BoxOffice® Pro - August 2010

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AUG 2010
Michael Cera
prepares for
battle in
Universal’s
SCOTT
INSIDE READ NATO’S OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON VOD WINDOWS
ONLINE TICKETER FANDANGO REACHES A TEN YEAR MILESTONE
INTRODUCING THE VAULT: 90 YEARS OF BOXOFFICE NOW ONLINE
The Official Magazine of NATO
VS. THE WORLD

AUG 2010 VOL. 146 NO. 8
24 Concessions
Calorie champions / How to upsell like an evil genius / Open up and
say, “hmmm…”—17 healthy snack alternatives that will sell
30 Special Report > Piracy
Tales from the front line of the industry’s war on camcording / The
penalty of piracy / To beat the enemy, know the enemy / Does piracy
hurt the box office?
36 Big Picture > Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
DEPARTMENTS
4 Peanut Gallery
We ask about your favorite deserted
island snack
6 Industry Briefs
Roundup of the latest announcements
from the world of exhibition
8 Executive Suite
Exhibition takes a stand on VOD
windows
By John Fithian
and Patrick Corcoran
11 Industry News
Geneva convention to tackle
entertainment branding
By John Scaletta and George Rouman
12 Show Business
The love of show
By Phil Contrino
14 Timecode
Abandon hope all ye who enter here
By Kenneth James Bacon
19 Congratulations
Fandango celebrates an important
milestone
By Phil Contrino
56 Classifieds
BY AMY NICHOLSON
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Ballad of the bone-breaker > Actor Michael Cera
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Great Scott! > Director Edgar Wright
PROMOTION Rock on! > Strike a perfect, promotional chord
AWARDS
16 Front Line
John Thompson, St. Louis, MO
18 Front Office
Julia Marchese, Los Angeles, CA
20 Marquee Award
Gold Class Cinemas,
South Barrington, IL
THE SLATE
44 On the Horizon
Secretariat / Jackass 3D / Paranormal
Activity 2
46 Coming Attractions
Step Up 3D / Middle Men / The Other
Guys / Eat, Pray, Love / Lottery Ticket /
Nanny McPhee Returns / The Switch /
Takers / Going the Distance
48 Book It!
Flash reviews and recommendations of
films that should be on your radar
54 Booking Guide
Nearly 150 films that you can book
right now, complete with contact info,
film formats, audio formats and more
BOXOFFICE MEDIA
PUBLISHER
Peter Cane
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Kenneth James Bacon
BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
EDITOR
Amy Nicholson
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTORS
Patrick Corcoran
John Fithian
Gary Klein
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
S. Matthew Bauer
Pam Grady
Ray Greene
Pete Hammond
Cole Hornaday
Wade Major
Matthew Nestel
Steve Ramos
R. Roosevelt
Ed Scheid
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Ally McMurray
BOXOFFICE.COM
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
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EDITORIAL INTERNS
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Melissa Savignano
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2 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

STOPPRESS
There has been a lot of head-swiveling this month at Boxoffice—it’s a wonder we don’t all
have stiff necks. You see, we’ve been spending our time looking forward and back.
Looking back, we’ve all been spending time in the archive, which we are pleased to share
with you in our brand new online feature called The Vault. It’s an issue-by-issue, page-bypage
presentation of nine decades of Boxoffice Magazine. We’re proud of our past, and we’re
especially proud of how we’ve brought our past into the future. You can read all about it in
Ken Bacon’s Timecode beginning on page 14.
We’ve been looking ahead using WebWatch, our exclusive technology that finds and
interprets everything said about movies online. There is lots of word of mouth on the Internet—we’ve
tracked 20,000,000 comments in just a few months, not to mention the millions
of Tweets and Facebook fans we track on an hourly basis. What it all means is that we can
accurately predict box office performance and extract other valuable information from the
biggest and most reliable sources available.
I hope you can join us on our trips to the past and the future.
peter@boxoffice.com
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which ones they don’t. With our new subscription service you can see successes
and failures coming miles away instead of being surprised by them.
Facebook & Twitter Tracking
Make sure to follow our daily tracking of activity on these two wildly popular social
media site.
Reviews
Will Eat Pray Love, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The Expendables (above)
prove that August is not simply a dumping ground? Check out what our critics have
to say to find out.
News-Reeling?
Let BoxOffice.com and BoxOfficeMagazine.com digest all the reports and rumors
for you! Check our site daily for breaking industry news.
Exclusive Interviews
BOXOFFICE talks to the creative talent behind the films you need to know.
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AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 3

PEANUT GALLERY
THE QUESTION:
If you could take only one concession to a deserted island, what would you pick?
Mike Mitchell
Director, Shrek
“I’d have to take the giant pretzel—no salt—and a gigantic packet of
mustard. That’s my favorite, and not a lot of concession stands have
that. It’s hard to find the giant pretzel these days. Man, when I find
those I’m so happy. It has to be soft and bready, and if they don’t
have one without the salt I just rub it against my jeans until the salt
flies off and then I cover it in mustard and eat it. If I get mustard all
over myself, I don’t even care.”
Michael Cera
Actor, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
“Those little chocolate balls. Crunch balls. Those
bars of Crunch in tiny pebble form. Buncha
Crunch! It’s really good. I’ve eaten a lot of it.”
Rob Schneider
Actor, Grown Ups
“They’re starting to put in the healthier cookies, but snack food has
to stop poisoning people. I want some healthy food in there. It’s
not a concession, but the only thing I’d want to take is Patricia, my
fiancee.”
Nikkole Denson-Randolph
VP of Specialty & Alternative Content, AMC
“Peanut M&M’s. I was going to go with water but that’s boring, if
healthy. If I’m on a desert island, I just want to be happy! Peanut
M&M’s make everyone happy.”

PEANUT GALLERY
THE QUESTION:
If you could take only one concession to a deserted island, what would you pick?
Mike Mitchell
Director, Shrek
“I’d have to take the giant pretzel—no salt—and a gigantic packet of
mustard. That’s my favorite, and not a lot of concession stands have
that. It’s hard to find the giant pretzel these days. Man, when I find
those I’m so happy. It has to be soft and bready, and if they don’t
have one without the salt I just rub it against my jeans until the salt
flies off and then I cover it in mustard and eat it. If I get mustard all
over myself, I don’t even care.”
Michael Cera
Actor, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
“Those little chocolate balls. Crunch balls. Those
bars of Crunch in tiny pebble form. Buncha
Crunch! It’s really good. I’ve eaten a lot of it.”
Rob Schneider
Actor, Grown Ups
“They’re starting to put in the healthier cookies, but snack food has
to stop poisoning people. I want some healthy food in there. It’s
not a concession, but the only thing I’d want to take is Patricia, my
fiancee.”
Nikkole Denson-Randolph
VP of Specialty & Alternative Content, AMC
“Peanut M&M’s. I was going to go with water but that’s boring, if
healthy. If I’m on a desert island, I just want to be happy! Peanut
M&M’s make everyone happy.”

INDUSTRY BRIEFS
Christie digital cinema projectors have
reached the “end of the world.” The Packewaia
Cinema in Ushuaia, Argentina—the southernmost
city in the world—has installed a Christie
3D digital projection system that is already
playing to packed houses. Operated by Gama
Producciones, whose partners, Fabian Fiocchi
and Pablo Drajner, oversee diverse media, promotional
and event production ventures, including
the management of a local TV station, the
Packewaia Cinema is one of only a handful of
theaters in a city of 65,000 and was built more
than a decade ago inside a former naval station.
The Cinema Advertising Council unveiled its
new report on cinema advertising revenues.
Total cinema advertising industry revenues of
CAC members—more than 82 percent of U.S.
movie screens—grew by nearly two percent to
$584,067,000 in 2009, despite a year that saw
spending in other traditional media decrease
significantly. Top national cinema advertising
categories in 2009 included Apparel, Auto,
Entertainment, Retail, Consumer Packaged
Goods, Travel and Wireless. Additionally,
growth in 2009 was attributable to increasing
activity across a broad spectrum of emerging
categories, from Cable Television Networks,
Cosmetics, Financial and the Military.
Screenvision signed a new exhibitor agreement
with Santikos Theatres LLC, the largest
family-owned theater circuit in Texas. With
this deal, Screenvision expands its presence
in the key Houston and San Antonio markets.
The deal represents Santikos’ first partnership
with a cinema advertising company providing
Late Preshow advertising. Santikos currently
operates eight theater locations and 106
screens in Houston and San Antonio. “We
are committed to providing our guests with a
superior cinematic experience on every level,
and partnering with Screenvision on an enhanced
national advertising program is in line
with that mission” said Art Seago, Santikos
Theatre’s COO. Santikos Theatres have VIP
screens, IMAX screens, D-BOX motion seats
and full service bars and restaurants, including
two theater locations that operate as cinemaeateries.
Santikos plans to complete its digital
cinema roll-out to all theatre locations by the
end of 2010.
BABY, IT’S
COLD OUTSIDE
Packewaia
Cinema in the
southern-most
city in the
world: Ushuaia,
Argentina
GDC Technology has opened a new East
Coast office in Sterling, VA near Washington
DC, to help meet the growing demand for GDC
digital cinema servers in the US. “We have seen
significant growth in our customer base and
GDC has delivered more than 1,000 digital cinema
servers to America in the last 12 months,”
said Tim Folk, Executive Vice President. “Our
customers are expanding their commitment and
believe in the performance and reliability that
our digital cinema servers are able to deliver. To
support their commitments, we are expanding
our US resources.” Added founder Dr. Man-
Nang Chong, “I am also proud to mention our
West Coast office in Burbank, California is expanding
its technical staff as well.”
B&B completed its second all-digital theater
in Waynesville, MO and will be converting its
third location in Claremore, OK this month,
with plans to convert a handful of more theaters
before the end of the year. The new Dolby
7.1 sound system has been selected for the
larger auditoriums. Said B&B’s Brock Bagby,
“The 7.1 system is getting a lot of press and
we find it exciting that we are putting it in.”
Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. announced
the worldwide release of Theatre Command
Center-Enterprise (Enterprise), a powerful
software solution designed to streamline and
automate circuit-wide digital cinema operations.
Enterprise was designed in conjunction with
Cinedigm’s Theatre Command CenterTM TMS
to provide real-time, consolidated digital theater
information and to centralize certain scheduling
and content management tasks and allow
exhibitors to save significant time and money
through automation. Real-time events and
statuses from all networked digital theaters are
captured in a robust central Enterprise database
for unprecedented operating control and business
intelligence. Enterprise will also streamline
and automate the calculation and reconciliation
of virtual print fees. “The Theatre Command
Center is already the most automated and easy
to use TMS on the market. Enterprise moves
us very close to our goals of 15 minute weekly
scheduling and virtually hands-free theater
operations, while dramatically increasing circuitwide
awareness, efficiency and control,” said
Jim Miller, president of Cinedigm Software.
Carmike Cinemas announced the launch of
its BigD Large Format Digital Experience at
its Columbus, Georgia, Carmike 15 complex.
The auditorium will include a wall to wall giant
screen measuring 78 feet wide and 35 feet
tall, custom luxury seating, the latest in 7.1
surround sound and digital projection for both
2D and 3D features. Carmike premiered BigD
on the opening of Salt, and the chain plans to
open 24 more locations by the end of 2011.
“Whether it be a movie, concert, sporting
event, motivational speaker or church service,
patrons will find BigD placing them at the
heart of the event,” said Dale Hurst, Carmike’s
director of marketing.
Sony Professional today announced new
digital cinema dealers across Europe as part
of its drive to meet the ever-growing demand
for its 4K projection systems. Sony Professional
has signed agreements with three new dealers:
Sound Associates in the UK, Protronic AG in
Switzerland, and Hulskamp in the Netherlands.
“We are fully committed to further strengthening
our channel partnerships in Europe
and continuing to deliver compelling cinema
experience,” said Oliver Pasch, head of digital
cinema at Sony Professional in Europe. “Working
hand in hand with these specialist dealers,
we can jointly deliver outstanding 2D and
3D technology to support cinemas exhibitors
across Europe.”
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of
Elvis Presley’s birth, Warner Home Video, Elvis
Presley Enterprises, Inc. and NCM Fathom
are presenting Elvis on Tour: 75th Anniversary
Celebration, a special in-theater event featuring
remastered film footage shot with The
King on tour and in concert. Broadcast to more
than 460 select movie theaters on July 29 th ,
it includes never-before-seen Elvis tour footage
as well as montage sequences produced
by Academy Award-winning director Martin
Scorsese.
National CineMedia has entered into a network
affiliate agreement with Great Escape
Theatres, an Indiana-based cinema chain, for
the presentation of cinema advertising and
NCM Fathom entertainment and business
events in theaters. Under the terms of the
exclusive multi-year agreement, 26 Great Escape
Theatres—with 307 screens in Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee
and West Virginia—will join the NCM Cinema
Network in September 2010. “Great Escape
Theatres are a great complement to our network,
as they provide additional geographic
coverage in key Midwestern and Southern
markets,” said Kurt Hall, NCM’s president and
chief executive officer.
IMAX and The Walt Disney Studios announced
a new agreement to release three additional
3D pictures to IMAX theaters in 2011.
The titles included are Mars Needs Moms,
starring Seth Green and Joan Cusack, slated
for release on March 11, 2011 and executive
produced by Robert Zemeckis; Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny
Depp and Penelope Cruz, slated for release on
May 20, 2011 and Cars 2, slated for release on
June 24, 2011.
6 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 7

EXECUTIVE SUITE
JOHN
FITHIAN
NATO
President
and Chief
Executive
Officer
EXHIBITION TAKES
A STAND ON VOD
WINDOWS
Even though current data and discussions suggest a
relatively stable theatrical-to-DVD window, we remain
concerned about a longer-term possibility on a different
release platform. As described previously [May
issue] a few cable company and studio executives have
indicated their desire to experiment with high-priced
home video on demand, or movie-streaming or download,
in a much shorter window. We have discussed
this issue over the past few months with many, many
domestic and international exhibitors and have been
pleased to learn each company has a strong individual
resolve to protect the theatrical window. At the same
time, the statements from some cable and studio leaders
have recently become more alarming.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal in May, Time
Warner cable company executives proposed to studio
leaders the creation of a 30-day premium VOD window.
Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer subsequently
indicated that he would be “open to such an offering,
but added that 30 days is likely too short of a time lag.”
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer stated in early June
that, “We think windows right now are really about to
explode, and, for content owners and distributors, have
really significant improving margin possibilities.” Jeffrey
Katzenberg added that “theater owners have to
get comfortable with the fact that they are not serving
their business well with their approach to
windowing.”
Given the intensity and growing number of
these dangerous statements, NATO’s leadership
decided that a public statement was
necessary. Joined by a supportive statement
from our European colleagues at the International
Union of Cinemas (UNIC), NATO issued
a public statement on June 16. NATO’s
and UNIC’s statements follow.
John Fithian, NATO President and CEO
Patrick Corcoran, NATO Director of Media and Research
NATO’S POSITION ON THE
PREMIUM VIDEO ON DEMAND
WINDOW
With the FCC’s approval of the use of Selectable
Output Control (SOC) technology, there has
been a lot of discussion and speculation in
the media regarding the overall issue of release windows
and, in particular, the prospect of the introduction of
a premium Video on Demand (VOD) window into the
marketplace. From the first introduction of ancillary
revenue streams, release windows have played a vital role
in the studios’ development of economic models related
to the production, marketing, distribution and exhibition
of movies. Although film making is at its core a creative
process, it is also a business model that requires financial
risk-taking and discipline to support and reward the creative
talent upon which business success depends.
While we understand the decision of the FCC to allow
content protection of valuable movies in a marketplace
rife with piracy, NATO and its members have long
maintained that a robust theatrical release window is
vital for the health of theatrical exhibition and the movie
industry as a whole. The FCC decision changes neither
that view nor exhibitors’ resolve to protect the window.
The “traditional release window” of 120 days to the home
the MPAA acknowledged in its FCC petition continues
to serve the industry well. The distribution side of the
industry recognizes its value as well. Indeed, in the last
six years, the average theatrical release window has not
varied more than nine days (between 131 days and 140
days).
While exhibitors understand the new pressures that a
weakened DVD market creates for their studio partners,
four decades of box office growth and three straight years
of record-breaking theatrical box office argue for caution
in tampering with a business model that clearly works.
Sequential release (higher value release formats come
earlier in the sequence and command a premium) is well
understood by the consumer and works for the industry.
Collapsing windows muddies the value proposition for
the consumer, blurs distinctions between theatrical and
“straight-to-video” and undercuts one of the important
selling points for theatrical exhibition—the timeliness of
the exclusive event.
Every ticket sold in the theatrical window can be effectively
priced, something that cannot be said for the ancillary
windows—even a “premium” early VOD window.
How many viewers per household will watch each
premium-priced offering? Three? Five? More? At what
price point? The studios have been unable to resist the
8 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

inexorable downward price pressure and
commoditization of its products in later
windows. Why move that pressure forward
to the one window that has been free of it?
The studios seem to understand this, as
their battle to carve out a DVD sell-through
window against the $l-a-night kiosk rental
services demonstrates. It is baffling that
they would try to introduce the same kind
of profit-cannibalizing self-competition into
their highest value distribution channel. A
premium VOD window will neither solve
the DVD slump nor end the problem of
film theft. If past is prologue, technological
locks will be overcome with technological
crowbars, and earlier availability of pristine
digital copies will facilitate and proliferate
illegal duplication. The solution to the
industry’s problems is to grow the revenue
pie, not change the size of the slices.
Theater owners around the world are
investing millions of dollars to make available
to filmmakers, audiences and studios
the latest in digital and 3D projection. They
have made that investment in the interest
of the cinematic arts and with the understanding
of a reliable product flowfrom
their distribution partners. Studios are
supporting this revolutionary transition
through virtual print fee payments.
Unilateral tampering with the business
conditions that make such investment possible
threatens the logic of the industry’s
investments.
While some proponents of “new media”
make promises and predictions of large
profits, they ignore the bigger picture. The
revenue stream from motion pictures can
best be optimized by intelligently integrating
new technologies and ideas such
as premium video on demand with other
existing, proven revenue streams. Theatres
offer the most control of the product and
the most revenue. A short window with the
potential to siphon off a significant number
of moviegoers benefits neither the studios
nor today’s high-tech theaters.
Many observers point to the lessons to
be learned from what is left of the music
industry. The lesson is not that new media
should replace old media, for that has been
shown to result in smaller overall revenues.
Rather the question to be answered is how
can revenues be maximized by integrating
new and old media?
In introducing a new VOD premium window
it is incumbent upon the studios to start
a dialogue with all elements of the industry:
creative, production, finance, distribution,
exhibition and home media. Any promotion,
advertising, marketing or testing of
premium VOD needs to be done within the
existing in-home window time frame. After
a period of time, results should be measured
to evaluate the impact on the other windows
and adjustments made accordingly.
While individual theater companies
must and will make decisions about release
window changes in their own company’s
interest, three things are essential as our
industry evolves:
■
Public negotiation creates confusion
and bad blood between partners.
We are keenly aware of the irony in
using the media to call for an end to
negotiating through the media, but
the point is no less valid. Recent trial
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 9

■
■
balloons and public statements regarding
possible windows and price
points are harmful to the industry.
No surprises. Exhibitors cannot be
blind-sided by unusually short windows
after they have already booked
and begun playing a movie in their
theaters.
A seat at the table. The release
window on a movie is as important
a consideration to exhibitors as any
other element of booking a movie.
Whatever changes the studios seek
to make to their release window
models, it is absolutely essential that
theater owners be fully involved.
It would be irresponsible to put today’s
successful model at risk by introducing
a potentially destabilizing change in the
existing windows platform that has allowed
the American movie industry to develop
into the preeminent movie industry in the
world.
Adopted by the Executive Board of Directors
of the National Association of Theatre
Owners on June 14,2010
UNIC STATEMENT ON
THE PREMIUM VIDEO
ON DEMAND WINDOW
UNIC (International Union of Cinemas)
notes and strongly supports
today’s statement by the National
Association of Theatre Owners regarding
the recent decision by the US Federal
Communications Commission to approve
the use of Selectable Output Control
technology, and the resultant coverage in
US national media about the potential introduction
of a premium Video on Demand
window into the marketplace.
UNIC represents exhibitors from 18
European territories. As such its members
work with different film release patterns
and release windows, the latter being
shorter in some countries than others, and
regulated to a greater or larger degree from
territory to territory. However all share US
colleagues’ concern about the potentially
damaging impact of media speculation
about the recent FCC decision and join
them in calling on colleagues in the industry
to ensure that discussions arising from
that are conducted in a disciplined manner.
The UNIC position on the issue of
release windows remains unchanged. It
recognizes that attempts to develop new
business models in the film industry are
an inevitable feature of a dynamic sector.
However, whether as a response to increasingly
fragile DVD income or in an attempt
to thwart piracy, such developments should
not occur at the expense of the one part
of the value chain which undoubtedly
works—theatrical exhibition.
Contact:
Paris, June 16th, 2010
Ad Weststrate President
email: ajw@zeelandnet.nl
Hortense de Labriffe Chief Executive
Phone: +33 142 893 150
email: hla@unicine.fr
UNIC (International Union of Cinemas) represents
exhibitors from 18 countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway,
The Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey and Sweden)
with more than 28,000 screens and 800 millions admissions
per year. Companies such as AFM, Europalaces,
Kinepolis Group, Mars Entertainment Group,
UGC, Utopolis Group and Vue are also members.
10 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

INDUSTRY NEWS
GENEVA
CONVENTION
TO TACKLE
ENTERTAINMENT
BRANDING
Disney hosts two seminars on
perfecting the theatrical experience
by John Scaletta and George Rouman
Hollywood returns to the Heartland
on September 28-30 when hundreds
of exhibitors, studio executives,
vendors and industry experts gather at
NATO of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan’s
Geneva Convention held at the Grand Geneva
Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Two Disney Institute Seminars—Approach
to People Management and Approach
to Inspire Creativity—are included as part
of the convention package. The Disney Institute
seminars have been selected specifically
to help theater owners and managers
brand a positive and unique moviegoing
experience.
One key aspect of that experience is
the people who work at the theater. The
Disney Institute’s Approach to People Management
provides several strategies to get
a competent, knowledgeable, engaging,
and creative staff. People Management will
teach ways that managers and executives
can train, develop, and retain highly-skilled
employees who understand and convey
the truths and values of their business. The
result is not only improved service, but
also better profits. High management turnover
and a young, untrained staff will have
a negative economic impact—more than
you think.
Since movies are all about creativity, the
second seminar, Approach to Inspire Creativity,
provides ways to develop an environment
where new ideas and collaboration
flourish. Managers will learn techniques
to analyze their theater’s “organizational
creativity” and how it affects the success of
their organization. The seminar will also
examine the four key components of the
organizational creativity model: organizational
identity, collaborative culture, structural
systems and the leader.
As co-chairs of the Geneva Convention,
we are dedicated to filling the 2010 Geneva
Convention with relevant content for
managers as well as for owners. Our agenda
is bursting at the seams with events and
seminars, making it a great value for everyone
in the industry.
Register for The 2010 Geneva Convention
at www.genevaconvention.com or call
convention headquarters at (262) 532-0017
for more information.
■
AND THE GENEVA
CONVENTION WINNERS
ARE...
STUDIO OF THE YEAR
LIONSGATE
Coming off of a lucrative 2009 and a
bright future, The Geneva Convention
proudly taps Lionsgate as its 2010
Studio of the Year. Lionsgate has developed
both the Tyler Perry and Saw
franchises and audiences eagerly anticipate
the release of new films from
these filmmakers.
VENDOR OF THE YEAR
C. CRETORS & COMPANY
Celebrating their 125th anniversary,
C. Cretors & Company is considered
by many to have been the catalyst for
the billion-dollar concession industry.
Presently, they are one of the largest
manufacturers of popcorn, hotdog and
cotton candy equipment in the nation,
among other specialty equipment. A
longtime partner with exhibitors both
large and small, The Geneva Convention
is honored to call C. Cretors &
Company its 2010 Vendor of the Year.
THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE…
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 11

SHOW BUSINESS
PHIL
CONTRINO
Editor
BoxOffice.com
THE LOVE
OF SHOW
Ben Gallaty proves
salesmanship doesn’t take
decades of experience
About a month and a half after
launching our new websites, I received
the most enthusiastic and
encouraging feedback from Ben
Gallaty, the 21 year old Assistant
Manager at the Cinemagic Stadium
in Menomonie, WI. Ben posted
the following message on my
Facebook wall:
“Dude, I f***ing love that Boxoffice
now incorporates the Twitter/Facebook
side of movies. It really
makes me happy to see that
the film industry is beginning to
embrace social networking.”
Talk about a great pull quote!
I
met Ben at this year’s ShoWest, and right
away I could tell that he was a genuine
movie buff. We know our own kind. Sadly,
some people have become jaded by the harsh
side of our industry—they’ve lost that passion
for movies. That’s why it’s always refreshing to
talk to someone like Ben.
Gallaty recently celebrated four and a
half years as an employee of the Cinemagic
Stadium. He started out as an usher and
worked his way up to Assistant Manager. The
exhibition industry has been a natural fit for
the Wisconsin native.
“I actually got my first job to support
my movie-going habits,” explains Gallaty. “I
washed dishes for about a year before
managing to convince an ex-girlfriend
to put a good word in for me and I got
hired at the theater four days before
Christmas.”
Gallaty has an innate sense of how
to effectively reach moviegoers. That’s
important for exhibition during a
time when the conventional rules of
the game are changing so rapidly.
Ben’s Facebook album is full
of pictures of him and his friends
dressed up in costume to support
new releases. They serve as a
prime example of one eternal rule:
enthusiastic theater workers lure
enthusiastic patrons.
“My favorite films to market for
are comedies, specifically R-rated
ones,” says Gallaty. “A huge part of our
customers stem from the local college
and it’s a lot of fun to do promotions
through the local bars, local bands
and local clubs to draw in the twentysomething
demographic. Films like
Hot Tub Time Machine and Get Him
to the Greek really play well with our
customer base, so they’re the easiest
and most exciting to put out there.”
Yet while Gallaty is aware of
conventional tips to bolster the
theatrical experience, he’s also got a
few new tricks up his sleeve.
“When it comes to marketing
to the younger generation, I firmly
believe in the power of the cell phone
combined with mob mentality,” says
Gallaty. “Since I live in a small town,
it’s extremely beneficial that we have
a few high schoolers in our employ
all the time. This allows us to sponsor
homecoming dances, prom, stuff like
that with free movie passes, or to give
them old standees to use as props for plays, etc.
In regards to the power of the cell phone itself,
if we do a pre-sale, I’ll ask a few of my younger
employees to text a few friends—it spreads like
wildfire.”
Gallaty points to the ridiculously strong
response to pre-sale activity for The Twilight
Saga: Eclipse. “I had four employees text five
friends each and almost four hundred people
knew within two or three hours.” That’s proof
of the power of phones.
“The new generation of employees and their
cell phones has been revolutionized by social
media and social networking,” notes Gallaty.
“We are, and will continue to be, a wired nation.
We are addicted to technology and instant
gratification.”
“My town doesn’t have a billboard for Toy
Story 3, but everyone is excited about it because
Disney has ads all over YouTube, Facebook—
they even sponsored a Trending Topic on it for
Twitter. We, the film industry, have the power
of the Internet at our hands, with hundreds of
millions of people on Twitter and Facebook
waiting to listen and we’re barely even
scratching the surface.”
One of the most important responsibilities
that people in the exhibition industry now
face is pushing the superiority of the theatrical
experience over the many other entertainment
options that bombard customers.
“As a manager, I have to not only maintain
my customer base, but expand it as well,” says
Gallaty. “I am fighting against Netflix, RedBox,
torrenting, YouTube, X-Box, etc. on a daily
basis. Because of this, I tend to no longer ‘push’
whatever movie is coming out that week—
instead I push two-hour vacations. I came to the
movies as a kid not because I wanted to see a
specific movie, but because I wanted to escape
for as long as possible. As I grew up, I realized
a lot of people are attempting to do the same. I
don’t sell people a ticket to Eclipse, I sell them
the opportunity to go on a two-hour vacation to
a different reality than their own.”
In addition to working at the Cinemagic
Stadium, Ben has launched a small production
company called Beartrap On Your Face
Productions. His hope is to build it into
something profitable that can enable future
filmmakers to take part in the art form he
adores.
So where does Ben see himself in 20 years?
“In a movie theater watching a movie. I love
theater management, but first and foremost, I
am a lover of watching movies and I hope to
procure a job that allows me opportunities to
see more movies.”
■
12 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

RELEASE CALENDAR
2010
Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Afterlife opens Sept 10, 2010
06.24.11 Disney Cars 2
08.06.10 Disney Step Up 3-D
08.20.10
The Weinstein
Company
Piranha 3D
09.10.10 Screen Gems Resident Evil: Afterlife
09.17.10 Lionsgate Alpha and Omega
09.24.10 Warner Bros.
Legend of the Guardians:
The Owls of Ga’Hoole
10.15.10 Paramount, MTV Jackass 3D
10.22.10 Lionsgate Saw VII
10.29.10 Universal My Soul to Take
11.05.10 DreamWorks Megamind
11.19.10 Warner Bros.
Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hollows (Part 1)
11.24.10 Disney Tangled
12.10.10 Fox
The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader
12.17.10 Disney TRON Legacy
12.17.10 Warner Bros. Yogi Bear
2011
01.14.11 MGM The Cabin in the Woods
01.14.11 Sony The Green Hornet
02.11.11 Summit Drive Angry
02.11.11 Miramax Gnomeo and Juliet
03.04.11 Universal Sanctum
03.11.11 Disney Mars Needs Moms!
03.25.11 Warnr Bros. Sucker Punch
04.08.11 Fox Rio
04.15.11 Summit The Three Musketeers
05.13.11 Screen Gems Priest
05.20.11 Disney
Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides
05.26.11
Paramount
(DreamWorks)
Kung Fu Panda:
The Kaboom of Doom
06.17.11 Warner Bros. Green Lantern
07.01.11
Paramount
(DreamWorks)
Transformers 3
07.15.11 Warner Bros.
Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hollows (Part II)
08.03.11 Sony The Smurfs
08.19.11
The Weinstein
Company
Spy Kids 4:
All the Time in the World
08.26.11 New Line Final Destination 5
09.23.11 New Line
Journey to the Center
of the Earth 2
10.07.11 DreamWorks Fright Night
10.21.11 Warner Bros. Contagion
11.04.11 DreamWorks Puss in Boots
11.11.11 Universal Immortals
11.11.11 Sony Arthur Christmas
11.18.11 Warner Bros. Happy Feet 2
12.09.11 Sony Hugo Cabret
12.16.11 Fox
Alvin and the Chipmunks:
Chip-Wrecked
12.23.11 Paramount
The Adventures of Tintin:
The Secret of the Unicorn
2012
03.02.12 Universal Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
03.30.12 Paramount The Croods
05.18.12 Paramount Madagascar 3
05.25.12 Sony Men in Black 3
06.15.12 Disney Brave
07.13.12 20th Century Fox Ice Age: Continental Drift
09.21.12 Sony) Hotel Transylvania
11.02.12
Paramount
(DreamWorks)
The Guardians
11.16.12 Disney Monsters Inc. 2
2013
03.22.12 Disney Reboot Ralph

