Movie theater owners fire back at studios

By Nicole Sperling

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Tired of being blamed
for the box office slump, the nation’s movie theater owners
returned fire Thursday, accusing the studios of delivering
sub-standard product.

“Here’s what we know about 2005: The movies are not as
good,” said John Fithian, president of the National Association
of Theater Owners.

“They’re not terrible; they’re just not as good. And so the
industry has experienced a temporary drop-off compared to 2004,
the biggest box office year in movie history.”

His remarks were part of a direct rebuke to Robert Iger,
who is about to take over as CEO of the Walt Disney Co. Iger
said last week during the firm’s third-quarter conference call
that the industry should move toward the simultaneous release
of theatrical films and videos. In 2004, the average gap
between a film’s release in theaters and on video was four
months, 16 days.

Fithian said that compressing windows “to placate this
instant-everywhere appetite” would result in a world with “no
viable movie theater industry … at least not a theater
industry devoted to the entertainment products of Hollywood.

“(Iger) should know that Hollywood studios would be merely
one shriveled vendor among many in that new world of
movies-as-commodities-only,” he added.

Neither Iger nor Disney chose to respond to Fithian’s
comments.

Year-to-date box office sales stand at $5.57 billion
compared with $6.05 billion at the same time in 2004. Pundits
have cited exhibitors’ pumped-up onscreen advertising, rising
ticket prices and rude patrons as primary reasons moviegoers
are staying home.

During the earnings call, Iger said, “I don’t think it’s
out of the question that a DVD can be released in effect in the
same window as a theatrical release. Although I’m sure we will
get a fair amount of push-back on this from the industry, it’s
not out of the question. I think that all the old rules should
be called into question because the rules in terms of
consumption have changed so dramatically.”

While no major exhibitor has suggested taking aggressive
action against Disney based on Iger’s comments, theater owners
in the past have shown tremendous resistance to anyone who
advocates a compressed windows strategy. Many in the industry
believe it’s just a matter of time until a major studio
attempts such an experiment in the hope of reducing marketing
costs and maximizing profits across the various platforms.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter