across the industry and that puts us in a unique position to provide timely insights each and every week,” added Burton. “Our hope with sharing these insights, especially those built around likely moviegoers, is that they can be used by studios, distributors and exhibitors to influence their strategies in order to build and capture every potential box office dollar.”
Behind the Screens launches on June 28 and will initially be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and at movio.co/resources/podcast. New episodes will release every Tuesday.
Paramount has released a teaser trailer for Clifford the Big Red Dog, the studio’s live-action adaptation of the classic children’s book series which is slated for theatrical release on September 17.
Directed by Walt Becker, the film stars Darby Camp, John Cleese, Sienna Guillory and Jack Whitehall. It was originally scheduled for release on November 13, 2020 before being pushed to November 5, 2021. It was subsequently moved up to its current date.
The studio notes that it will donate $1 to the Best Friends Animal Society, up to $20,000, for every ❤️ or share the trailer gets.
You can watch the trailer and read the official plot synopsis below.
Official Synopsis:
When middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away for business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat as our heroes take a bite out of the Big Apple. Based on the beloved Scholastic book character, Clifford will teach the world how to love big!
Michigan-based luxury cinema chain Emagine Entertainment will be raising funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (BGCSM), helping to offset the cost of yearly membership.
Throughout the month of July, guests at any of Emagine’s Michigan locations will be encouraged to make a donation to BGCSM; those who do so will be recognize via signage at the box office. The money raised will go towards the membership fees of deserving children ages 6-18.
After 95 years of service, Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan remains that safe place for youth to learn, have fun, and reach their full potential as change agents in their life, Club and communities. By providing high quality youth development programs, BGCSM has reimagined the future of afterschool learning and continues to stay agile and expand to better support the needs of our changing youth, ensuring that they are career, start-up, and homeowner ready.
“We are glad to continue our support in giving back to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan and their mission. We are grateful to have such loyal and caring guests who continue to offer support to others in their surrounding communities,” said Anthony LaVerde, CEO of Emagine Entertainment.
“BGCSM continues to provide the youth of Southeastern Michigan with a safe, positive and engaging environment with a variety of programs and opportunities that allow our young people to feel included, challenged and entertained all year long,” stated BGCSM President and CEO Shawn H. Wilson. “Emagine Theatres has been a longtime champion of BGCSM youth, and the funds raised will help us care for and engage our youth to our fullest abilities.”
Universal and DreamWorks Animation have partnered with Variety – the Children’s Charity to create limited-edition gold heart pins featuring characters from the studios’ forthcoming The Boss Baby: Family Business, which is slated for release on July 2, 2021. Proceeds from sales of the pins will benefit Variety programs that provide life-changing equipment, services and experiences to children who live with special needs or who are disadvantaged.
The pins, which feature boss baby Ted (voiced by Alec Baldwin) and new boss baby Tina (voiced by Amy Sedaris) will be available for a minimum donation of $3 in movie theaters across the U.S. starting July 2. A full list of participating locations can be found at www.usvariety.org.
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation
“Every person who supports Variety helps empower a child to fulfill their unique potential,” said Erica Lopez, executive director of Variety – the Children’s Charity of the United States. “Each Gold Heart pin sold means that Variety can provide things like custom-fitted adaptive tricycles, communication devices and activities such as camp for kids and teens with special needs.”
“The Boss Baby: Family Business celebrates the child inside each of us and the families who love and support us throughout our lives,” said Eric Carr, senior vice president of in-theatre marketing for Universal Pictures. “Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation are proud to partner with Variety – the Children’s Charity in its vital, ongoing mission to make the lives of children with special needs, and their families, a little easier and a lot brighter.”
It’s the month of Independence Day, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and (this year only) the NBA Finals. Most importantly for the exhibition industry it’s also the peak month of summer movie season. From animation to horror, superhero to drama, here’s a preview of the biggest films arriving on the big screen in July 2021.
The Boss Baby: Family Business
Friday, July 2
Premise: Alec Baldwin returns to voice Ted Templeton Jr., an infant who doubles as a CEO, in this sequel to 2017’s surprise animated hit The Boss Baby. Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Jeff Goldblum, and Eva Longoria round out the voice cast.
Theatrical exclusivity? No. Universal will release the film “day and date,” simultaneously in theaters and streaming on Peacock. This will serve as arguably the highest-profile Peacock film to date, as the service—which launched less than a year ago, on July 15, 2020—has mostly focused on television and miniseries content until now.
Box office comparisons: The original The Boss Baby opened to a higher-than-expected $50.1M opening weekend and $175.0M domestic total. That made it the #17 highest-grossing film released in 2017 and the year’s fourth-biggest animated title.
Box office forecast: In Boxoffice Pro‘s most recent long range forecast, chief analyst Shawn Robbins projected a $15M-$35M opening and $45M-$115M domestic total.
One more thing: Between the first and second films, Netflix aired the 49-episode television series The Boss Baby: Back in Business, with JP Karliak voicing the title character instead of Baldwin.
The Forever Purge
Friday, July 2
Premise: The fifth film in the Purge horror franchise takes place in a dystopian version of the United States, in which all crime is legal for one day each year. Let’s just say people don’t spend that day merely tending to their gardens and baking cookies.
Theatrical exclusivity? Yes. Although Universal is releasing two films in cinemas on the same day, virtually unheard-of for a major studio, only this one is exclusively theatrical.
Box office comparisons: The first three films in the franchise earned perpetually higher domestic box office: $64.4M for 2013’s The Purge, then $71.5M for 2014’s The Purge: Anarchy, then $79.0M for 2016’s The Purge: Election Year. The fourth installment, 2018’s The First Purge, declined slightly to $69.8M—although that was a prequel, rather than a continuation of the main story.
Box office forecast: Shawn Robbins currently projects a $10M-$15M opening weekend and $20M-$35M domestic total, considerably lower than any of the previous four films in the franchise earned.
One more thing: Read Boxoffice Pro‘s 2016 interview with The Purge: Election Year screenwriter and director James DeMonaco here.
Black Widow
Friday, July 9
Premise: After appearing in seven previous Marvel films, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) finally gets her own solo outing in Disney and Marvel Studios’ next Marvel Cinematic Universe installment, a prequel taking place between the character’s appearances in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War.
Theatrical exclusivity? No. Disney is releasing the film day-and-date, simultaneously in theaters and for a $30 surcharge to Disney+ subscribers.
Box office comparisons: Another recent solo-female superhero title, December’s Wonder Woman 1984, also opened simultaneously in cinemas and on streaming. It opened to a $16.7M opening weekend theatrically and $46.5M domestically—although North American Covid-19 pandemic fatality numbers were at their peak then and many cinemas were still closed, rendering the comparison inexact.
Marvel’s prior solo-female superhero release, Captain Marvel, debuted to $153.4M and earned $426.8M domestically. Both numbers were on the absolute highest end of expectations, making it the sixth-biggest film released in 2019.