ABANDON HOPE ALL YE
WHO ENTER HERE
TIMECODE
KENNETH
JAMES
BACON
Creative
Director,
BOXOFFICE
Media
MAN WITH
A PLAN
Developer
Cosmin
Andriescu and
his team from
Sparktech
Software rebuilt
The BOXOFFICE
Vault from the
ground up.
At long last, we are delivering our complete collection to our web
visitors—and you won’t want to leave once you enter The Vault
A
few years ago we decided to digitize our
library of back issues. Get a scanner,
some storage and, critically, a minion.
Done. Some felt an assistant would be best for
this task and in some parts of the world a henchman
is normally used. But for our purposes, a
minion would be ideal. Scanning our little magazine,
we thought, would be a piece of cake.
Not so.
Our back issues, as you can see in the fine
iPhone photo below, are bound in hardback volumes
of about 12 issues each. I’m sitting in the
room that houses them at this moment. With
about 2900 issues bound in this fashion, you can
imagine the difficulty in laying each page flat on
a scanner and the time required to digitize nearly
300,000 pages—one at a time. An option was to
dismantle these bound books, but they, and the
pages that the ink is printed on, are fragile. It
took months to accomplish the scanning and we
thank the poor schmoes
with the white gloves—
you wore white gloves didn’t
you?—who completed
the task.
But what can you do
with a 1400-page PDF? As
it turns out, not a lot. The
finished scanned volumes
weigh in at over 120 mb
each and there are nearly
200 of them. To put them
in some sort of condition
for our site visitors to
search, view and enjoy,
we needed to split these
volumes into single issue
documents and then
single-page PDFs with
logical organization and
file-naming conventions.
Sadly, there is no button
on Boxoffice Production
THE GIRL WITH
ZERO TATTOOS
Production
Assistant Ally
McMurray sifts
through the
volumes
Assistant Ally McMurray’s
keyboard labelled
“Do That.”
A great destination for
viewing digital magazines
is the Webby-award
winning service, Issuu, headquartered in one of
those countries always still playing in the World
Cup after the US team has gone home. Why not
have Issuu host our 90 year old archive at issuu.
com, we asked ourselves, for all the world to
see? So, the eager Ms. McMurray spent weeks
uploading the editions, entering metadata and
watching the little stopwatch on screen twitch
and twirl as each magazine was post-processed
by Issuu. If you visited our first iteration of the
Boxoffice Vault at BoxOffice.com, you were viewing
issues via Issuu’s (yes, that got confusing for
us, too) very elegant page-turning technology.
But we weren’t finished.
It’s important to us that our archives become
an unmatched resource for researchers and film
fans alike. When the producers of Alex Stapleton’s
upcoming documentary King of the B’s: The
Independent Life of Roger Corman, contacted us for
assistance in researching her subject (a major
name in our magazine for decades), we found
that our search tools were not of a caliber that
met their standards or ours. Luckily, we had the
fine Ms. McMurray available to scour through
the bound volumes for ads and articles relating
to Mr. Corman and we’re pleased to report that
you’ll be seeing material from the pages of Boxoffice
on screen this fall.
To devise and launch a eminently searchable
archive on our own site, we enlisted developers
from Sparktech Software, led by Cosmin
Andriescu. It’s a difficult challenge—presenting
hundreds of thousands of pages in a searchable
fashion that’s easy to navigate and allows visitors
the ability to download individual pages in addition
to complete issues. We are pleased to report
that the new Vault exceeds all of our expectations.
Click on over and see for yourself.
Adding power and precision to the searchable
archive is our tag team, led by Josh Cottingham.
The tag team is carefully going through every
page adding detailed metadata—tagging—to
maximize the relevancy of search results.
The care and feeding of the Boxoffice Vault
doesn’t end with the launch. We will continue to
add more material, more information and more
features as we move forward. Feedback is important
to the team, so don’t be shy about emailing
me or calling at 3 a.m. Yeah, like I’ll answer. ■
14 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

WAIT UNTIL THE
WEB IS 3D!
These beautiful,
full-color gatefold
announcements
were a staple of
the magaizne for
decades. You can
get a taste this
rare art in The
Vault
THE NEW BOXOFFICE VAULT
Now available for viewing and enjoying at BoxOfficeMagazine.com. Nearly
300,000 pages of movie news, classic ads and reviews will be soon be
available and just a mouse click away
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 15

FRONT LINE AWARD
John Thompson
Greeter
The Tivoli Theatre
St. Louis, MO
Nominated By
Dale Sweet
General Manager
About the Tivoli > Built in 1924, the
Tivoli Building is the most prominent
edifice in The Loop area of St. Louis
and is listed in the National Register of
Historic Places.
On May 24, 1924, the ornate Tivoli Theatre
opened to the public. The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch described the theatre as
having “luxury and splendor eclipsing
that of any other St. Louis theater” and
“the pièce de résistance of glorified
WWW.GQTI.COM
beauty.”
Goodrich Quality Theaters Inc. has
given audience the goods since 1930,
Architects, designers and sightseers have
and they’re still going strong with 28
toured the restored Tivoli Theatre, marveling
at the marquee, the 29 foot tall
locations and 252 screens
vertical sign, the newly-built box office,
the vestibule with its terrazzo floor and
ornate ceilings, the new seats, recessed
ceiling domes, proscenium arch, side
wall arches, stage, orchestra pit and lush
burgundy curtain.
Elegant display cases have been filled
with movie memorabilia including
Marilyn Monroe, Little Rascals, Wizard
of Oz and Marx Brothers dolls, a statue
of Vincent Price and a plaster Maltese
Falcon. Golden-age poster collages
and original posters of St. Louis-related
movies, actors and actresses line the
corridors. With the renovation complete,
people could once again enjoy seeing
great movies as they were filmed to be
seen—on a big screen in an architecturally
stunning setting.
(from the website of Landmark Theatres)
THE BEST IS YET
TO COME
Life begins at 70
by Cole Hornaday
Youth is wasted on the young? Not for
John Thompson. At age 70, Thompson
has been the face of the Tivoli Theatre
in St. Louis, Missouri for more than 30 years.
A doorman by trade, Thompson spent decades
posted outside luxury urban high-rises in the
hot and cold extremes of high plains weather,
where he deflected the elements with his
signature smile and warmth.
Now, Thompson’s seen more often within
the lobby than upon its stoop, and he’s become
a beloved presence in the old movie theater.
“John’s just a real incredible exhibition industry
professional,” says Tivoli GM Dale Sweet.
“He’s everything you could want and more.”
According to Sweet, it’s Thompson’s love of film
that landed him the job at the Tivoli. “He first
started working here because he was a regular
patron and had worked at other arthouses.
Evidently he just kept bothering then-manager
Alan Resnick for a job every time he came to the
show—and finally Alan said, ‘Okay.’”
Since 1979, Thompson has been a tireless
Tivoli employee. Between this gig and his other
as a doorman in the ritzy St. Louis suburb of
Clayton, Thompson often clocked in a 75-hour
work week. When his doorman position was
eliminated due to cutbacks, Thompson turned
much of his focus to the Tivoli—and then the
septuagenarian’s life took another radical turn
when the perennial bachelor fell truly, madly,
deeply for one of his regular patrons.
“John always said he was ‘Single, but
looking,’” Sweet chuckles. His amusement
quickly turned to amazement when Thompson
convinced his crush, Fran, to give him a date.
“John had been a sedentary person in terms of
his lifestyle and that sort of thing, and now it’s
really amazing to see him and Fran bicycling in
Forest Park.”
Even Sweet can see the couple are an
incredible match. The joy they find in the other’s
company is an inspiration to staff and patrons.
“John used to be something of a workaholic,
but Fran has cut down John’s work schedule
considerably. Once there was an extended period
of time where John was away and people were
very worried: ‘Oh my God, is everything all right
with John? Where is he?’ ‘He’s just fine, he and
Fran are in Italy.’ It’s really amazing.”
More inquisitive than a person half his age,
Thompson aims to keep his mind open to the
changing times. “I’m trying to stay in touch with
what’s going on with young people today—I’m
trying not to lose touch. I don’t think I know
anymore than anybody else just because I’ve
lived a long time. If I’ve learned anything, it’s
that things are tenuous and you have to be lucky
to be in a place for a long time. If you are in
one place for a while, people do look to you for
certain things.”
Thompson’s days are fuller than ever. If
he’s not attending a ball game played by one of
Fran’s 11 grandchildren, the two are taking in
a Leonard Cohen concert, traveling abroad, or
spending quiet nights with his nose deep in a
book on film theory.
Still, as a Grade-A greeter, nothing has
changed in Thompson’s modus operandi.
Thompson still regularly feeds patrons’ parking
meters during lengthy screenings, escorts
elderly regulars to their cars and passes out
umbrellas when it rains. “I’ve been here 15 years
and I’ve gotten to know people who come here
regularly, but I doubt there’s any other human
being with the kind of retention and honest
consideration and care as John,” says Sweet.
Thompson says he’s been fortunate to have
the supportive relationship of his Tivoli staff
and patrons. “I’m real lucky in so many ways,”
says Thompson. “I’ve been lucky in the places
I’ve worked. When I was much younger I was
pretty much of a bum—I feel like I got more
chances and did better as I got older.”
■
BOXOFFICE is looking for winners—theater employees you consider to be genuine role models making a significant, positive impact
on your theater operations. Monthly winners of the BOXOFFICE Front Line Award receive a $50 Gap Gift Card! To nominate a theater
employee send a brief 100– to 200-word nominating essay to cole@boxoffice.com. Be sure to put ‘Front Line Nomination’ in the
subject line.
16 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

Somewhere...
deep below the restless subduction zone at the
eastern edge of Puget Sound, in the shadow
of the volcanic Cascade Range, there exists
hidden beneath a slippery zone of Lawton clay
a hatchway hewn from the ancient timbers of
the now threatened Whitebark Pine.
As truth became legend, and legend became
myth, the stories of what lay hidden for nearly
a century remained unchanged. The stoic,
unbending believers of these tales—scholars,
philosophers and kings—are now, finally,
being rewarded for their resolute and steadfast
faith in the veracity of what lies beneath.
Using techniques first described by
Muckleshoot tribal elders at a potlatch nearly
100 years ago, stout-hearted adventurers and
treasure seekers recently uncovered evidence
of a vast network of tunnels and caverns
behind this portal, hundreds of meters below
a farmer’s field. At long last, the gateway to
the catacombs has been breached to reveal…
A big pile of magazines. About 3000 of them.
film history at your fingertips
www.BoxOfficeMagazine.com

FRONT OFFICE AWARD
Julie Marchese
Guest Coordinator
The New Beverly Cinema
Los Angeles, CA
Nominated By
Michael Torgan
Owner
WWW.GOLDENEARRINGSMOVIE.COM
“Julia Marchese puts herself on the movie
map with a riveting performance…”
–Joe Dante, director of Gremlins
ALL THAT
GLITTERS
Cinephile takes her own star bow
by Cole Hornaday
The 2010 US Census has no tally for
dreamers, but it’s a safe bet the majority
live in Tinseltown. Every busboy is
a future leading man, every waiter has a
screenplay and the gal serving you popcorn has
a 6 am screen test that could be her big break.
Needless to say, many jobs in the
entertainment industry are staffed with
broken-hearted hopefuls—but not always.
Sometimes that gal scooping popcorn is
seconds away from her big screen debut.
After completing her degree in acting
and film at UC Irvine, Julia Marchese found
herself pounding the Hollywood pavement
like a million other would-be entertainers. As
an actor and film buff, she gravitated to the
New Beverly Cinema, a cult classic repertory
house that is a cinephile’s slice of heaven on
earth. Marchese instantly fell in love with
the old cinema and spent the next five years
petitioning late owner Sherman Torgan for a
job. Her persistence paid off.
“She’s completely committed to the place
and wants to make sure people have a special
time when seeing a film here,” says Sherman’s
son and owner Michael Torgan. “In the years
following my dad’s death—when the theater’s
future was uncertain and it could use a
positive boost—she’s been one of a handful of
people dedicated to inviting filmmakers and
actors to the theater to discuss their work.”
“It’s normally men working at the theater,”
says Marchese, “and I had to prove that I was
worth my movie knowledge salt to these
embittered film geeks.”
And she did. Ultimately, Sherman endowed
Marchese with the honor of coordinating the
presentations of celebrity guests like Peter
Bogdonavich, Joe Dante, Rian Johnson, Edgar
Wright, Eli Roth, John Landis and Diablo Cody.
Marchese is seldom at a loss for words.
Which is why her most memorable Q&A was
with ’80s teen heartthrob Donovan Leitch. “We
screened The Blob, which he’s in, and a movie
called The In Crowd,” recalls Marchese. “I’ve
had to get used to meeting people that I am
admirer of and being professional about it. I
had my questions prepared and Donovan came
up on the stage and he kissed me on the cheek
and I completely lost it. Everything in my brain
was gone and I stood there with this stupid
look on my face. Everyone started laughing
because it was clear that I had just completely
blanked.”
Eventually she recovered her composure in
time to face an even bigger challenge: her film
lead debut.
“Honestly, it sounds so hokey, but it was
really a dream come true,” says Marchese. “To
see my first starring role on the big screen at
the New Beverly—which is my favorite place
in the whole world—was just so wonderful.
And to be in a crowd where you know these
people are true movie fans, so they’re really
going to tell you what they think.”
Golden Earrings, written and directed by
friend and New Beverly colleague Marion
Kerr, stars Marchese as a woman who rapidly
descends into madness when her best friend
mysteriously disappears.
Though it’s their first time collaborating on
a film, Kerr’s relationship with Marchese dates
back to their college days, a link Marchese says
has spawned its own creative shorthand. “We
have such a great rapport. We don’t have to
really explain it to each other—we just have it.”
Positive feedback for Golden Earrings is
mounting. “I knew the response was not going
to just be ‘Oh, you were great!’ but to hear,
‘Wow this is much better than I thought it
would be!’ And to have these directors I have
looked up to like Joe Dante and Rian Johnson
see it and praise it was just completely mindblowing,”
says Marchese.
Golden Earrings has since screened to
accolades at the Independent Spirit Festival
and Dances with Films.
Of tomorrow, Marchese doesn’t ask for
much. “I see the New Beverly in my future
forever, honestly. I love it so much and to
be in a place where the love of film is so
genuine is wonderful. But I hope to be able
to do independent film as well—I don’t have
aspirations to be a big Hollywood star.”
Upon the outing of Quentin Tarantino as
New Beverly’s long-time secret benefactor, he
declared: “As long as I’m alive, and as long as
I’m rich, the New Beverly will be there.”
Marchese may yet see all her dreams come
true.
■
BOXOFFICE is looking for winners—managers, operators and executives you believe to be the real stars—exhibition professionals making
a significant, positive impact on operations, employees and the bottom line. To nominate a front office star for the monthly BOXOFFICE
Front Office Award, send a brief 100 to 200 word nominating essay to cole@boxoffice.com. Be sure to put ‘Front Office Nomination’ in
the subject line.
18 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

TEN YEARS OF
CUTTING LINES
Fandango celebrates an
important milestone
by Phil Contrino
andango.com has
sold a lot of tickets
since that very first
one for the summer
2000 remake of Gone
in 60 Seconds.
The company,
semi-recently
acquired by Comcast
Media Interactive in April 2007, is now
celebrating its 10 th anniversary and the
bright future ahead. Online sales records
are constantly being broken (Thanks,
Twihards) and the business of helping
people avoid long lines continues to
evolve.
Thirteen months after their launch,
Fandango sold their millionth ticket in
July 2001, and the company hasn’t stopped
gaining momentum. With the help of
crafty marketing, they’ve has become a
household name. Ask a moviegoer what
technique Fandango uses to promote
itself? They’ll blurt, “Bag Puppets!”, the
wise-cracking creations that have become
a staple of the theatrical experience.
Devised in 2003 to push the newly-created
1-800-Fandango, the Bag Puppet campaign
was a clear sales success.
Fandango has also built a well-rounded
Web experience with interviews, blogs and
trailers that draw regulars to buy tickets on
their website.
“It brings more traffic to our site, as
people know it’s a one-stop destination for
movie fans,” says Robert Macias, director
of studio and exhibitor relations. “It’s
like impulse shopping. Fans might go to
our site for an exclusive Robert Pattinson
interview and once they’re ‘sucked in,’ they
may just decide to buy an Eclipse ticket
as an impulse buy. The Web is one of the
few places where you can watch a trailer
or interview and buy a ticket at the same
time—and then go back and review the
film for fellow fans, encouraging them
to buy more tickets. It’s a great way to
cultivate loyal customers.”
2005 was another landmark year for
the company, when Fandango’s sales
accounted for 11 percent of Star Wars:
Revenge of the Sith’s $108.4 million opening
weekend haul.
Macias points to Revenge of the Sith as
one of the defining moments when he
knew that online ticketing was here to stay.
“With Star Wars: Episode III, you started
seeing less fanboys lining up since they
had bought their tickets in advance on our
site,” says Macias.
Yet online sales have expanded far, far
away past the “fanboy” demographic. In
June 2008, the ticketing site accounted for
16 percent of Sex and the City’s opening
weekend, proving moviegoers in capes and
Manolos are afraid of walking up to the
ticket booth and hearing the words, “It’s
sold out.”
That summer, the hits kept coming.
Fandango accounted for 13 percent of The
Dark Knight’s record setting $158 million
opening weekend as well as 12 percent of
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s debut.
Considering that it broke several major
box office records, it should come as no
surprise that Avatar is the company’s
strongest seller of all time.
Says Macias, “We knew Avatar was
going to be big—but we didn’t know it was
going to be that big. Every week, it stayed
at the top of the Fandango Five, and ended
up selling more tickets for us post-release
than it did pre-release.”
As of press time, The Twilight Saga:
Eclipse holds the distinction of being
Fandango’s best pre-seller.
Macias cites Twilight phenomenon as
another example of why people flock to
Fandango in order to make sure they can
enjoy the theatrical experience. “It’s a
pleasure to experience a movie on the big
screen with an audience. Films just don’t
work the same way on a small screen.
Whether it’s a comedy where you have
200 strangers all laughing at the same
insanely funny joke—or 200 strangers
gasping at the same time at a surprising
moment—there’s nothing like the bigscreen
experience. Go see Eclipse with
an audience of rabid fan girls and you’ll
see what I mean—half the fun is in the
audience participation.”
Of course, Fandango’s success would
not be possible without exhibitors and
their willingness to tackle new techniques
for ticket sales.
“It’s been great getting to know all of
our exhibitors and seeing that we’re all in
it for the same reason: to share the magic
of movies,” notes Macias.
So what does the future hold for
Fandango?
“Hopefully we’ll be able to sell tickets
more in advance,” says Harry Medved,
director of public relations. “We generally
sell tickets up to 45 days in advance. With
New Moon it was two and a half months
in advance; for Avatar it was a little
more than three months. With highly
anticipated blockbusters, it makes sense
to start selling tickets even earlier so
that theaters can make their plans, start
scheduling show times and figuring out
how many screens they need to show the
films on. We hope we can work with the
exhibitors and the studios in the future
to schedule show times even earlier than
we do now to create greater efficiency for
theater owners.”
“We will use the phone for
everything—whether it’s buying tickets
on the phone or redeeming them on
the phone with your mobile bar code,”
adds Macias. “It’s so easy to do all of this
without having to re-enter your credit card
information—and I think m-commerce
will take off in many fields, not just for
movie ticketing.”
The site launched mobile ticketing in
March 2010, which enables moviegoers to
simply scan a bar code from their phones
in order to gain admittance. No printing,
no paper, no hassle required.
“We’re always looking to find new ways
to make it easier to get into the movies,”
says Macias. “We need to spread the word
about our new technologies to customers,
but also to our exhibitor partners and
show them the value. It’s an easier way to
incorporate a night out at the movies into
our customers’ busy lifestyles.”
■
CONGRATULATIONS!
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 19

GOLD CLASS CINEMAS > SOUTH BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS MARQUEE AWARD
Gold
Standard
First class ticket
By Cole Hornaday
When a rainy day spoils the plans of most folks, it means an afternoon
in front of the TV; for industry executives, it inspires a whole new
mode of moviegoing. Many question the wisdom of opening a new
business in the current economic climate. Even more question the sanity of betting
money that cautious audiences will pony up for a premium ticket for a cinema-dining
experience. But attendance has skyrocketed since Gold Class Cinemas
opened its first US location in South Barrington, Illinois in the winter of 2008.
(continued on page 22)
20 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

TASTE WITHOUT HASTE
Patrons can enjoy the easy-to-eat regional menu
prepared fresh to order by an in-house chef
GOLDEN PROMISES
Enter the lobby and instead of the roar of
video games and popcorn poppers, you’ll
find a fully-stocked stocked bar
GOLDEN DREAM
Gold Class Cinemas is like flying first class.
Patrons select their seats online prior to arriving
at the cinema and are led to their own comfy
recliner
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 21

MARQUEE AWARD
GOLD CLASS CINEMAS > SOUTH BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS
WORLD CLASS
Following its success in Australia, the
Gold Class Cinemas concept and brand
launched around the world—in Asia,
Europe and now its first North American
location in South Barrington, Illinois
CAPTAIN’S CHAIR
Patrons are escorted to plush recliners
minutes before the movie begins. Builtin
call buttons can summon staff at any
time.
(continued from page 20)
“The concept originated in Australia about
12 years ago,” says Gold Coast Cinemas Vice
President of Marketing, Mark Mulcahy. “We’re
trying to create an experience for every person
that goes to the movies that a studio executive
might have when they go into a screening room
on the lot.”
According to Mulcahy, the idea began germinating
during an afternoon meet-up between
Roscoe “Roc” Kirby, founder of the Village
Roadshow cinema chain and film productioncompany,
and then-CEO of Warner Bros., Terry
Semel.
“They were touring theater sites and it
started raining,” says Mulcahy. “They needed to
come up with an alternative game plan. They
decided they were going to go see a movie and
Kirby asked Semel, ‘Where do you go to the
movies?’ He said, ‘I usually just watch them on
the lot at the screening rooms.’” If people who
live and breathe movies aren’t choosing to do so
at public theaters like Kirby’s Village Roadshow
cinemas, what would lure them in? An idea was
born.
Upon his return to Australia, Kirby mulled
over the notion of an elite movie theater experience
coupled with the cinema-eatery model.
And he built them—Down Under there are
more than a dozen luxury cinemas with screens
that seat less than 40 people, all feasting on
mini risotto balls, cheese plates and local Cabernets.
And when Gold Class Cinemas broke
ground in Chicago alongside the $200 million
Arboretum of South Barrington Shopping Center,
the plan was a first-class facility from the
doorknobs to the rivets.
“When you walk into Gold Class, you enter
a lounge that looks nothing like a traditional
cinema,” says Mulcahy. “Instead of feeling compelled
to go and stand in line, you sit down, you
have a chance to relax and unwind and then we
present you with a menu and an 80-bottle wine
list—30 more available by the glass—and 12
beers on tap.”
Being seated inside the 40-seat Gold Class
auditorium is like riding first class in an airplane.
The plush, golden-orange seats not only
recline—they have buttons to summon wait
staff.
“Most of our employees have a hospitality
background and they go through six weeks of
training before they hit the floor,” says Mulcahy.
“We go through mock-service exercises
and get them tuned up for serving in the dark
cinema. They have got to pass various certifications
so that they really do provide excellent
customer service.”
Meals from the local-based menu are prepared
fresh by an in-house chef. The wait staff
is prompt and knowledgeable. “If you were to
ask ‘What glass of wine would go well with this
chicken Caesar salad?’ they would be able to
suggest something that’s on the wine list,” says
Mulcahy.
And like tucking in for a flick over the Atlantic,
Gold Class Cinemas stocks blankets and
pillows. Stay awake after that bottle of Shiraz
and soak in their super-wide screens, all-digital
projection and sound and 3D.
Opening the first Gold Class Cinemas in the
mellow American Midwest was a calculated
risk. “You have to remember, in cities like
Los Angeles, you already had places like the
Arclight—or in Texas where you have Alamo
Drafthouse—people have already been introduced
to the cinema and dining concepts. But
there haven’t been that many in the Midwest, so
I think for us the growth there has taken a little
bit longer.”
Mulcahy admits to trepidation. “I’m going to
tell you, the community was a little bit skeptical,”
Mulcahy recalls. “If you look at the history
of theaters in the Midwest, it’s very common for
it to take a while for communities to warm up
to a new concept. But soon they are very much
embraced after people go in and experience the
concept.” And this Chicago suburb has started
to eat it up—with lobster rolls and blue cheese
potato chips on the menu, how could they not?
Smiles Mulcahy, “From what we’ve seen lately,
they are definitely big supporters.”
■
22 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

Offer incentives to your staff
CONCESSIONS
It’s surprising how far people will go when
embroiled in a little competition. (I once
worked at a theater that held a week of
game show movie trivia battles to brag
about who was the biggest geek—great
place to work.) What’s of value to your
staff? (Cash usually works.) Set thresholds
for rewards and you’ll be restocking large
bags and cups on a weekly basis.
Advertise your bargains
CALORIE
CHAMPIONS
Not all concessions are
diet-killers—here are
the four best for every
craving
SWEET
COTTON CANDY 2.5 oz, 300
calories, 0 grams of fat
SOUR
SOUR PATCH KIDS 5 oz, 420
calories, 0 grams of fat
SALTY
CHILD’S POPCORN (no butter)
350 calories, 16 grams of fat
SAVORY
HOT DOG AND BUN WITH
MUSTARD AND JALAPEÑOS
320 calories, 4.5 grams of fat
HOW TO
UPSELL LIKE AN
EVIL GENIUS
Be fast, clear and flash your
cash
by S. Matthew Bauer
A movie theater’s bread and butter is, well,
popcorn and butter. So why not do everything
possible to wring loose change out
of those who would’ve otherwise just gone
with a small soda? Feel no shame in pricing
so that your patrons see a value; the key is
all in the delivery. As a former concession
jockey, I can tell you that the upsell is a
tough sell. If half-heartedly pitched to patrons,
they’ll see it as a transparent con and
walk away with nothing more than a cup of
ice. We’ve got to upsell, but we’ve got to do it
the right way.
Explain upselling to your staff
Before I was in management, many of my
former employers saw this as counter-intuitive.
Their theory was that minimum wage
workers might revolt if they understood that
their “for a quarter more,” plea would rake in
extra thousands. But explaining how things
work is a gift of logic and trust—the extra
schooling could motivate the brightest to
contribute more to the team.
I could never figure out why the theaters
I worked at left all the up-selling to the
larynxes of the common concession
worker. Signage is key. Spell out to your
customers how much more junk food
an extra Sacajawea will get them. Most
concession staff are good, but in the last 15
years of experience, I’ve worked alongside
people who barely had the wherewithal to
push buttons corresponding to items being
purchased. These were the sole salesmen
tasked to deliver a tactical sales pitch?
Now advertise professionally
Guess how many times I’ve heard overzealous
teenaged concession staff praise themselves
for the scented marker and posterboard
sign they made to explain concession
deals to patrons. (Rhetorical question, but,
for the record: 218 times.) Panhandlers make
their own signs; you run a legitimate business.
Unless your staff are artists who can
make your theater stand out, suggest to your
district manager that corporate marketing
intervene.
Make the deals clear
Why do lines at Starbucks take years?
Their menu is as unclear as a Uwe Boll
movie. You’ve run the numbers and figured
that selling a tray of nachos with a
medium soda and large popcorn will net
you the biggest profit while making your
patrons full and happy. The public—who
just wants a bit of soda, maybe a snack and
to get to their seat—won’t stand around to
figure out that deal. And consider the time
spent having your concession staff explain,
time potential customers might be tapping
their feet and thinking about walking
away. Keep things moving, keep their interest
and keep everybody (and their wallets)
content and happy.
■
24 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