Box office forecast: Shawn Robbins currently projects a $65M-$90M opening, which would make it the biggest pandemic-and-post-pandemic era debut, a mark currently held by F9 with $70M. Robbins also forecasts a $155M-$225M domestic total.
One more thing: Though unintentional and caused by pandemic-forced release delays, the two year gap since July 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home marks the longest gap between Marvel/MCU films since the franchise’s 2008 inception. Whether this will affect the film’s box office is still to be determined, although Marvel has continued releasing television content in the meantime, including 2021 Disney+ series “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and “Loki.”
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Friday, July 16
Premise: This reimagining of 1996’s Space Jam, in which NBA legend Michael Jordan teamed up with animated Looney Tunes characters for a basketball game, now stars LeBron James—who unquestionably remains the star player of his generation, despite his Los Angeles Lakers getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs in early June.
Theatrical exclusivity? No. Warner Bros. will release the film simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.
Box office comparisons: The original Space Jam opened to $27.5M (about $56.9M adjusted for ticket price inflation) and earned a $90.4M domestic total (about $187.0M adjusted). That made it the #18 movie released in 1996.
Box office forecast: Shawn Robbins currently projects a $15M-$30M opening and $45M-$100M total.
One more thing: The original Space Jam‘s 1996 website still exists, rudimentary graphics and all. Check it out here.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
Friday, July 16
Premise: Sony’s horror-thriller sequel follows up 2019’s Escape Room, about six strangers who must team up to solve puzzles and riddles to complete an escape room, only this time with fatal consequences if they fail.
Theatrical exclusivity? Yes, Sony Pictures will release the film exclusively in cinemas.
Box office comparisons: 2019’s original installment debuted to an $18.2M opening and $57.0M domestic total.
Box office forecast” Shawn Robbins currently projects a $12M-$17M start and $30M-45M total.
One more thing: With the rise of “cinema entertainment centers,” there are some cinemas that now have escape rooms as an additional feature. Don’t worry, we’re referring to the non-fatal kind.
Old
Friday, July 23
Premise: Director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Glass, Split, Signs) returns to his trademark theme of eerie supernatural thriller, with this tale of a beach on which visitors age an entire lifetime within hours.
Theatrical exclusivity? Yes. Universal’s Super Bowl commercial for the film ended with the phrase “Only in theaters this summer.”
Box office comparisons: Shyamalan’s last two films, Split and Glass, earned $138.1M and $111.0M domestic, respectively. They started with a nearly-identical $40.0M and $40.3M openings.
Box office forecast: Robbins has not yet provided a public box office forecast but will in the coming weeks.
One more thing: Shyamalan was inspired to make the film after receiving the graphic novel Sandcastle by Frederik Peeters and Pierre Oscar Lévy as a Father’s Day gift from his daughter.
Snake Eyes
Friday, July 23
Premise: Following the character’s appearances in 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians, A Simple Favor) stars in the origin story of the mysterious fighter known only as Snake Eyes.
Theatrical exclusivity? Yes. Paramount has committed to giving all their films a theatrical exclusivity window before making them available to stream on Paramount+.
Box office comparisons: The two G.I. Joe films earned $150.2M off a $54.7M opening weekend, then a somewhat-less $122.5M off a $40.5M debut.
Box office forecast: Robbins has not yet provided a public box office forecast but will in the coming weeks.
One more thing: Among martial arts-themed action films with an Asian-heritage lead, Snake Eyes gets the jump on Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, in theaters September 3.
Jungle Cruise
Friday, July 30
Premise: Based on the popular ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson team up in this fantasy adventure set a century ago.
Theatrical exclusivity? No. Disney is releasing the film simultaneously in theaters and for a $30 surcharge to Disney+ subscribers.
Box office comparisons: Films based on Disney World or Disneyland rides have posted very mixed box office track records. While the five-movies-and-counting Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has proven one of the most successful series of the 21st century, other ride adaptations have been box office disappointments, including 2003’s The Haunted Mansion with $75.8M, 2015’s Tomorrowland with $93.4M, and 2002’s The Country Bears with $16.9M.
Box office forecast: Robbins has not yet provided a public box office forecast but will in the coming weeks.
One more thing: Blunt’s May release A Quiet Place Part II is currently the highest grossing film of the pandemic-and-post-pandemic era, with $136.3M domestic and counting. If all goes well, she could end up starring in two of the top five films of the summer.
Stillwater
Friday, July 30
Premise: Matt Damon stars as an oil rig worker from Stillwater, Oklahoma who must fight the legal system in France to exonerate his daughter, who’s accused of murdering a woman there. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) directs for Focus Features.
Theatrical exclusivity? Yes.
Box office comparisons? McCarthy’s previous slow-burn drama Spotlight earned $45.0M domestic in 2015-16, en route to the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Box office forecast? Robbins has not yet provided a public box office forecast but will in the coming weeks.
One more thing: Matt Damon will appear in two movies this month, though only one theatrically; the other is Steven Soderbergh’s July release No Sudden Move for HBO Max.
European cinema innovation project Cinnovate has received €380,000, equivalent to about $453,000 USD, through the European Union’s program “Cinemas as Innovation Hubs for Local Communities.”
Cinnovate will be a new digital platform from four of Europe’s arthouse cinema chains: Folkets Hus och Parker (Sweden), Folkets Bio (Sweden), Access Cinema (Ireland), and Art kino mreža Slovenije (Slovenia).
The digital content platform will include features in cinema-powered video on demand (VOD), event cinema, gaming and virtual reality (VR) in cinemas, jukebox cinema and crowdsourcing, and virtual film literacy offers.
Being part of ‘Cinnovate’ will allow us to complement and strengthen our network’s traditional working model by using emerging innovations to reconnect with existing cinema audiences, whilst also reaching new audiences of all ages,” Access Cinema Network’s managing director Maeve Cooke said in a press release.
“We are also delighted to have the opportunity to work directly with other European cinema networks, which will allow us to share and learn from each other’s experiences, as well as with the expert partners who will help us to build new activities in event cinema, VR and gaming.”
This weekend, the North American box office hit a higher gear.
F9, the tenth film in the long-running Fast & Furious franchise, won the top spot at the box office with an estimated $70M from a pandemic-record 4,179 locations over the final weekend of June, marking the highest debut of the pandemic by far and injecting new life into the theatrical marketplace after previous strong openings by films such as Godzilla vs. Kong ($31.63M) and A Quiet Place Part II ($47.55M). That’s the highest opening at the domestic box office since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which opened to $177.38M when it was released in December 2019.