OPEN UP
AND SAY,
“HMMM...”
Which of these 17 proposed
healthy concession snacks can
make (easy) money?
by R. Roosevelt
ALMONDS
APPEAL > The go-to indulgence of health
nuts. Dr. Phil endorsed eating nuts by the
fistful when he knocked off inches from his
waistline and every woman’s mag pushes
almonds as a source of healthy protein.
Snackers will eat them up—raw, roasted or
flavored with spices and sugars—though
likely they’ll want large enough portions to
void any health consciousness.
EASE > Delivered pre-bagged, they’re easy
to serve and store. Still, nuts are costly and
they’ll have to be marked up dauntingly
high to make a profit.
SCORE > 7
HUMMUS AND DIP
APPEAL Hummus, a flavorful chickpea
dip, is as synonymous with health as
Birkenstocks are with hippies. And hummus
with veggies has been the go-to sneer
for concessionaires who can’t imagine
audiences will put their money where
their mouth claims it is. With good reason.
Though delicious, hummus eaten with carrots
and celery is noisy and soft triangles
of pita are difficult to navigate in the dark.
While United Airlines reports they’ve
had brisk sales of a hummus plate during
flights, it’s impossible to imagine enough
hummus-lovers—myself included—choosing
to smear their fingers in garbanzos
during a Stallone movie.
EASE > A nacho tray doubles easily for a
hummus and vegetable holder. Still, industrial
sizes of chickpea dip aren’t handy,
and even if they were, it’d be unappetizing
ladling it out like melted cheese. Add the
complication of cutting fresh vegetables
every morning and it’d only make sense if
several dozen platters were ordered every
day.
SCORE > 3
SMOOTHIES
APPEAL >Stand-alone smoothie restaurants
like Jamba Juice make good business blending
bananas, strawberries and ice for $4.50
a pop and they’re kid and parent-approved.
Inside the multiplex, exhibitors could easily
charge that or more for a healthy-sounding
frozen drink that could sell quite well in the
summer heat.
EASE > Unlike Jamba Juice, however, the
concession stand is too busy to even dream
about offering a wide variety of flavors.
A few combinations of fruit is all it can
handle, though frozen bags of berries could
cut down on prep time. A costlier, but time
and quality-saving option comes from companies
like f*REAL who sell their aerating
blender along with 16 oz cups of pre-made
frozen drinks in flavors like Strawberry
Swirl, Tropical Burst and Wildberry Whirl
(all under 290 calories—about the same as
an Icee, but hey, who’s asking?). And for the
indulgent, they also offer full fat milkshakes.
SCORE > 7
SMART WATER
APPEAL >Bottled water gave the concession
stand a boost—so could its costlier cousins
which include the Pepsi brands Propel and
Sobe Life Water and the Coca-Cola subsidiaries
SmartWater and Vitamin Water. These
drinks sell well in convenience stores, but
the catch is patrons are familiar enough
with the price point that they’ll have the
same sticker shock they bemoan for $3.50
bottled water.
EASE > Add some visible extra refrigeration
and you’re all set.
SCORE > 6.5
GRAPES
APPEAL >In size and munching motion,
they’re a uber-healthy sub for popcorn. Tall,
clear plastic cups of grapes—especially
a medley of red and green—look clean,
healthy and crisp. Since plastic baggies of
grapes are crushable, parents won’t secretly
think they should just smuggle them in
themselves and younger kids will happily
snack away.
EASE > Grape stems are a pest. Plucking and
packing them into containers is time-consuming,
yet audiences won’t want to fiddle
with wresting them off the vine in the dark.
SCORE > 5
ITALIAN SODAS
APPEAL >Italian sodas are fizz and flavor
without the sugar and calories of regular
pop. They couldn’t be simpler: a few pumps
of flavored syrup, ice and carbonated water.
(Add a splash of half-and-half if patrons
want it creamy.) Starbucks has sold high fat
and calorie versions topped with whipped
cream for years, but their popularity is still
making inroads among customers who don’t
yet realize they can enjoy guilt-free bubbles
at less than 50 calories a cup. Introducing
them to Italian sodas will be your biggest
challenge.
EASE > Bottles of syrup cost on average $7—
for a shockingly small investment, you can
appeal to patrons of sophisticated and sweet
tastes with flavors like cherry, chocolate,
amaretto, vanilla, lime, peach and pomegranate.
SCORE > 8
YOGURT
APPEAL >McDonalds has been offering fruit,
yogurt and granola parfaits with moderate
success for the last several years to fast food
patrons who see them as an alternative to
a quick, greasy meal. They might not sell
as well to health-conscious movie-goers
who want a treat, not a speedy necessity.
At the same time, frozen yogurt stands
have sprouted like mushrooms across the
country—the lower calorie treat hasn’t been
this trendy since the late ’80s. But this twist
is, their resurgence in popularity is largely
due to vendors offering an array of wacky
self-serve toppings like Fruity Pebbles and
sliced kiwi.
EASE > Yogurt parfaits can be outsourced
to catering companies and delivered a few
times a week, but that will take a bite out
of profits. To compete with frozen yogurt
shops, theaters will have to invest in at least
a dozen toppings and find counter space.
Between installing a machine and preparing
orders at the counter, yogurt is more hassle
than it’s worth.
SCORE > 3
PRETZELS AND DIP
APPEAL >It’s a surprise more stands don’t offer
cartons or small bags of crunchy pretzels
or pretzel chips with a mustard dip. Low
calorie, no-fat and salty enough to sell that
extra soda, they’re an addictive snack that
can be dressed up by keeping the pretzels
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 25

“no more naked popcorn!”
CONCESSIONS
Kernel Season’s White Cheddar popcorn seasoning
is Number One everywhere across the United States
while Nacho Cheese is Numero Dos. But what
about their more exotic flavors? Here’s a sampling
of Kernel Season’s other flavorings and the states
where they are the most popular.
Chili/Lime MO, CO Salt & Vinegar MI
Jalapeño TX, NM, AZ, LA, NV Chocolate Marshmallow VA, KY
Apple Cinnamon AR, TN Ranch OK, FL, CA
Barbeque WI, MN, IA Parmesan NJ, PA
Cajun IL, WA Caramel NY, OH
toasty warm, rolling them in
flavored powders, or offering a
choice of high end mustards and
horseradish dips.
EASE > Another brainstorm that
can be easily handed off in a
nacho carton. Pretzels are easily
bought in bulk, are relatively
low cost and have a long shelf
life—and ditto for most dips,
which can be kept on display
behind the counter.
SCORE > 8
APPLE SLICES AND
CARAMEL
APPEAL > Several fast food
chains now offer a choice
between fries and pre-bagged apple
wedges in their kiddie meals.
Tykes under eight are used
to mom ordering them a Red
Delicious instead of a deep fried
tuber. Dressed up for dipping
with peanut butter or caramel
and peanuts, parents and kids
could agree on them as a fair
concession compromise. A few
too many sticky caramel smears
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in the dark, however, and mom
might be relieved when Junior
wants Junior Mints.
EASE > Many vendors now offer
pre-bagged apples and small
cartons of dip. Dips will store
well; apples, less so. The more
complicated—and appealing—
the extras, theaters will have to
figure out a better packaging
system than separate containers.
With a price point of $3.50
or above, it could be worth a
tryout.
SCORE > 7
PICKLES
APPEAL > The carnival seller is a
no-fat, low-calorie snack. Teens
crave that salt and sour taste—
Sour Patch Kids, anyone?—and
if you tout its innocuous calorie
count, high school girls could
be the biggest purchaser. Vats of
giant dills are an easy entrant,
but what might sell is a cup of
crisp spears. And it won’t help
its health stats much, but if you
already have a kitchen, they’re
26 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

irresistible deep fried with ranch dressing.
EASE > Go the massive Costco jar route
and all you need is display space. Spruce
it up a bit and you can charge more for
your trouble. (And that sodium could kick
people to upgrade to a large soda.)
SCORE > 6
SANDWICHES
APPEAL > The dieter’s dirty secret is that
often a full well-balanced feast is healthier
than a guilty snack. Light turkey, ham or
BLT sandwiches on whole grain bread pack
a nutritional punch that doesn’t hit the
waistline. Still, in many areas, patrons don’t
go to the movies for a meal—you’ll have to
make standout BLTs to change their minds,
the kind that inspire the hungry to wait and
order their fave at the multiplex.
EASE > A hassle. If you don’t already have a
kitchen, making sandwiches won’t be worth
the investment until you’re sure your audience
will pony up for them. As an entry, you
could outsource your sandwich-making, but
without that freshly made personal touch,
sales won’t be significant.
SCORE > 4
ENERGY BARS
APPEAL > Clif Bars and Luna Bars and their
athletic siblings, Power Bars, have taken
over a full aisle in some grocery stores.
They’re not just for soccer players; they’re
for soccer moms. But that means many
patrons might already have an in-case-ofemergency
bar stashed in their bags. And
anything you can eat in four bites won’t
make audiences feel like they’re enjoying
the full theatrical experience. Instead, your
main purchasers will only be those desperate
for a snack to tide them over until after
the movie when they can eat something
they actually want.
EASE > At least three flavors should be on
display to give patrons the feeling of choice.
It’s doubtful audiences will buy enough to
make them worth the shelf space.
SCORE > 3
GRANOLA
APPEAL > These nuggets of oat and sugar
are synonymous with health. Too bad they
aren’t that healthy—granola’s fat content is
enough to make Richard Simmons pause.
The fitness conscious in the know will
know not to chow eight ounces of sweet
kibble. But, like dieters who drench Cobb
salads in bleu cheese dressing, sometimes
what opens wallets is the impression—not
actuality—of making the “right” decision.
Channel the imagination of the caramel
corn stand in your local mall to dress up
your granola with seasonal tie-ins and
gourmet dried fruits and and you can charge
a hefty premium for your clusters.
EASE > Again, sales will be stronger if
patrons associate your theater or chain with
a treat they can’t get anywhere else, or at
least, a treat that’s tough to find. Granola
can be made in large batches and stored in
cellophane bags with pretty ribbons and a
stick-on label, it will last several weeks and
be its own advertisement.
SCORE > 5
ENERGY DRINKS
APPEAL > Teens who used to guzzle
Mountain Dew for the caffeine kick have
upgraded to energy drinks and the proliferation
of flavors and lo-carb formulas have
made the niche beverage go mainstream.
Where once Red Bull took up one shelf, its
offspring hogs a whole fridge display. At
the theater, you can charge at least a dollar
more than the going convenience store rate,
and with summer blockbusters clocking in
at ever-longer running times, your audience
will be grateful.
EASE > Coordinate with your distributor
to see which brand they handle, add extra
display refrigeration and all systems are
go. Choose at minimum two formulations:
regular and zero or lo-carb.
SCORE > 9
SALADS
APPEAL > Even manly men eat salads if
they’re smothered in buffalo chicken.
And some cinema eateries have had great
success adding greens to their menu. But
the average theater that isn’t prepared to
install a kitchen and side tables for patrons
to rest their salad bowls should think twice.
Without the certainty of a resting place, audiences
won’t want to wrangle with a bowl
of chopped vegetables in the dark. As ever,
you’re possibly also up against a reluctance
to see your theater as mealtime.
EASE > Prepackaged salads are plenty and
they don’t suffer from the same stigma as a
saran-wrapped sandwich. If you’re certain
your crowd would gobble them up, but your
concession counter doesn’t yet want to go
full upscale, you may be better off outsourcing
salad bowls rather than slicing fresh
veggies every day. Study your neighborhood.
A Greek salad that might sell great
in one block could be outshined by a Chef
salad in another zip code.
SCORE > 2
CHIPS & SALSA
APPEAL > Nachos with melted cheese are a
dream for the tongue and a nightmare for
the gut. One simple substitution—or really,
second option—would considerably cut
down on fat and calories. Follow Taco Bell’s
lead and offer patrons a choice between
cheese or salsa. (They charge an extra quarter
for the switch which increases sales by
seeming to add value.)
EASE > Giant jugs of watery salsas couldn’t
be simpler. More enticing to customers
(though more taxing to exhibitors) are
kicked-up salsas with black beans or corn,
or fresh pico de gallo with chopped tomatoes
and onions. Since theaters already have
the chips and tray, it’s possible to try a trial
run to see if your patrons crave the choice to
go cheese-less.
SCORE > 8
ESPRESSO
APPEAL > It’s been over a decade since good
coffee went mainstream and movie theaters
are still playing catch-up. A decent espresso
machine is a hardy investment that could
in turn boost sales of sweets—who doesn’t
love chocolate with their coffee? And while
the fatty, blended Frappuccinos of the
chains are an artery nightmare (the mocha
has 660 calories!), a whole milk latte weighs
in at only 180 calories and an Americano
(espresso with hot water) has just a slender
20.
EASE > Think simple. You’re not trying to
compete with Starbucks; you’re trying to get
people who rarely buy soda to buy a beverage.
Think Americanos and lattes, simple
enough you can train any employee to
master the espresso machine in 15 minutes.
And if it’s hot outside, also offer them iced.
Along with the machine, espresso drinks
will need new cups and lids (and room to
store them), but at upwards of $2.50 a pop,
you’ll earn your investment back in less
than a month.
SCORE > 10
■
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 27

Wants To Move You
SOARING FIGURES
Any way you add them up, the stats proving the impact of D-BOX
are hard to ignore. As D-BOX continues the progressive rollout
of its motion technology in commercial theatres around the world,
over 100,000 paying moviegoers have been wowed by D-BOX
MFX Seating, with an overpowering 91% satisfaction rate.
In-theatre surveys conducted by OTX Research also reveal
that over 90% would recommend the D-BOX experience to others.
Clearly Hollywood and the general public are starting to take notice!
EXPANDING MARKETS
D-BOX Technologies President & CEO Claude Mc Master
has his own theory as to why the technology has become such
a resounding success so quickly: “Movies are all about being
immersed in another world, about feeling heightened emotions.
Watching a movie in D-BOX MFX Seating is an immersive
experience, both physically and emotionally.”
The impact is far-reaching, explains Mr. Mc Master: “Not only
are we delighted to work with major movie studios like Warner
Bros Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures,
Summit Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Overture Films, Lionsgate
and Focus Features, but we’re now seeing our technology used
for different applications. D-BOX has recently been applied in
OEM markets. One example is Therapeutic Motion Simulation
in Europe. Another is institutional applications, which also have
the potential to be a significant new market for us, led by the
December 2010 reopening of the Moscow planetarium, refitted
with D-BOX motion seating.
WIN-WIN-WIN SITUATION
Mr. Mc Master has overseen a huge expansion since the D-BOX
commercial theatre launch in Spring 2009. “We’ve significantly
increased our footprint in Canada and the US, and even in Asia,”
he explains. “We’ve signed up more than thirty new theatres in
just over a year! And it’s obvious as to why. D-BOX is win-winwin
for everyone. Studios, exhibitors and D-BOX all benefit from
the new, recurring revenues that our technology generates, while
audiences are willing to pay a premium to have their moviegoing
experience taken to the next level.”
Theatre operators agree. Art Seago, Chief Operating Officer
at Santikos Theatres, has witnessed patrons sharing their
excitement for D-BOX. “This product has been able to bring
back customers for us. As well, new customers are passing
two or three other theatres to come try out D-BOX. They are
experiencing the Santikos Theatre and they are becoming regular
customers for us. D-BOX has given us the competitive edge,” he
notes, adding that teens and twentysomethings are often texting
friends about D-BOX before they even leave the theatre lobby.
Survey results back up the theory that D-BOX extends the pool
of potential customers for exhibitors. Over 30% of D-BOX
moviegoers traveled more than twenty-one miles for the added
experience of D-BOX MFX Seating, with 17% even willing to
travel over forty miles just to find a D-BOX equipped cinema!
With this kind of customer loyalty, it’s no surprise that wordof-mouth
has spread like wildfire. D-BOX Technologies created
the buzz through strong marketing initiatives — supporting new
releases with PR, advertising, online publicity, social media, and
the ever-popular demonstration kiosks that enable moviegoers
to try out the D-BOX Experience directly in the lobby of the
theatre.
MOVIE RELEASES
To date, almost twenty feature films have already been signed
with Hollywood studios. Moviegoers will have the opportunity
to enjoy D-BOX titles during the remainder of 2010.
Warner Bros’ much-anticipated Inception, Lionsgate’s
The Expendables and Disney’s eagerly awaited Christmas release
Tron: Legacy are slated for D-BOX Motion Code TM .
The D-BOX business model has seen success at multiple locations
in theatre chains such as Galaxy Theatres, UltraStar Cinemas,
Santikos Theatres, Cinema West and Emagine Theatres,
with more to come. Digital theatres require minimal investment
for the installation of D-BOX MFX Seating, and the fact that
D-BOX is practically a turnkey motion solution has driven
adoption levels higher across the continent and beyond.
“With over a year’s experience behind us, our customers love
the D-BOX experience and we love the contribution to our bottom
line. For immersing our patrons in the movie experience, D-BOX
can’t be beat,” says Rafe Cohen, President of Galaxy Theatres.
Moving audiences certainly seems
to be a smart business move…
With over a year’s experience behind us, our customers love the D-BOX
“
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Rafe Cohen, President of Galaxy Theatres.
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SPECIAL REPORT
Tales from the front line of the
industry’s war on camcording
by Amy Nicholson
Usually when a theater confronts a
person recording off their screen, the
pirate is the defendant. But a 22 year
old patron is suing a Chicago moviehouse
for $200,000 after they arrested
her filming clips of New Moon “to
capture the title and beginning as a
memory of this exciting event...and
to capture her favorite actor taking
his shirt off,” argued her lawyer. The
woman, Samantha Tumpach, spent two
days in jail and was threatened with
three years in prison. In return, she
and her lawyer turned the charges into
an anti-piracy PR nightmare that had
even New Moon director Chris Weitz
stepping in to call her case “terribly
unfair.”
Yet on-the-spot apprehension of
suspects has been credited as one
of the best weapons against piracy.
NATO and the MPAA's $500 reward
program for theater employees who
catch criminals in the act has helped
turn the tide of the war. This works.
But the Chicago case reminds us that
it's important to get it right—and that
it's too tough to go alone.
30 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