Originally slated to open in North America over Memorial Day weekend 2020, F9 was pushed to April 2, 2021 due to the pandemic and, later, Memorial Day weekend 2021 before ultimately landing on June 25. The wait appears to have been worth it, as the film posted numbers that – while still undoubtedly lower than they would have been prior to the emergence of COVID-19 thanks to a few lingering capacity restrictions and a reticence on the part of some prospective moviegoers to return to the theater – are much more in line with the kind of blockbuster tallies we saw in the pre-pandemic era.
Universal has certainly been pouring all its efforts into making F9 a hit on par with previous entries in the franchise. The film’s marketing campaign has consistently touted the sequel as the one title above all others that would bring Americans back to the movies again. That was certainly a bold — and even potentially risky — bit of messaging, but it seems to have paid off judging by this weekend’s numbers.
F9 was certainly helped by a widespread lifting of capacity restrictions by exhibitors in major markets over the past several days, making the landscape perfect for this kind of a robust opening. It’s also hard not to sense a pent-up demand among consumers for a return to the big-screen experience they’ve largely been missing out on over the past 15 and a half months, particularly now that relatively high vaccination rates in many areas of the country have made many consumers more comfortable with the prospect of resuming normal activities again.
Demand was also clearly high for another film in the Fast franchise, which hasn’t debuted an installment in theaters since the 2019 spin-off Hobbs & Shaw ($173.96M domestic, $759.06M worldwide), while a proper sequel hasn’t been seen since 2017’s Fate of the Furious ($226M domestic, $1.24B worldwide). Thankfully, the crop of moviegoers who have shown the greatest willingness to return to theaters so far skew heavily young and male — i.e. demos that fall right into the franchise’s wheelhouse. Sixty percent of the opening weekend audience was male and 49% was under the age of 25, while over half were Hispanic and/or African-American.
The studio’s promotional machine certainly hit a high gear in the months leading up to release, with prime ad spots on Oscar night and during various major sporting events as well as Saturday Night Live. The official F9 YouTube trailer has drawn more than 52.5 million views since first being posted in January 2020, while a follow-up trailer released in April this year has garnered 46.5 million views in just over two months. The franchise’s social media following is another factor in the movie’s favor, with 5 million combined followers on Twitter and Instagram — while F9 stars like Vin Diesel (over 71M Instagram followers) have even more impressive numbers.
Crucial to this weekend’s turnout was a renewed eagerness among casual fans of the series to return to theaters, and judging from this weekend’s numbers, it appears that many of them were. F9’s opening weekend gross even surpassed that of Hobbs & Shaw, which debuted to $60.04M in non-pandemic times.
Though nowhere near the heights of series-best opener Furious 7 – which debuted to a massive $147.19M in April 2015, partially due to sustained media attention around star Paul Walker’s untimely death in the middle of filming – or even 2017’s The Fate of the Furious ($98.79M opening) and Fast & Furious 6 ($97.38M), F9’s opening is nonetheless excellent given the continued (albeit waning) pandemic in the U.S. and the fact that it’s the tenth film in a now 20-year-old franchise – an unusually long run for an action series and a time when fatigue may understandably be setting in.
Reviews for the film, which has a Rotten Tomatoes score of ?%, are right on the brink of falling into “Rotten” territory, making it the lowest-rated Fast installment since the franchise reinvented itself with Fast Five. That said, critically it’s only a tick below both Hobbs & Shaw and The Fate of the Furious, both of which scored a 67% critical average on the review aggregator. Perhaps boding well for the film’s long-term playability, audiences seem to be enjoying it somewhat better, giving F9 a solid 84% Audience Score on RT and a B+ Cinemascore.
In non-F9 news, A Quiet Place Part II had another strong hold, dropping just 32% to an estimated $6.2M in its fifth weekend of release for a total of $136.39M. Encouragingly, weekend-to-weekend drops for the Paramount sequel have been more or less in line with the first movie, which finished with a total of $188.02M in North America.
Last weekend’s No. 1 film, Lionsgate/Millennium Media’s The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, fell two spots to third place with an estimated $4.88M in its sophomore frame, a 57% drop. The Ryan Reynolds-Samuel L. Jackson sequel has $25.87M to date.
Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway dropped 20% to an estimated $4.85M in its third weekend of release, good for fourth place. The sequel’s $28.86M total is a far cry from the $71.51M the first film took in by the same point in its run — the caveat of course being that the original movie was released in a non-pandemic year.
Disney’s Cruella rounded out the top 5 with an estimated $3.7M in its fifth weekend of release, giving the 101 Dalmatians prequel a total of $71.3M.
Just outside the top 10 at No. 6 is The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which grossed an estimated $2.92M in its fourth weekend for a total of $59.13M to date.
Finally, Warner Bros.’ In the Heights came in at No. 7 in its third weekend with an estimated $2.23M, a 47% drop from its sophomore frame. The musical adaptation now has $24.16M in the bank.
OVERSEAS
F9 opened in 22 new markets this weekend (including Mexico, the U.K. and Brazil) and grossed an estimated $37.96M overall, giving it an international total of $334.85M and a global tally of $404.85M. In Mexico, the Universal sequel opened to a pandemic-best $10.7M, while it took in an estimated $8.3M in the U.K. and $2.6M in Brazil.
Cruella took in an estimated $10.6M from 43 territories, including a $2.2M opening in France, the final major international market. The Disney release has grossed $112.5M overseas and $183.8M globally.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It took in an estimated $6.9M from 57 markets, bringing the horror sequel’s international tally to $101.5M and its global total to $160.6M.
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway grossed $6.3 million internationally, bringing its overseas total to $79M and its global gross to $107.8M.
Disney’s Luca, which was not given a theatrical release in North America, grossed an estimated $4.5M from 12 territories, bringing its overseas total to $11.6M.
IMAX Corporation announced fRIDAY a 12-month extension to the Company’s share-repurchase program through June 30, 2022. The current share-repurchase program authorized the Company to repurchase up to $200 million of its common shares, of which approximately $89.4 million remains available, and was set to expire on June 30, 2021.
The Company has repurchased a total of approximately 6 million of its common shares for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $110.6 million, pursuant to the current share-repurchase program since it commenced on July 1, 2017. With this extension effective July 1, 2021, the Company remains authorized to repurchase up to approximately $89.4 million worth of common shares through June 30, 2022. In light of the current operating environment, the Company does not currently intend to repurchase shares.
Repurchases to date by the Company pursuant to the current share-repurchase program have resulted in an approximately 9 percent net reduction in shares outstanding, since the program began on July 1, 2017.
Repurchases under the company’s share-repurchase program may be made either in the open market or through private transactions, subject to market conditions and applicable legal requirements. IMAX has no obligation to repurchase shares, and the share-repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued by the company at any time. In addition, the $200 million authorization does not include shares repurchased in connection with the administration of employee share-based compensation plans.
Showcase Cinemas reopened its Bronx location Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas on Friday, June 25. The location will also offer a free popcorn day on Saturday, June 26, with patrons receiving a small popcorn at no cost.
The location will be playing six films this weekend: F9, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, In the Heights, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and A Quiet Place Part II.
Showcase Cinemas reopened its additional New York City locations earlier this year, including Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas in Brooklyn, College Point Multiplex Cinemas in Queens, and Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas in Queens.
Capacity restrictions for NYC movie theaters were lifted on May 19.
“We know that people need and want to get back to the movies, and we’re extremely excited to welcome guests back to Concourse Plaza with free popcorn just as the summer movie season kicks off,” Showcase Cinemas VP of Global Marketing Mark Malinowski said in a press release. “As the closest cinema location to Washington Heights, we are excited that the community can now enjoy In The Heights in their own neighborhood.”
Showcase Cinemas ranked #11 on Boxoffice PRO‘s Giants of Exhibition 2021 of North America’s largest cinema circuits, with 321 screens at 24 locations.
Warner Bros. announced release date changes on Friday for three of their upcoming fall releases.
Science fiction Dune moves back three weeks from October 1 to October 22. Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049), the film stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Mamoa in an adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert.
Filling in that October 1 slot is The Many Saints of Newark, moving back one week from September 24. A prequel to HBO’s acclaimed television series The Sopranos, the film chronicles the early years of Sopranos protagonist Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini on television and his real-life son Michael Gandolfini in the film.
Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, drama Cry Macho moves up a month from October 22 to September 17. Taking place in 1978, Eastwood stars as a former rodeo wrangler crossing Mexico into Texas with his ex-boss’s son.
All of Warner Bros.’ 2021 films will be released “day and date,” with simultaneous premieres theatrically and on HBO Max.
After multiple delays and a year’s worth of the Universal marketing engine revving up, Dom Toretto and his fam are welcoming audiences back to theaters this weekend with the long awaited release of F9.
The ninth film in the Fast & Furious franchise was originally slated to open over Memorial Day weekend in 2020 until COVID-19 muffled those plans. The studio took the long-view and pushed the film into April 2021, then to May, and eventually settled on this final June weekend for its release as part of a staggered global rollout that began with China’s launch in May.
Summer moviegoing has technically been under way in North America since A Quiet Place Part II broke pandemic era records at the box office with its theatrically exclusive release over the Memorial Day frame last month (alongside respectable support from Disney’s hybrid title, Cruella). Still, with Cinema Week in full force right now, plus major markets and exhibitors lifting United States seating capacity restrictions in recent days, there’s little doubt that F9 is in the best position of any film since the pandemic began as the next — and perhaps biggest yet — blockbuster release.
F9
Opening Weekend Range: $60 – 80 million
Domestic Total Range: $130 – 180 million
PROS:
The franchise has amassed over $1.69 billion domestically across nine films in twenty years, reinventing itself with bigger stakes and ensemble casts as the series has evolved to become generational and multicultural event cinema around the world.
Widely appealing content has been somewhat scattershot in recent months even as films like the Quiet Place sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and others have lifted box office spirits. There’s certainly a pent-up demand for movies meant to be seen on the big screen right now, especially after going an entire summer without such content last year.
Returning alongside Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Charlize Theron, and the entire gang are past franchise favorites like Sung Kang, Jordana Brewster, and others along with the addition of Jon Cena in a new role — whetting fan appetites for the ever-expanding cast of characters. Justin Lin is also back in the director’s chair, having previously helmed some of the series’ most well-received and successful entries (Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6).
Marketing footprints have been remarkably strong for the film since promotion initially began over 18 months ago. The film’s official YouTube trailer garnered over 52 million views from the Fast Saga page alone since debuting in January 2020. A more recent trailer released in April has nearly matched that number with 46.5 million views in just over two months’ time. The highly-buzzed-about “Our Return to Theaters” promo tacks on another 10 million to the count since its debut in late April, which included air time before the Oscars, during Saturday Night Live, and as part of many top-rated sporting events since.
Social media impact is similarly notable thanks to the franchise’s combined 5 million followers on Twitter and Instagram, and that’s before even counting the universal reach of its stars (Vin Diesel alone has over 71 million followers on Instagram).
International results for F9 have already been encouraging relative to pandemic era considerations and expectations. The film’s $136 million debut in China exceeded Hobbs & Shaw‘s $94.9 million back in August 2019, while a $6.7 million weekend in Australia also bested that spin-off’s local start of $4.9 million. In all, F9 stood at $292.5 million internationally from 23 territories (13 of which just opened June 18) through June 20.
Domestically, the franchise has appealed to an incredibly diverse audience over time with particularly strong appeal to Latinx and Black communities. Recent opening weekend demographic make-ups include 60 percent non-Caucasian for Hobbs & Shaw, 59 percent for Fate, and a whopping 75 percent for Furious 7.
Among the moviegoers who are returning to theaters already during the pandemic recovery period and vaccine era, young audiences and adult men have turned out the most. These are prime demographics for the Fast franchise.
Pre-sale trends have picked up significantly in recent days as more awareness of theatrical re-openings and lifted seating capacities grows throughout the country, resulting in another upward readjustment of forecasting models published last week. The additional key required to reach or beat expectations this weekend will be an increased willingness among casual audiences to make their first return trip to theaters since last year’s shutdown.
According to The Boxoffice Company’s Showtimes Dashboard, F9 currently accounts for 36 percent of all exhibitor showtimes from a sampling of 3,354 theaters (just shy of 125,000 total showtimes) as of Thursday afternoon. By comparison, A Quiet Place Part II represented a 34 percent share (118,357 showtimes) from a sampled 3,387 locations during its three-day opening weekend.
Releasing in 4,179 domestic theaters this weekend, it’s the widest release of the pandemic era thus far — topping Cruella‘s peak 3,922 count during its second week and A Quiet Place Part II‘s 3,744 second week showing. F9 also isn’t far behind Hobbs & Shaw‘s 4,253 opening footprint, despite the former not having all of Canada’s market to include.
CONS:
When any series hits ten films, franchise fatigue is a defendable consideration in forecasts and expectations. The broad reality is that this is a global franchise through-and-through, regularly earning about three-quarters of its worldwide box office outside North America.
After peaking with 2015’s Furious 7 ($353 million domestically, part of $1.52 billion globally), 2018’s The Fate of the Furious was the first chapter in over a decade to see earnings decline a bit ($226 million domestic, $1.24 billion global). Hobbs & Shaw continued the trend with a $759 million worldwide finish, including $174 million from North America.
F9 has generated openings 30 percent and 26 percent lower than Fate in Australia and China, respectively.
In the case of Fate, some of the decline was easily explained (and expected) due to the absence of the late Paul Walker following his tragic passing in a one-man car crash late in 2013 (which heightened interest in Furious 7 itself as he had been in the middle of filming that sequel at the time). Hobbs & Shaw is also a bit of an outlier as the franchise’s first true spin-off film (although 2006’s Tokyo Drift effectively was at the time since it was the only film to not star Diesel or Walker until 2019).