“It's very important to work with
MPAA rep, your field investigator
and your local police department,”
says Karen Scott, director of marketing
for Malco Theaters. “We follow the
Standard Operating Procedures from
the MPAA. The most important thing to
remember is not to touch the person. Just
interrupt the transmission—you can't
just go in and tackle them.”
According to Tumpach, the situation
escalated when the theater manager
insisted that the police officers who
responded to the scene demanded she
be arrested. Especially when a situation
seems murky, it's doubly important to be
firm, but diplomatic. As Scott describes,
“Ask them to please delete the images,
and if it's not an innocent mistake but
a person of a higher degree, call the authorities
and hope that they will respond
fast enough to get the person while
they're still there.”
What's understandably frustrating
for exhibitors and their staff is it means
that even when they're in the right, in
the moment, they may have to swallow
their feelings and stay calm. Take an
incident at the Cinemark 16 in Gulfport,
Mississippi, when GM Ray Boyce and his
employee Colin Tabor had to confront
two hot-tempered camcorders.
“This young lady was definitely
recording the movie,” recalls Boyce. “She
was a teenage girl and I think her older
friend was using her to record to sell to
someone else, the idea being that the
younger girl was a juvenile.” Boyce and
his staff escorted them from the theater
and held them until the police could
arrive. The women couldn't leave, but
they sure could get loud. “It was quite
ugly—they ended up getting arrested for
threatening my people. A couple of my
assistant managers had to go to court and
testify against them. It was quite bizarre,”
he says, adding with a wink, “The young
ladies involved were not very nice—
and part of the reason they reacted so
strongly is that they were probably going
to make a lot of money.”
Of course, in the first few years of
the in-theater fight against piracy, even
police officers were still learning how to
handle these situations. The first time
Wil Townsend, GM of the Regal Salisbury
16 in Salisbury, Maryland, called for
backup, “The police barely knew what
to do, and we were so new at
it we had a hard time helping
them,” he recalls. “They
seemed surprised that we
were calling them, but wrote
the incident report and filed
it nonetheless.” The NATO/
MPAA rewards program was
so new that Townsend was
shocked when the $500 check
actually showed up for his
star employee. “Funny thing
was we never even told the
employee that there was a
reward and she had left us
for another job. Luckily she
was still working in the mall
nearby and we knew where
she was. It was fun showing
up at her other job to give her
a $500 check for something
she had done a couple of
months earlier.”
Now, on Fridays, Saturdays
and Sundays, Regal Cinemas
employs off-duty police officers
who step in as extra authority in camcording
incidents. They're a great help—and
so, too, are calm parents, as GM Michael
Fletcher found when several young teens,
all minors, were caught recording swaths of
a big release on their cell phones at his Regal
Majestic 20 in Silver Springs, Maryland.
“They were clearly concerned but listened
to the officer explain the situation before
jumping to conclusions,” says Fletcher. “The
parents were so upset that their children
committed a crime that I can promise they
heard about it for a good while after that
day.” For this instance, a warning was a wise
choice that could be an example for how
seriously his multiplex took piracy. Adds
Fletcher, “In turn, I am sure they told all of
their friends and family what happened to
them for simply recording a little bit of the
movie on a phone.”
We're living among a generation of kids
and teenagers who don't innately recognize
that piracy isn't a victimless crime. “I see my
role as educational,” says Ray Boyce, who
makes a point to school his staff—and sometimes
his customers—on piracy's harm. “On
busy nights when we have a big movie and
folks are waiting for it, like just now with
Eclipse at the midnight shows, I talk about
piracy to the people waiting in line. I don't
just stand there and preach, but I tell them
some of the things we're looking out for so
BIT TORRENT: THE HIGH SEAS OF PIRACY
Google ‘Twilight Eclipse Bit Torrent’ and you’ll find nearly
4,000.000 links
that they can help watch, too—you never
know who can help.”
But as all exhibitors know, it's tough to
make quick judgment calls when stakes are
high and stories are confusing and shifty.
Scott recalls an incident that struck a Malco
theater that reminded her of just how high
the stakes can be.
“There was a ring in town hitting numerous
retailers, including us, and we were able
to meet with the Sheriff's Department Alert
Team, a special team that focuses solely on
retail theft: piracy issues, stolen goods, the
whole nine yards,” says Scott. “They circulated
pictures of the suspects and we were
able to get that information to our managers—we
helped catch one of them.”
“Usually that kind of activity is tied back
to gangs and drugs. Sometimes there's even
much bigger outfits tied back to the mafia,”
says Scott of her experience with the crime
ring. “That's why it’s important to work
with the police department—these groups
have their little fish out there trying to get
their hands on our product and then selling
it for $5 in our parking lots.”
Piraters may have ever-smaller cameras
(“Check cupholders—these new cameras are
so small that they don't always emit light to
make them obvious,” cautions Scott), but
exhibitors have preparation and communication.
When it comes to catching camcord-
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 31

WHAT HE SAID
Hi Nicholas, please feel free to leave your house open every time you go out and
please tell your family to do so, please invite people in the streets to come in and take
things from you, not to make money out of it by reselling it but just to use it for themselves
and help themselves. If you think it’s normal they take my work for free, I’m
sure you will give away all your furniture and possessions and your family will do the
same. I can also send you my bank account information since apparently you work for
free and your family too so since you have so much money you should give it away...
I actually like to pay my employees, my family, my bank for their work and like to get
paid for my work. I’m glad you’re a moron who believes stealing is right. I hope your
family and your kids end up in jail one day for stealing so maybe they can be taught
the difference. Until then, keep being stupid, you’re doing that very well. And please
do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important
HONEST people to watch my films.
Best regards,
NICOLAS CHARTIER
WHO AGREES?
“The average [film cost] is something like $60 million, but the average cost of making
a movie in Europe is $3.5 million. That’s the way things are really competing. I think
the American film industry is going to become like the rest of the world and people
won’t get paid as much...It’s the only way you can stop piracy; there is no other way.
You have to get a very, very aggressive enforcement program so that people do have
consequences to stealing, but you also have to be able to offer it to them in the home
for the same price they can get it on the street. It won’t be DVDs—DVDs aren’t going
to be around too much longer. If you can get it at home for $2, then why would you
go on the street and get a bad version?”
GEORGE LUCAS
“In film, we have definitely felt threatened by piracy. We saw the music industry crash
and burn in its efforts to stop it...The music industry saw it coming, they tried to stop
it and they got rolled over. Then they started suing everybody. And now it is what
it is...People are discriminating about the experience. They want to own it, have it
on an iPhone when they want it and they want the social experience of going to the
cinema. These are really different experiences. And I think they can all co-exist in the
same eco-system.”
JAMES CAMERON
“The internet is killing cinema. People sit there watching a movie on a tiny screen. You
can’t beat it, you’ve got to join it and deal with it and also get competitive with it. We
try to make films that are in support of cinema, in a large room with good sound and
a big picture...I’m sure we’re on a losing wicket, but we’re fighting technology.”
RIDLEY SCOTT
SPECIAL REPORT > PIRACY
ers, stay on top of the big signs—watch body
language, seating choices, out-of-season
clothing—and scan theaters frequently and
with night vision goggles if available. But
also stay dogged about the details. Send photos
of suspicious characters around to nearby
managers so that they'll be on the lookout.
“Communication is vital,” says Scott.
“There's always someone who has the next
scam: stolen passes, fake passes, the old picking
up stubs and trying to get a refund. Our
managers are good about round-robining to
say, 'This just happened at my theater, they
might be headed your way. It all ties back to
the same people.’”
■
THE PENALTY
OF PIRACY
Pirates are hit with jail time for
their actions
by Phil Contrino
Hollywood studios are pushing for
more than a slap on the wrist when
it comes to punishing pirates. Jail
time is now a very real possibility.
In June 2009, 28 year old Jack Yates was
sentenced to six months in jail for making a
pirated copy of The Love Guru. Yates worked
at a Burbank-based tape duplication company
that Paramount farmed out to make a
promotional copy for The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno. First, Yates accused co-workers and
Paramount employees of releasing the copy
onto the Internet. When that didn’t work,
he delivered a convoluted yarn in which his
grandmother gave away a copy that later
another person pirated, and that ultimately
led to the act of piracy by another person.
The courts didn’t buy it.
While it’s difficult to attach an accurate
monetary loss to any instance of piracy, The
Love Guru certainly wasn’t in a position to
afford any damage. After being ravaged by
negative reviews, the Mike Myers comedy
raked in a glum $32 million domestically
during its entire theatrical run.
In February 2010, Robert Henderson of
Grandview, Missouri was sentenced to a
two year prison term and ordered to pay a
$24,738 fine because of his decision to camcord
The Dark Knight, 2008’s biggest worldwide
earner. Unfortunately, a lot of people
32 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

tried to make the narrow-minded point that
since Knight was able to gross more than
$1 billion worldwide, piracy must not be
having much of an impact. The rationale
behind such an argument is flimsy at best.
Should Wal-Mart stop worrying about shoplifters
since it’s already such a successful
company?
Even though those are the two cases that
have garnered the most attention, piracy
busts are continually in the news. Just this
summer, five men were arrested in Mumbai
for selling pirated CD copies of Iron Man 2.
Tracking the sources of piracy isn’t easy.
Chances are that a bootleg copy of Inception
goes on quite an adventure before it ends up
on a street corner in New York City and in
the hands of a gullible tourist. Yet with the
aggressive moves being made to put pirates
behind bars, there will eventually be fewer
sources to track down.
While there are bound to be people who
complain that jail time is a harsh penalty
for piracy, the message that it sends is loud
and clear: the movie industry does not want
to experience the same kind of hemorrhaging
of profits that have crippled the music
industry.
But the industry must enlist good PR
when piraters argue that Hollywood is persecuting
its own customers. As a case study
in what not to do, take Nicolas Chartier. The
French producer of The Hurt Locker made
headlines in February when his email plea
for votes got him banned from the Oscars.
(He watched his film take top prize from a
house party.)
In May, he was in the news again
when his company, Voltage Pictures, announced
plans to sue tens of thousands
of illegal downloaders. That’s aggressive,
but understandable: The Hurt Locker was
being pirated online five months before
its stateside release. But when a bystander
wrote Chartier to express his dismay at the
suit, Chartier responded with a vitriolic
defense of anti-piracy law that crossed the
line when he sniped, “I hope your family
and your kids end up in jail one day for
stealing.” [Chartier’s email can be seen at
the top of page 32] Chartier’s missive went
viral and earned the producer a heap of bad
press and the attention of the ACLU, which
is investigating his lawsuit’s legality. A PR
slip like that lets the bad guys win—and
this is a fight the industry can’t lose. ■
GUESS WHO?
To beat the enemy,
know the enemy
by Boxoffice Staff
Movie thieves aren’t born, they’re
swayed. And the reasons might surprise
you. The stereotype suggests
a teenaged boy in his bedroom furiously
downloading and trading the
latest blockbuster. But when BOXOF-
FICE found and interviewed self-proclaimed
“pirates,” it quickly became
clear that to combat movie theft, the
industry must look beyond cliché. “Pirates”
have as many different motives
as a twisty spy thriller—and the good
news is, they all want theaters to lure
them back inside.
Turn the page to learn how to
win their hearts and minds.
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 33

SPECIAL REPORT > PIRACY
FOUR PIRATES, FOUR STORIES
WHO
Classics
professor,
Female, 45
WHY >
The first time
I pirated a
movie, it was
Orgasmo during
that window
when
it wasn’t in
theaters or on
DVD. Now I’ll
torrent old
stuff I haven’t
seen in ages that isn’t on Netflix Instant or
Hulu. It’s convenience. I’ll come home after
a bad day and need to see a favorite movie
right that minute—I haven’t gone to a video
store in years. The last movie I downloaded
was an HD rip of The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly. I’ve never bought a pirated movie. Copied
DVDs still have those annoying unskippable
anti-piracy ads and trailers.
WHAT MAKES HER GO LEGIT > I prefer to see
most everything in the theater. If there’s
someone I want to watch a movie with, huddling
around my computer will never do.
DVDs on the HD TV or a trip to the theater are
in order. I’d be a lot happier with the theater
experience if I felt like I was getting my money’s
worth—I’ve experienced subpar sound,
unreliable picture quality and the inevitable
30 minutes of commercials and trailers.
WHO
Part-time
clerk,
Female, 28
WHY >
I download
movies I
want to
watch because
I can’t
always get
a babysitter
for my two
girls. If there
were cheaper
popcorn and
soda, I could take the kids more for things
I want to see. If they’re going to be bored
and restless anyway, it’s already hard to
buy two extra tickets, and then when you
add on all the candy to keep them quiet
and happy...of course, I’d have to do the
same thing even if I was dragging my husband
on a date night. We don’t agree on
movies much. I know it’s wrong—and I
swear I really am a good person in the rest
of my life—but downloads are my thing.
WHAT MAKES HER GO LEGIT > Most of the
movies we see in the theater are kids’ movies,
since the whole family can go. But I
like arranging special nights out at the theater.
I had a girls’ night for Sex and the City
2. I’m also doing the whole Twilight thing,
watching all three movies on the 29th. I’ve
been looking forward to that all summer.
WHO
Video game
tester,
Male, 25
WHY >
There are
two kinds
of movies
I’ll pirate.
Obscure
arthouse
movies
that aren’t
playing by
me, and junk
movies I
wouldn’t actually pay for—I’m just kind
of curious about how bad they are. I’ll
watch pirated copies because I really
have no desire to see it in the theater
anyway. The studios aren’t losing my
business.
WHAT MAKES HIM GO LEGIT > My friends
and I don’t have girlfriends or anything. We
live by one good theater that plays a lot of
random stuff, so going to the movies is what
we do—at least one night a week. We’ll go
out to watch something we even already
own on DVD, like Taxi Driver or Groundhog
Day. It’s cool to see them for the millionth
time with a bunch of people around and a
big, fat soda and a flask of whiskey. I love
movies—even if I watch a pirated movie,
I always actually buy the movies I like on
DVD or Blu-ray.
A BIG BYTE Does piracy hurt the box office?
by Amy Nicholson
Internet wags and download defenders argue that movie piracy
doesn’t hurt the box office—it reflects it. Take the top-downloaded
film of 2008: The Dark Knight. Pirates argue that many of the
seven million viewers who downloaded the Christopher Nolan blockbuster
had already paid to see the film in theaters. They just wanted
to see it again—now. In fact, the argument goes, home viewers who
downloaded first were likely inspired to buy a legit ticket to see the
explosions big. And for The Dark Knight, those arguments might be
right. But like a deep sea fishing net that also catches dolphins and
turtles, many of most popular pirated movies haven’t had The Dark
Knight’s success—the #3 download that same year, The Bank Job,
made only $64.3 million in theaters. That nearly 5 ½ million saw
their fun, well-reviewed flick online is cold comfort to director Roger
Donaldson and star Jason Statham. Clearly, for every piracy “winner,”
there are even bigger losers. Here are the most-pirated films
of 2008 and 2009...and the surprising to-date top downloads of 2010.
2008
Rank Title Downloads Value *
1 The Dark Knight 7,030,000 $996.5
2 The Incredible Hulk 5,840,000 $262.3
3 The Bank Job 5,410,000 $64.3
4 You Don’t Mess With the Zohan 5,280,000 $201.8
5 National Treasure: Book of Secrets 5,240,000 $457.4
6 Juno 5,190,000 $231.3
7 Tropic Thunder 4,900,000 $187.2
8 I Am Legend 4,870,000 $584.2
9 Forgetting Sarah Marshall 4,400,000 $104.5
10 Horton Hears a Who! 4,360,000 $296.9
34 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

WHO
Systems
Analyst,
Male, 35
WHY >
I live in a
small town
and a lot of
movies aren’t
available in
the theater.
A lot aren’t
available
legally in the
US either—
A. Newley’s
porn musical Heironymous Merkin. I pirate
TV episodes of the new Doctor Who. BBC
America cuts about 12 minutes out of every
episode for commercials, so you don’t see
the entire thing unless you steal it.
WHAT MAKES HIM GO LEGIT > I like crazy
new action movies in the theater. We’ve got
three boys and I like going to the movies
with my family; it’s a social experience. I’d
go more if there was more variety, beer, quality
food and comfortable seating. I have no
reason to watch pirated stuff at home unless
it’s my only alternative. I prefer watching
higher quality video, so a lot of pirated stuff
doesn’t work for me. My wife doesn’t mind
low quality as much, so mostly when I am
watching it, it’s because I’m watching with
her. Copied DVDs have the best quality—
not to mention that downloads can hide
really awful stuff like rootkits and viruses—
but even then, lots of videos are compressed
one way, then extracted and compressed
again. Once I got fooled into buying the first
four seasons of House and ended up with TV
channel logos, bad encoding, DVD menus in
Chinese, the works.
■
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2009
2010
Rank Title Downloads Value *
Rank
Title
1 Star Trek 10,960,000 $385.4
2 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 10,600,000 $834.9
3 RocknRolla 9,430,000 $25.7
4 The Hangover 9,180,000 $459.4
5 Twilight 8,720,000 $384.9
6 District 9 8,280,000 $204.6
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 7,930,000 $929.3
8 State of Play 7,440,000 $87.8
9 X-Men Origins: Wolverine 7,200,000 $373.1
10 Knowing 6,930,000 $183.2
1 Green Zone
2 She’s Out of My League
3 Hot Tub Time Machine
4 The A-Team
5 Remember Me
6 The Book of Eli
7 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
8 The Wolfman
9 Kick-Ass
10 Robin Hood
* in millions
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 35

BIG PICTURE
CAN I GET A BEAT
Michael Cera goes from awkward to rawkward
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a shot of adrenaline into the heart of August. Based on a bestselling
graphic novel, the bright, fast and furious action comedy directed by Edgar Wright
(Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) stars Michael Cera as a slacker musician who falls for a cutie with
a curse: to stay with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, he’s got to fight her seven evil exes, a phalanx that
includes beefy superheroes Chris Evans and Brandon Routh and angry geeks Kieran Culkin and Jason
Schwartzman. Oh, and ninjas. With Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and Jason Reitman buzzing about
their love of the film—and the hyper Internet anticipation—Scott is poised to conquer late summer.
BOXOFFICE talks to Wright and Cera about brawlin’, rockin’ and taking August from zero to hero.
by Amy Nicholson
36 BOXOFFICE OFFI
F
AUGUST 2010

vs. the world
BALLAD OF THE BONE-BREAKER
Michael Cera would do anything for love (even eat a cat)
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever
done for love?
than I’d ever felt. We had to do three takes.
That’s three cats.
Oh boy. Maybe destroy a lot of friendships
and burn a lot of bridges. Cut all my ties and
get rid of everything.
That’s one of the things I love about the
comic—Scott’s the hero, but he’s not really
that great of a guy.
A slash and burn approach.
Yeah, I would just kind of destroy my life.
To make the other person feel guilty?
Desperation, I think. I don’t know if guilt
is the word—maybe lighting a fire under
them.
For Scott Pilgrim, you got to return to Toronto
to shoot. What was it like being on
set but knowing you could see your family
and friends that night if you wanted?
My parents live about an hour away, so I
went home to an apartment that the movie
rented for me. But I haven’t gotten to film
there since I was a kid, so it was really great.
Is your celebrity different there? Are you
the hometown hero?
I don’t know? That’s an interesting question.
I guess I don’t really think about it, or I avoid
thinking about it.
Are the girls different in Toronto versus
LA?
Yes. They’re different in the guys they want
to be around. It’s a completely different
world. LA is different from a lot of places,
though. It’s its own weird bubble, don’t you
think? Did you grow up here?
Michigan and Texas, but now that I’m
here, I agree—and it’s a bubble that seems
impossible to leave. My family is right by
the Canadian border in Michigan and we
used to cross the lake to go to a theme
park called Storybook Gardens in London,
Ontario. It’s two hours from Toronto—ever
go?
No! What happens there?
It’s all about nursery rhymes. There’s
Humpty Dumpty and Three Men in a
Tub—a giant spiderweb, a giant shoe.
Sometimes, I convince myself I imagined
it. I was hoping for confirmation. Alas.
You’re outspoken about your love for
Los Angeles, which I understand. You can
do anything here—last night, we ate live
octopus.
Whoa—how did it feel?
Primal. Like you’re on the top of the food
chain looking down at your plate.
I believe it. For Scott Pilgrim, I had to tear off
a cat’s arm with my teeth. It was kind of the
same thing. I felt so...human. More myself
When we started the film, Edgar gave us
each a sheet with ten things we had to know
about our character. Like a study guide to
make sure we were all on the right path.
And the top thing on my list was that Scott
thinks he’s the hero of his own imaginary
movie.
Even before he has to fight for Ramona’s
heart, as a rock star he’s the hero of the
stage.
Exactly. It’s like that scene in MacGruber
when you realize that he’s not the good guy.
Val Kilmer’s the villain, but that’s because
MacGruber stole his pregnant fiancée and
made her get an abortion. That’s why he
hates MacGruber.
That movie was really underrated. I kept
trying to get people to see it, but it was
like bashing my head against a wall.
My friends all really liked it.
It’s anti-comedy. Where there’s supposed
to be a joke, they pull it back.
You have to know comedy really well to do
that.
You don’t strike me as a professional fighter,
and as someone who’s never been in a
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 37

BIG PICTURE > SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
fight myself, I’m curious about the training
you had to do for Scott Pilgrim?
The kind of fighting I was doing isn’t much
like fighting. It’s more like dance. It’s a
rhythm that you get into with another
person—finding their rhythm, blocking
their punches. I did get kicked in the throat
while we were training, full force, by a man
who was a Mandarin fighting champion. It
knocked me down backwards onto my back.
He was supposed to kick my chest—I had a
big chest guard shield on, but he went too
high and kicked me square in the throat.
What did that feel like?
You know, it was shockingly...not so painful?
All these guys helped me up. They were
really freaked out because since I was the
main actor, they would have been in deep,
deep trouble if I had gotten hurt. So they
quickly picked me up and asked if I was
okay. I didn’t really feel anything. I think
my adrenaline might have stopped me from
feeling the pain—or maybe it just didn’t
hurt that much. Maybe getting kicked in the
throat isn’t that painful.
Maybe that’s the secret ultimate fighters
know. We’re super-impressed, but they’re
so amped up on passion and energy that
they don’t feel a thing.
Right. I also got kicked in my hand while we
were training. I was doing the thing where I
throw my hand down and block a kick and
these guys—who are amazing at stopping
their foot at the exact same point in the air,
however many times, they kick the precise
spot—maybe my hand went too low, or his
foot went too high, but he hit the base of
my pinkie finger in between my pinkie and
ring finger. It felt like it sprained whatever
muscle is right there. And it felt like a train
had hit my hand. It hurt so much.
And you need your hands to be nimble for
all of your guitar scenes.
Luckily, it was a month before during training.
It went away.
Obviously, you’re now an awesome fighter.
If you weren’t held back—crippled, even,
by having to follow stunt choreography—
which of your opponents could you take in
a fight?
I could easily kill Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
I would just hit her straight in the face and
see how she reacts.
The kind of move where if she worries that
she’ll never be pretty again, she’ll quit.
It’s all about knowing your opponent’s
weakness.
I’d just break her nose in an instant. It’s the
perfect level. Her nose lines up to my upward
palm thrust.
Jason Schwartzman?
I think me and Jason probably have a similar
fighting technique. I can’t speak on his fighting
history, but I feel like he and I would
just throw sporadic, flailing arm blows.
They wouldn’t even be specific enough to be
named “punches” or “slaps,” just us hoping
that the weight of our arm connects to the
other person.
Like the final fight in Kick-Ass.
Like that. I saw a fight like that in real life.
Growing up, these two guys were talking
about fighting after school in the woods
and it turned into this thing where everyone
knew they were going to do it—they
couldn’t get out of it. So we went in the
woods with fifty kids and we climbed on
this big mound of dirt that some kids had
built to ride their dirt bikes on. They’re
standing on this mound with a circle of kids
watching and they’re so afraid. Neither of
WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?
Dangerous curves ahead as Mary Elizabeth
Winstead comes with seven angry exes
38 BOXOFFICE JULY 2010

them would throw a punch. They both had
their fists up and they’re just looking at each
other, moving their feet a little bit, for such
a long time. Five minutes. Both terrified.
Then, one of them went for a punch and
it landed on the other kid’s nose. It started
bleeding profusely. The first kid backed off
and freaked out. They ended up both getting
suspended because when one of their moms
saw them, he said he’d been in a fight. She
reported it and got them both suspended.
It’s funny hearing you describe a real fight
because all most people ever see is movie
violence. It’s rare that there’s a physical
fight right in front of you—I think I’ve
only ever seen two. And both times, it
was weirder and messier and clumsier and
worse than any movie I’d ever seen.
Have you seen some vicious fights?
Once—it was outside of a music club when
I was in high school. It was so bad that this
guy I didn’t know who just happened to
be in the parking lot with me, from then
on, we were friends. We’d both seen this
thing that we didn’t want to see. Every
time we saw each other, we shared a look
and a head nod. Like we’d been in a war
together, even though neither of us had
thrown a punch—we were 15 feet away.
That must have been really disturbing to
make such an impression.
I’m a Catholic school girl. I hadn’t seen
a lot of that. But what I find interesting
about the violence in Scott Pilgrim is it’s
so inspired by videogames. Even when
you throw a punch, it says, “Whoosh!” It’s
comic violence.
There’s no blood in this movie at all, which
is interesting because there’s so much
extreme violence. It doesn’t feel gory ever,
or gratuitous or disturbing. It’s always a
cartoon. You feel safe while watching it. You
don’t think anyone’s going to be disfigured.
There’s something about that that makes
it more of a comedy and less of a violent,
bloody murder movie.
And the style of the comedy itself is really
unique. It’s set in this blasé Toronto where
people have dishwashing jobs and crash
on other people’s couches. It’s all very,
very mundane. But when somebody gets
punched, they burst apart into gold coins.
I’m curious about that balance.
I haven’t seen the film yet myself, but
the first half hour is like what you just
described: it’s these kids living in Toronto
and there are these relationship dynamics.
You’re getting a sense of what their lives are
like, what this group of friends is like. And
then 30 minutes into it madness starts happening.
It’s so fast and you just have to go
with it—you’re caught up in it and all of a
sudden, people are fighting and they know
how to fight, even though there’s no reason
for them to. People are exploding into coins
and people are flying and shooting fireballs.
To me, it’s not very different from what
Edgar was doing in Spaced or in Shaun of the
Dead. He has a way of getting away with that
stuff. There’s a scene in Spaced where they
have a big shootout with finger guns.
Like the way he handles the cop genre in
Hot Fuzz. I heard to prepare for the film,
you read Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War.
Did I say that? [Laughs] I listened to a little
bit, but not the whole tape. I need to finish
it.
So what’s next?
I don’t have any other job lined up right
now. We’re going to be promoting this probably
all the way until September. There are
other little things here and there that I’m
working on, but I don’t have anything big
lined up. Which is nice, actually.
That will give you time to keep writing for
McSweeney’s.
Yeah, I’ve been doing that, actually. And
walking around. Reading and writing. It’s
very relaxing.
I’ll be killed if I don’t ask about the
Arrested Development movie.
The last I heard, it was happening. But that
was a long time ago, now. I had lunch with
Mitch [Hurwitz, creator] sometime over a
year and a half ago. We talked about doing
it. But I don’t think he’s written the script
because he’s working on a show now with
Jim Vallely and Will Arnett [Wilde Kingdom,
whose pilot was just picked up by Fox]. I’m
pretty sure they’re going to be doing that for
BIG PICTURE > PROMOTION
ROCK ON!
Strike a perfect,
promotional chord
Here are two things Scott Pilgrim has that
other flicks don’t: video games and rock ’n’
roll. And who loves both of them? Teenagers
and twenty-somethings. (Though the
Rolling Stones are also on the soundtrack,
Pops.)
Every town has a music scene, and the
smaller it is, the more passionate the fans.
On opening weekend, host a parking lot
concert—a Battle of the Bands would be
doubly apropos—and time it to complement
a big nighttime screening. You don’t
have to go it alone: reach out to your local
radio stations, college stations, alt-weekly
or music stores for help in putting it together,
coordinating bands and reaching
an audience. Invest the effort and reap free
press and great goodwill.
Another tactic is to reach out to the gamers
in your neighborhood with a video game
challenge. Scott Pilgrim is launching its own
video game on August 10th, and you can
be the first on the block to show it. Mount
it in the lobby with a controller and invite
people to play it for five minutes a pop. At
the end of the weekend, whoever earned
the highest score during their window wins
the actual game and can take it home and
perfect their skills. A nearby video game
store might be game to pitch in with prizes
if it can boost their own sales—give them a
call. Ask: “Are you ready to rock?”
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 39