Both of those films were still runaway financial successes. Still, F9 is without Dwayne Johnson — a key figure in the franchise’s ability to reinvent itself mid-stream beginning with 2011’s Fast Five. He’s appeared in five consecutive Furious-related movies since then, becoming an integral part of the ensemble branding. His absence in F9 could be felt to some extent.
The film is likely review-proof under the current market circumstances, and its 63 percent Rotten Tomatoes score is similar to Hobbs & Shaw (67 percent) and Fate (67 percent) while coming in lower than Furious 7 (82 percent), Furious 6 (84 percent), and Fast Five (83 percent).
Word of mouth could become slightly more of a concern among casual audiences, particularly in the wake of Fate‘s relatively divided reception (72 percent audience score) compared to other recent sequels in the franchise (including Hobbs) which generally ranked in low to high 80 percent range. Multiple sources have reported China’s Maoyan and Douban scores for F9 were down from recent entries in the franchise, a market where the franchise is arguably as popular or more so than anywhere else.
In general, moviegoing remains in a state of recovery that should give context to all box office expectations and performances right now. Seating restrictions are lifting throughout the vast majority of the domestic market, but a fair portion of Canadian theaters remain offline (including Ontario) and not all prospective ticket-buyers are shedding their high caution tendencies to return to theaters yet — and/or they simply are taking time to prioritize other social gatherings they’ve missed out on for over a year.
Comparisons remain highly volatile — even against A Quiet Place Part II — but pre-sale trends have proven backloaded and heavily favored toward premium formats. That begs the question as to whether walk-up business will be strong enough in standard auditoriums throughout the weekend to push the film into the upper echelon (or higher) of modeled forecasts.
Bottom Line: Fan goodwill and the promise of adrenaline-fueled, popcorn summer escapism should power F9‘s debut to new pandemic era weekend records at the domestic box office. Even with pre-pandemic expectations of franchise fatigue and unprecedented variables still in play for the rebounding market, it’s only a matter of time before a movie (or a combination of them) elevates the number of moviegoers who have already returned to even greater figures. F9 is likely to be one of those movies, the only question is “by how much?”
This Weekend vs. Last Weekend
Boxoffice projects this weekend’s top ten films will increase between 105 and 130 percent from last weekend’s $44.1 million top ten aggregate.
Weekend Forecast
Film
Distributor
3-Day Weekend Forecast
Projected Domestic Total through Sunday, June 27
Location Count
% Change from Last Wknd
F9
Universal Pictures
$67,000,000
$67,000,000
4,179
NEW
A Quiet Place Part II
Paramount Pictures
$6,600,000
$137,000,000
3,124
-27%
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Lionsgate
$4,800,000
$26,000,000
3,361
-58%
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
Sony Pictures / Columbia
$4,700,000
$28,500,000
3,331
-23%
Cruella
Walt Disney Pictures
$3,500,000
$70,800,000
2,820
-27%
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Warner Bros. Pictures
$3,000,000
$59,000,000
~2,700
-40%
In the Heights
Warner Bros. Pictures
$2,400,000
$24,300,000
~2,600
-43%
Spirit Untamed
Universal Pictures
$900,000
$15,600,000
1,773
-42%
All forecasts subject to change before the first confirmation of Thursday previews or Friday estimates from studios or alternative sources.
*revised upon studio confirmation of weekend location count
Theater counts are updated as confirmed by studios.
For press and media inquiries, please contact Shawn Robbins
Event cinema distributor Trafalgar Releasing has announced the release of two new titles: Blackpink the Movie and Enormous: The Gorge Story.
Blackpink the Movie, which celebrates the 5th anniversary of the K-pop group’s debut, will be released in over 100 countries this August. Trafalgar will distribute the film in all territories except South Korea and Japan, where it will be released by CJ 4DPlex.
Comprised of four members – Jisso, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – Blackpink proved to be an immediate sensation in Korea, with the group’s debut song reaching the top of every chart in Korea within only four hours of release. The group has since gone on to global stardom.
Blackpink the Movie will be released in various premium formats around the world, including the three-screen system ScreenX, multi-sensory format 4DX and 4DX Screen, which combines ScreenX and 4DX into a single experience.
Among other sequences, Blackpink the Movie will feature re-edited version of live performances from this year’s livestream concert “The Show” as well as the “In Your Area” world tour (2018-2020).
Also on the docket for Trafalgar is Enormous: The Gorge Story, a one-night-only event slated for July 21 (with additional screenings in select locations) that chronicles how Washington’s Gorge Ampitheatre transformed from a family-owned winery to a globally-renowned concert venue.
Included in Enormous: The Gorge Story are personal anecdotes from artists including Dave Matthew, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Jason Mraz, Steve Miller and assorted fans. Theatrical screenings will additionally feature exclusive-never-before-seen interviews with Portugal. The Man, Dierks Bentley and Phantogram, as well as the world premiere of The Enormisodes — five mini-documentaries about The Gorge.
“With The Gorge reopening this July, after more than a year of shuttered theaters, music venues, and a dire lack of live communal experiences, Enormous: The Gorge Story couldn’t be releasing at a better time,” said the film’s director, Nic Davis. “Our film is about the power of place. And the power of community. And how some great music got millions of people from around the world to dance together on a patch of rural farmland. Enormous captures the experiences we have all been missing this last year and can’t wait to get back to.”
“The Gorge is held together by community, and we love that people get to explore its story together in movie theaters across North America,” said Trafalgar Releasing SVP of Content Acquisitions Kymberli Frueh. “This film captures the magic of The Gorge itself and the impact of the live music experience on both artists and fans who travel from near and far to enjoy concerts together—making the live music experience more relevant now than ever.”
Located in George, WA and owned by Live Nation, The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 27,500-seat venue that has hosted top artists including Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Tom Petty, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam and The Grateful Dead. Shuttered since March 2020 due to the pandemic, the venue is slated to open with the Watershed Festival from July 30-August 1, which will feature acts including Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini.
Saudi Arabian theater circuit Muvi Cinemas has selected laser cinema solutions company Cinionic’s CGS premium cinema solution to power its premium large format, XPERIENCE, at more than 25 auditoriums across the country, it was announced today.
The first auditoriums to utilize CGS in Saudi Arabia are located at the Al Ahsa Mall, Aziz Mall and Nakheel Mall, with additional sites coming soon.
CGS covers “every step of the moviegoer journey,” according to a press release, “from targeted promotion to consistently stunning presentations.” That includes “eye-catching signature entryways” and “giant, brighter, laser-powered presentations of expertly remastered films from Hollywood studios and local distributors,” the release continues.
“We are excited to be partnering with Cinionic to power our XPERIENCE premium large format screens with CGS. This brings the best on screen experience for our guests across the Kingdom,” said Adon Quinn, COO, muvi Cinemas, in a statement.
Today’s announcement is just the latest collaboration between Cinionic and Muvi, whose partnership began upon Muvi’s launch in 2019.
“Muvi has set themselves apart as a leader in exhibition with proven laser solutions in a rapidly growing market, empowering premium visual experiences at every level,” added Wim Buyens, CEO of Cinionic. “We are excited to expand and elevate the moviegoing experience with premium values throughout our collaboration to power XPERIENCE with CGS. Together, we proudly deliver audiences across the KSA a brighter, better, and giant way to go the cinema.”
Not including the 25 newly-announced Muvi locations, Cinionic’s CGS solution is utilized on 380 premium screens around the world.
France’s theatrical exhibition industry is experiencing a major recovery in the pandemic’s latter days, Comscore reports, noting that admissions over the weekend of June 18-20 were above the attendance for the equivalent weekends in 2019 and 2018.
The company’s exclusive data shows that France enjoyed 8.5 million admissions in the month following the reopening of the country’s movie theaters on May 19. With 500,000 admissions on Monday, May 24 – the holiday known as White Monday – alone, the country boasted 2.36 million admissions in the first week post-reopening (May 19-25).
Daily admissions in France
Notably, there was a 35% capacity restriction and a 9 p.m. curfew in place for French cinemas in the first three weeks of reopening. On June 9, the capacity restriction was lifted to 65% and the curfew was pushed to 11 p.m. In the wake of that, Comscore reports that daily admissions rose immediately, and rose even higher the week beginning June 16. On Sunday, June 20, French exhibitors saw over 420,000 total admissions.
The growth in attendance was attributed to such popular local and foreign films as Adieu les Cons, The Conjuring:The Devil Made Me Do It, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Tom & Jerry, The Father and Envole-moi.
Recovery Index
“The expansive growth of moviegoing in France can serve as a North Star for other international territories” said Eric Marti, General Manager for France, Comscore. “The passion for and love of cinema has always been a source of pride for the French people and as more cinema locations have opened and great films are appearing on-screen, we have seen an astonishing rise in the level of moviegoing by patrons excited to once again enjoy the big screen experience.”
On this episode of the Boxoffice Podcast, we break down new release changes (Hotel Transylvania: Transformania moving to October and The Beatles: Get Back abandoning theatrical entirely) and Pacific/Arclight bankruptcy news before co-host Daniel Loria dives into the week’s main feature: a discussion with Phil Clapp—CEO of the UKCA and President of UNIC—on the U.K. cinema sector’s long-awaited second reopening, which began on May 17. An abbreviated version of that conversation is below; to hear Clapp’s complete insights, listen to the podcast episode below or on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Don’t forget to tune in next Thursday for an in-depth recap of F9‘s domestic debut and international progress with Boxoffice Pro Chief Analyst Shawn Robbins.
Can you tell me a little bit about that run-up to the May reopening, which was essentially the second big reopening of U.K. cinemas? What were some of the lessons you learned from that first period of closures, and how did it influence your priorities this time around?
We had the first lockdown in March of last year. And then, really, cinemas only began to open again from July of last year, for what in the end turned out to be a quite limited period of two to three months before we had a second lockdown. And I think, not least given the fact that the slate of films wasn’t as strong as we’d like and given the fact that there was a great deal of uncertainty, that was not really a full-blooded reopening. It was really—although we clearly didn’t see it at the time—a kind of test run for May of this year. Learning around the safety protocols, learning around customers’ responses to safety protocols and the extent to which customers do or do not take responsibility for their own safety.
As we approached [the reopening in May], we were very confident that cinemas were able to deliver a safe and enjoyable experience without it being overly regimented or overly medicalised, if I can use that as a phrase. Undoubtedly, there were some cinemas that weren’t able to open last year for whom this was a new experience. There were also some cinemas whereby—we’ve had a furlough scheme in operation over in the UK, and I think it differs from the furlough scheme in one or two other territories, because staff on furlough are able to take other jobs at the same time. So there was a good deal of uncertainty, particularly amongst the larger circuits, about whether all staff would return. Whether they’d found other, better-paying or more enjoyable [jobs], or other jobs that they were more confident of having a return to.
But in the end, notwithstanding a few local difficulties, all of that played out as well as we could have hoped. Staff returned [and] were already aware of the safeguarding protocols. Usefully, many customers were now used to many of the things which were underway in cinemas, either because they’d been to the cinema, or because they’d seen it in other retail and other leisure, for example. Face coverings—which is not something the UK public have really been used to before, unlike some other territories—issues of social distancing, etc.
So we had a head start in May compared to where we would have been otherwise. But that still doesn’t mean that we could be complacent. All the signs that we’ve had from from surveys of customers in the run-up to reopening and post-reopening suggest that in terms of that safeguarding piece and in terms of that welcoming back piece, we’ve done as well as can be expected, notwithstanding whatever decisions our government or other UK governments take in terms of when those safeguards will be relaxed.
You mentioned that furlough scheme for UK cinema workers. We’ve seen very different approaches in how local governments support the arts and the cultural sector here in the US and Europe. What has been the situation in the UK? What support have you seen, and what really hasn’t been there so far?
There’s been a good deal of what you might call general business support. The furlough scheme was essentially open to all business sectors. And for broadly termed hospitality, leisure, and retail—and cinema clearly touches a number of those buttons—there have been additional elements of help. All cinemas, indeed all businesses, pay local business taxes. Those have been suspended for 12 month, and they’ve now extended that suspension for a further six months. The VAT, the additional sales tax which is on on cinema tickets and other venue tickets, has been reduced from 20 percent down to 5 percent. Although, to be perfectly honest, for most of that time cinemas haven’t been open, so it’s been kind of there in there in readiness. And we’re very much hopeful that it will be an additional benefit.
Very much as is the case in the US, for smaller venues there has been additional direct funding from government. We’ve had nothing like the challenges that I know U.S. colleagues have in accessing that, although it’s not always been as straightforward as we might have liked. And, again, that’s something which is being dealt with on a nation-by-nation basis. In England, for example, there have been two rounds of that funding, as there has been in Scotland, whereas colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland have only had one round of that. There’s discussions about a second round now, not least given the ongoing uncertainty about further relaxation.
We can be nothing but grateful for the support that’s been there. Undoubtedly, things like the furlough scheme and, for the smaller operators, the direct funding they received have been a huge support and benefit. We did, as you would imagine, lobby the the UK government for funding support for the larger operators. The reality of the market in the UK is that the largest six or seven operators are 80 percent of the market. You could have spent—the government did spend—significant effort and resource supporting smaller operators without really understanding that the critical mass of the market is somewhere else, as it were.
But, as I’ve seen in other European territories, and I know is the case in the US, governments were very loathe to be seen to be supporting big corporations. I think the optics of that for government are not always the most straightforward or easy, despite the impact and the benefit that would have. So those companies have had to rely on the more general business support.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re in a place where we fully suspect that a tiny number of cinemas would have closed. And, to be honest, no disrespect to those companies, but they were companies that were probably in distress before Covid, and all Covid really did was hasten their demise. But through support from government and obviously through the hard work and commitment of the people running these companies, we’re coming out of this [with] not just the cinemas we went into it with. Within the last four to six weeks, we’ve had six to ten new cinemas open for the first time post-Covid. No one is under-estimating the challenges the industry faces and will continue to face. But it’s certainly not as bad an outcome as it might have been without that support.
Nicolas Nicolaou, owner of the independent Manhattan movie theater Cinema Village, has enlisted director Abel Ferrara to help kick-start the reopening of the business with a week-long retrospective and tribute to the moviegoing experience.
Running June 30 to July 8, patrons will be invited to a special screening of Ferrara’s latest film, Siberia starring Willem Dafoe, alongside the New York theatrical premiere of The Projectionist, described as a “love letter” to Nicolaou and his four decades operating several of New York City’s neighborhood theaters. In addition to Cinema Village, Nicolaou currently owns and operates Alpine Cinemas in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Cinemart in Forest Hills, Queens.
In addition, Ferrara will introduce special screenings of a number of his films, including Pasolini, 4:44 Last Day on Earth, Tomasso, Ms. 45 and Driller Killer. He will also participate in a live music performance with his longtime composer Jo Delia.
In addition to Ferrara’s films, Cinema Village will screen some of the director’s favorite titles — ones that he watched at Cinema Village over the years.
Built in 1963 in the shell of a turn of the century fire station, Cinema Village is the oldest continuously operated cinema in Greenwich Village and one of the oldest continuously operated art cinemas in New York City. More info about the theater can be found here.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at cinemavillage.com or in-person at the box office.
Alamo Drafthouse’s popular Jaws on the Water screening event is returning from the depths.
The popular series, which has viewers floating in inner tubes on Austin’s Lake Travis while watching the Steven Spielberg classic, is back for multiple screenings starting July 3 after being put on hiatus last summer during the pandemic. Screenings are also slated to take place on July 10 and July 17.
Alamo Drafthouse is partnering with High Beam Events and Action Pack Entertainment for the series, which takes place at Volente Beach Resort & Waterpark. As viewers take in the 1975 horror blockbuster, scuba divers are employed to tug on the toes of water bound audience members.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, organizers were unable to create new collectible inner tubes for the audience to float in, so customers are encouraged to bring their own inner tubes or other inflatable floating devices to watch the film. Capacity is also more limited than in prior years to allow for social distancing.
Doors to Volente Beach’s water park will open at 5:00 p.m. to allow customers to partake in the attractions before the movie begins at sundown.
After signing an initial agreement earlier this year, GQT Movies and CES+ have extended and expanded their partnership, it was announced today.
Under the new deal, CES+ will provide GQT Movies with a full suite of cinema presentation management, including content management, on-site technical support, digital management and remote monitoring via the CIELO operation management platform. On-site technical support is the newest vertical for CES+ and is now available as a service to new and existing clients.
“We are honored to expand our relationship with GQT Movies.”, Alex Younger, CEO of CES+, said in a statement. “GQT Movies and their guests put their trust in us to deliver the perfect cinema presentation every show, every time and we dedicate to this purpose every day.”
“We are pleased to be working with CES+ for all of our support and technical needs. CES+ has shown a willingness to listen and adapt to the challenges of today’s exhibitor,” added Matt McSparin, COO of GQT Movies. “We feel fortunate to find a forward thinking technology partner that shares our vision for change in this industry.”
Cinergy Entertainment, which operates seven cinema entertainment centers in Texas and Oklahoma, has announced their support for Cinema Week, kicking off today as an industry-wide initiative designed to celebrate and preserve the culture of moviegoing.
“We are so excited for Cinema Week and to see people getting back out to the movies, watching the movies the way they were intended to be seen… on the giant screen,” said Cinergy owners Jeff and Jamie Benson, respectively the president and vice president of the company. “There’s nothing better than the social experience of watching a movie with family and friends, and of course the movie theater popcorn!”
As part of its celebration of Cinema Week, Cinergy is gifting members of its loyalty program, Elite—which recently crossed the 100,000-member mark—with an additional 100 points on their account. Giveaways are also in the mix for loyalty members, including a free private movie screening.
“We appreciate our Cinergy Elite Fans. They have been loyal to the cinema experience, and we are so excited to celebrate with them,” says Traci Hoey, VP of marketing. “Our membership growing over the past year to surpass 100,000 members is a true testament to Cinergy’s involvement in the community. Our fans are so excited to be back at the movies and we can’t wait to reward them!”
Exclusive content from filmmakers and talent will be shared on-screen, as well as special prizes and giveaways, while supplies last. Visit Cinergy.com for contest details.
Savantis, a provider of end-to-end solutions and support for the digital transformation of cinemas and entertainment venues, announced that they are pleased to support the inaugural Cinema Week, a six-day, nationwide event designed to energize moviegoers and encourage audiences to support local movie theaters. With a mission to celebrate the culture of going to the movies, the campaign showcases exclusive in-theater content, activations, giveaways, special offers for loyalty members, and celebrity guests with activities varying depending on the location. Cinema Week takes place June 22 to 27 across the US.
“Savantis is proud to sponsor the first-ever Cinema Week, an exciting nationwide initiative to re-engage audiences and revive the cinema industry following a difficult and challenging year, during most of which theaters remained closed due to Covid-19,” said Keith Hontz, CEO and president of Savantis. “Both Cinema Week and Savantis are aligned in their mission to enhance the customer experience for moviegoers, so we felt very strongly that we must get involved and help preserve the culture—and the magic—of going to the movies,” continued Hontz.
In November last year, Savantis announced the launch of its Intelligent Entertainment Suite (IES) omnichannel solution specifically developed for the entertainment industry as a flexible and scalable alternative to other cinema management software. The application is fully integrated with SAP® Commerce and SAP Cloud Platform.
RealD has promoted both Karina Neill and Bobbie Andrews to the newly-created position of Vice President for the EMEAR region, the company announced today. Neill will assume the role of VP for Sales & Operations, while Andrews will be VP for Marketing & Commercial.
Neill joined RealD in 2009 with over 20 years of global sales experience in the consumer electronics sector. She is one of the founding members of the RealD EMEAR team.
Andrews joined the company in 2016 with a record of 15 years in exhibition and distribution, including roles with the EMEA team at 20th Century Fox and the UK marketing department at Cineworld Cinemas. He went on to lead several new product launches at RealD, including the company’s Ultimate Screen.
“We are extremely excited about this announcement, and the future of cinema,” said Travis Reid, CEO of RealD. “In the EMEAR region we felt it vital to put in place a new management structure to help meet the needs of our partners as they open their doors once again.”
Reid added, “Karina & Bobbie have a track record of success, delivering results consistently year after year. They work very well together as a true partnership and I have been delighted by the leadership they have shown in uniting the team to pursue excellence. They are a pleasure to work with and have proven relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. It is only right that their hard work and loyalty is rewarded, and with these new positions, we have the very best people occupying key roles within our business for years to come. I know our partners will want to join me in congratulating them both as they start this new chapter of their journey with RealD.”
“Premium ticket formats have never been more important than they are right now,” said Neill in her own statement. “With restrictions still in place across many markets in EMEAR and the changing dynamics of film releases, it becomes even more crucial for our customers to maximise the revenue of each seat. This new management structure will help RealD do just that, as we have the largest premium ticket price footprint in the global theatrical industry.”
Andrews added, “Karina and I are both incredibly honoured and humbled by the faith that Travis and the company have placed in us. We are already working hard behind the scenes with the incredible RealD EMEAR team to support our partners in exhibition and distribution with the great upcoming 3D slate, including such amazing titles as Jungle Cruise & Dune.”
San Tan Valley, Ariz., June 22, 2021 – Severtson Screens (severtsonscreens.com), a global leader in innovative and quality projection screens for the cinema, commercial, pro AV, and home theater markets, is proud to announce that it will exhibit its most popular options for its acclaimed folded SēVision 3D GX line of cinema projection screens during CinemaCon 2021, held in Las Vegas, Nev. from August 23-26 at Caesars Palace, booth #2606A.
“Our folded shipping method makes international distribution of our industry-acclaimed SēVision 3D GX highly affordable, reducing international shipping costs by up to 70 percent,” explained Toby Severtson, president and CEO of Severtson Corp. “Besides standard perforated white and silver screens, we now also offer the immensely popular microperf as well as our new digi-perf options for our folded SēVision 3D GX line of cinema projection screens for international shipment. Since its recent launch, we’ve had to renovate our facility and upgrade our machinery to keep up with worldwide demand.”
According to Severtson, both microperf and digi-perf offer multiple benefits versus standard perforation screens. “Either one is the answer for current ultra high-performance cinema screens, depending on one’s specific needs, and are the perfect solutions for 4k, 8k, 12k and even higher projection resolutions as these technologies become available in the future,” he added.
Both microperf and digi-perf provide approximately seven percent open space against the traditional 4.5 percent open space. And now, Severtson’s new digi-perf screens, like microperf, are also engineered for the optimum audio and visual experience available in the marketplace today. Digi-perf screens are available with all coatings and gains, are foldable as with all Severtson cinema screens (excluding electric screens), and it reduces moire over traditional standard perf screens.
Image Courtesy of Severtson Screens
“Microperf and now Digi-perf are quickly becoming industry standards as projection resolutions increase and is what has put the ‘folded’ line over the top,” added Dan Maxwell, Severtson Corp. V.P. & Chief Operating Officer. “These two options are now the screens of choice for high-end, premier theatres and cinema chains. The Severtson microperf and digi-perf viewing surfaces practically eliminate moiré which is often problematic of screens with larger perforation, yet continues to provide a more realistic soundstage allowing speakers to be placed directly behind the screen.”
Severtson explained that they have been shipping these screens both domestically and internationally to very pleased customers who, up until recently, could not afford them because of the enormous international shipping fees. Additionally, now there is a solution for complex installations where a long tube housing the cinema screen is impractical or not feasible to transport through the building.
“Our folded screen technology has proven again and again to drastically reduce international shipping costs and makes these screens available to every customer worldwide,” Severtson continued. “And to top that off, our new cinema screen price estimator enables our dealers with even quicker cinema screen price quotes and delivery estimates of both our folded and non-folded options.”
The cinema screen price estimator is now live and has been available for Severtson’s dealer base via its website as well as a mobile app for Apple iOS and Android Smartphones. The most recent update of the mobile app now features support for Spanish and Portuguese integrators. Once the dealer is registered with an account and granted access at www.severtsonscreens.com/register, the tool provides product and packaging price estimates for Severtson cinema screens as soon as a dealer inputs the necessary required information, such as screen dimensions, coating, material, and desired packaging. The packaging portion of the price estimate is then calculated based on the selected product’s weight and container dimensions, which the tool also provides. For each estimate requested, dealers will receive an automated email and PDF file detailing the screen price and packaging estimate. Prices are only estimates and do not include shipping charges or any other potential international fees.
Shipping costs associated with such large packages as these were out-of-reach for so many customers up until recently. Now, Severtson Screens’ SēVision 3D GX screens can be folded and packed into a much smaller crate without any loss in structural integrity or performance abilities. “Severtson’s new folded screen process not only reduces international shipping fees, the smaller packaging simplifies delivery to theaters and is more convenient for installers as folded screens are much easier to get into buildings and uncrate than standard long-tube roll packaging…especially when a theater is in a unique structure, such as a high-rise or multi-story theater complex,” added Maxwell.
The new folded line of SēVision 3D GX and Ultra Wide cinema screens are now available for delivery to international destinations, having numerous advantages, including:
available in standard, micro, or digi perforation (white and silver)
coated surface that is harder to bruise and scuff
small micron flake coating produces a sharper image, eliminating graininess in bright scenes
● viewing angles range from 30 to 40 degree half-gain depending on the specific screen gain requested
water-based coating promotes longevity by maintaining optical properties over time, eliminating flaking and cracking of the screen surface
perfect for large cinema applications (movie houses, museums, universities, etc.)
Founded in 1986, Severtson Corporation continues to be a global leader in innovation and quality. The Severtson family’s extensive experience in manufacturing small home theater screens and large cinema screens has given Severtson Corporation the expertise to meet the needs of the professional and consumer AV markets for both indoor applications as well as large outdoor venues. With its Arizona-based production facilities and its state-of-the-art robotic application system, Severtson has massive production capabilities and an unusually wide array of screens. The screens range in size from massive movie theaters, comfortable home theaters, and everything in between.
Severtson Corporation is a member of the International Cinema Technology Association. They have manufactured cinema screens for theaters in countries all over the world, including the United States, Mexico, Canada, Korea, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Spain, Germany, France, New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, Thailand, Scotland, China, Russia, and many more. To meet the challenge of creating extremely large screens, Severtson Corporation designed a robotic spray-arm application system to paint its high-performance optical coating in-house on screens as large as 67.75ft.x 150ft. (20.7m x 45.8m). It is currently the largest in-house cinema screen optical coating system in the world. Severtson Screens certifications and partners include Technicolor, MasterImage, Dolby, Volfoni, LightspeeD & DepthQ, and RealD (www.severtsonscreens.com/certifications).