BIG PICTURE > SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
a little while. I can’t really tell if it’s something
where we need to strike while the iron
is hot, or if more time will go by and it will
still be fine to do it. I’d like to.
It doesn’t seem like interest has abated and
the show’s been off the air for what, three
years? Four?
Four, yeah. It’s nice that people still want to
see it. I think it could be good. Really fun.
That’s also got to be a little intimidating
that everyone expects it to be the best
movie of all time.
That’s true. It’s never good to start an endeavor
with high expectations right off the
bat.
If it comes together, you should give
interviews telling people how bad it’s
going to be.
That’s a great idea. I’m sure that whoever’s
giving us money will love that.
Or you could do public debates with Tony
Hale. He’ll say it’s bad, you’ll say it’s good.
At least you’ll be on the producers’ good
side. But back to the summer ahead, the
two films people are most anticipating are
Inception and Scott Pilgrim.
GREAT
SCOTT!
I feel sorry for Inception. When does it come
out?
July 16th.
Yeah, it’s so close to the Fourth of July. Everyone
is still going to be popping firecrackers,
there’s going to be napkins and watermelon.
It’ll be a mess. Confetti everywhere.
What do you know about it—you’re
Canadian.
We have Canada Day. It’s July 1st.
Aw, that’s so cute.
It’s kind of like when it’s your birthday and
you have a big party, but your little sister
feels left out. So your parents throw her a
little party, too, with a little cake. Poor Christopher
Nolan.
■
Edgar Wright on romance,
busting beyond genre flicks
and why he didn’t find cameos
for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
This is your first feature film that doesn’t
riff off one genre.
In a way, I was keen to get out of that. With
both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the
idea was to mix in so many flavors that it
becomes its own thing. I hope with Scott
Pilgrim, there’s many facets to it—sometimes,
people say it’s a negative when you
make things that can’t be put in one box,
but I strive to do it like that. Essentially, it’s
a comedy, but there’s a big romantic element
and a musical element and an action
element. On top of that, there’s gaming.
Before, you’ve been judged on the
creativity you’ve brought to a genre.
Here, for the first time, you’re facing a
wall of fan boys who will measure you for
faithfulness against the original comic,
though you’ve already said your ending
will be different.
It’s tricky. It’s been great to have the access
to Bryan [Lee O’Malley, author of the comic]
and the books. I got involved in this six
years ago when the book was first given to
me, and I’ve been working on it on and off
for five years. When we first started working
on it, there were only two books published.
By the time we were shooting, there
were five. We had bits of six. And throughout
the production, I’ve had access to all
six and access to Bryan. And Bryan, unlike
some fans, is actually the person who is
very supportive of making changes because
40 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

to see through that? Scott definitely jumps
through a lot of hoops and in the film, by
the time he gets to the fourth act, he’s wondering
whether it is really worth the trials.
And also, Ramona’s character, the way she
sees it, is she’s had a hex put on her. She
doesn’t like all the attention and she would
much rather have a quiet life. She’s gone to
Toronto to get a quieter life.
Hearing you say that—and also, some of
the shots in the film: a woman with bright
dyed hair, white snow—reminds me of
Eternal Sunshine.
A couple of people have said that about
the park scene. The film takes place in a
Toronto spring. It’s April yet it’s snowing
really hard, which is very realistic for Toronto,
as we found out. It’s in the middle of
an April cold snap. When I read the books,
I fell in love with Bryan’s art work of snowy
Toronto—it’s one of those cities that looks
amazing snowbound, and we wanted to
keep that.
You gave everyone in the cast a list of ten
facts about their character. Michael Cera
said his number one was that he’s the star
of his own movie.
he understood that the book is the book and
the film is the film. Rather than try and do a
condensed version of the book, we’ve taken
the structure and done something fairly
different with it and the same characters.
The main thing is to get the spirit of the
books, and the humor and tone. The biggest
change adaptation-wise is that it takes
place over a shorter time span. The books
are about a long term relationship over
the course of a year. In the film, it’s a ten
day fling. The idea is that we show a whole
relationship in the course of ten days. That
makes it sound like How to Lose a Guy in Ten
Days. Can I say nine days?
Or eleven.
Eleven days it is.
Do you think Scott and Ramona are a good
NO SLACKING
Edgar Wright and his band of mayhem-starting
musicians
couple? In the comics, that’s nebulous.
We tackle that in the film very much, as
well. One of the nice things in the film is
that she’s the archetypal dream girl. She’s
literally his dream girl—he met her in a
dream before he really meets her. So Scott’s
initial reaction is, “This must be the girl
because I dreamt about her before I met
her.” From there, it’s the hardship of surviving
having the crap beaten out of him by
seven different people. Is it really worth it?
And I think that’s a metaphor for relationships—how
hard do you want to fight to be
with someone? And then when you’re with
them, how much are you going to fight to
keep going? It’s an uphill struggle. A lot of
people deal with other people’s baggage:
their hearts, their revelations that come
out once you’ve started dating. Then, it’s
about how much do you love that person
Those were written by me and Michael Bacall
[co-writer], but we got Bryan to add fun
facts for the cast. They weren’t supposed
to reveal them to other people—some had
quite big bombshells in them—and we told
the actors not to divulge them. That fun fact
about Scott pretty much says everything
about the movie. Scott Pilgrim is the star of
the movie in his head. That really explains
the tone of the movie because it’s almost
as if the movie is one big dream sequence.
Scott Pilgrim is a massive daydreamer.
Even in the way he conducts himself, some
people when they read the comics say that
he’s a bad person for some of the stuff he
does. He’s definitely flawed. But he’s not
intentionally selfish. He’s slightly blinkered
and he lives in his own little bubble of
importance. In a way, you can even factor
the gaming into that. He lives his life like
a character in one of his games. He doesn’t
necessarily think about the feelings going
on around him. I like to think that Scott
Pilgrim the film is almost a solipsist’s movie
of this character and the rest of it is just a
figment of his imagination or a highly exaggerated
version of events. There’s a point in
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 41

BIG PICTURE > SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR
Wright cracks up Cera and Winstead with his
smooth moves
the film in the beginning where there are
these dream sequences. When I showed it
to Jason Schwartzman [who plays Ramona’s
ex, Gideon], he said possibly the nicest
thing anyone could say about the start. He
said, “Wow, the start is almost like a Luis
Buñuel film.” Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
is one of my favorite films. It’s almost
like the opening is one of those Russian
dolls of dream sequences. And hopefully
when someone watches it, they’ll be like,
“Hang on—does he ever wake up?” As far as
I’m concerned, Scott Pilgrim never wakes
up, and what you’re watching is his highly
exaggerated, surreal version of events.
As in how in Buñuel films, everything starts
off seeming normal, but off in a way you
can’t put your finger on. And then it builds
until the world’s gone insane.
That’s the idea. It’s a gift to be able to do it.
Even though I worked with Universal on
Shaun of the Dead, this is really my first US
film and studio film proper. It’s a gift to be
able to bring it to the screen uncompromisingly.
I think it’s got the elements of the
basic boy-meets-girl story, yet at its core, the
beat of it, it’s a romantic comedy or a musical.
With the central love triangle, it’s counterpart
is Grease. With massive fighting.
Tell me about the Ferris Wheel. Michael
Cera said I had to ask, but he didn’t give
me any context.
[Laughs] We had this thing about Scott
Pilgrim, about what he’s like as a character.
He swings like a pendulum between being
really cocky and sure of himself to having
a full-on nervous breakdown. And so our
note was that he’s half-Ferris and half-Cameron
from Ferris Bueller. We called it the Ferris
Wheel and I drew a diagram for Michael.
On one side, it said [Matthew] Broderick
and on the other side, it said [Alan] Ruck. It
had an arrow so Scott Pilgrim could swing
between. The night before we started film,
me and Michael Cera and Michael Bacall
watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as our good
luck film. And I had the art department
make a wooden Ferris Wheel as a prop. It
had a moveable arrow so Cera could ask,
“What’s the Ferris rating on this scene?”
and I’d say if it was closer to Ruck. Then
it was a really sad irony that John Hughes
died whilst we were filming. We were all hit
hard any way by that, but it was also kind of
spooky because the film and the books—as
do all youth comedies—owe a lot to John
Hughes. I took a photo on the day he died
and wrote a eulogy to him on my blog on
the set. I had “R.I.P. J.H.” up on the set for
the day.
Here, when people throw punches, they
pop up on the screen as “Ka-pow!” How
can you reclaim that from Batman?
I like the Batman punches. Most comic book
movies try to do one of two things: they try
to be super-realistic like The Dark Knight,
which goes for this dark naturalism. The
other thing people try to do is, like Sin City
or 300, stylized but super gritty. The great
thing about Scott Pilgrim I saw when I read
the books was that this is my chance to do a
Pop Art film. It’s fun and energetic and kind
of like Roy Lichtenstein. I like the comic
book movies that go all out and be bubblegum
films like Danger Diabolique, the Mario
Bava film, or even the ’80s Flash Gordon.
I like the ones that have a lack of pretention—they
say, “You know what? This is a
comic book movie.” They have bright colors
and just go for it. Scott Pilgrim is a blackand-white
book, but the covers are really
colorful. It goes between the two: there’s the
naturalistic, mundane normal scenes with
the muted palette, but as the film explodes,
42 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

the colors come in. Kind of like Eternal Sunshine
as you referenced, Ramona’s hair is the
first bright color that you see. I like the idea
of absolutely embracing the colorfulness
and making the whole thing an eye candy
explosion. An eye and ear candy explosion.
Actually, that sounds like wax made into a
gummy-bear, which doesn’t sound too nice.
Arm candy is a completely separate thing.
How does that play into your second draft
of Ant-Man? I’ve heard conflicting reports:
that you’re making it naturalistic and that
you’re making it a comedy?
I haven’t actually started the second draft
yet—I’m not going to be able to until this
film is out—but what we wrote for the first
draft, and what Marvel really liked, is that
it’s funny but it’s a genre film. It’s about the
level of comedy that Iron Man has. The idea
is to make a high-concept genre film where
it’s within another genre. His suit and its
power is the big gadget and it takes place
in the real world. I just wanted to do something
that was slightly different than the
superhero origin film. I felt that between
that and the various mad scientist, crazy
doctor films that we’ve all seen, this would
be a way into an origin that was slightly
different. I’m not really a multi-tasker—I
haven’t done anything since Marvel liked
our first draft.
Does that take a huge leap of faith when
you choose your next project, knowing it
will be your life for the next 24 months?
Pretty much. For better or for worse. A lot
of directors have three things going at once,
or before their new film comes out, they
make sure they’ve got the next one signed,
sealed and delivered. I just try and put so
much into everything that, every job I’ve
done, I’ve ended up working myself into
the ground to the point of collapse. I’ve
already planned my collapse on this film. I
know exactly what week I need to be dropping
dead. You know what’s crazy? It’s also
a nice thing, but that people always want
to know what’s next. I did the red carpet
at the MTV awards and pretty much every
interview went like this: First question: “So
tell us about Scott Pilgrim?” Well, it’s this
film and blah-blah-blah and it’s coming out
on August 13 th . “So what’s next for you?
Ant-Man?” Hey, I haven’t even finished Scott
Pilgrim yet! It’s 110 minutes long and there’s
lots to talk about when you see it—I promise!
I hope that when I do interviews after
people have seen the film, they won’t just
ask me what’s next.
It’s good that people care, but it must feel
like, “This isn’t enough?”
That’s always been the case, even back
on Hot Fuzz. “So, tell us about Ant-Man?” I
think if I actually made Ant-Man and then
did press for that, Lord knows what people
might say afterward. The world might end.
Maybe it’s the Mayan Calendar. When I
finally make Ant-Man, what will be left
to talk about? I guess let’s talk about the
meaning of life, or something. It’s 2010 and
the Mayans say the world is going to end in
2012. Ant-Man will have to be scheduled before
then. That doesn’t give it long to play.
Speaking of worlds ending, have you
figured out how you want to destroy the
planet in World’s End, the last in your
genre trilogy of Shaun and Hot Fuzz?
That’s something Simon [Pegg] and I came
up with the idea for. Everything feels like
I’ve been writing it for years, but we did
come up with the idea for it after Hot Fuzz.
The nice thing about doing films with Simon
and Nick [Frost]—hopefully if we get
the chance to do this third one—is it will be
like Michael Apted’s Seven Up series. Every
time we get together, we get older with the
characters. Spaced was about people in their
mid-twenties, Shaun was about turning 30
and this one will be about getting into your
mid-to-late thirties. We’re all getting older,
and the characters are getting older as well.
It’s one of the reasons we never returned
to do a third season of Spaced—it just felt
wrong. You never want to see those characters
get older. But hopefully we can do it
with different stories. We have an idea for
World’s End. I’m kind of glad we’ve had a
break because people start to second guess
you. And you want to try to subvert things.
I love Mel Brooks and the Zucker Brothers,
but on the Hot Fuzz press tour, the only
question would be, “You’ve done cop films,
you’ve done zombie films—what’s next?”
I don’t want to be so easily put into a box.
We’d always bristle when people would use
the word ‘spoof.’ They are comedies and
they are pastiche, but I hope at least the
finished product feels like a film in its own
right. Even if they have very silly titles—
Shaun of the Dead is a particularly silly title.
When we were making it, people would
say, “You’re not really going to call it that?” I
couldn’t imagine it called anything else!
Were you tempted to find roles for Simon
and Nick in Scott Pilgrim?
No, I didn’t want to. I felt like I wanted
people to be excited about the next time we
work together with them as the leads. I felt
like them doing a one-scene cameo in Scott
Pilgrim would be doing them a disservice.
It would just be paying lip service—we
shouldn’t do it because people think we
ought to, we should work together because
we want to. In fact, I even said to the casting
director that I didn’t want to have any Brits
in the film at all. I wanted my first North
American film to have all North American
actors. One Brit slipped through without
me knowing. Satya Bhabha is actually from
around the corner from me in London, but
he completely fooled me in the audition.
Were you on Simon or Nick or your fellow
Brits’ enemy list?
I think they understood. The crazy thing
is it’s almost like Lord of the Flies. Jason
Schwartzman and Chris Evans are the oldest
people in the film. There are no adults
in the film. Unlike the comic, you don’t see
anybody’s parents. The film’s actually casting
age-appropriate for once, which not a
lot of films do. It was amazing shooting it
because everybody was between the ages of
19 and 28.
Did that make you feel unjustly old?
I definitely felt like the older brother. I hope
I wasn’t a dad figure, I’d like to be the older
brother.
Or the cool uncle.
That makes me feel a little nervous.
I read you might be brainstorming ideas
for a sequel called Scott Pilgrim vs. 2012?
You’re joking.
I’m not joking. The Internet is gossiping.
That’s bullshit! [Laughs] I can comprehensively
say that that is bullshit.
■
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 43

ON THE HORIZON
THE SLATE
FULL SPEED AHEAD
Secretariat
DISTRIBUTOR Walt Disney Pictures CAST Diane Lane, John
Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, Scott Glenn, Fred Thompson,
A.J. Michalka, Kevin Connolly, Margo Martindale, Eric
Lange, Drew Roy DIRECTOR Randall Wallace SCREEN-
WRITER Mike Rich PRODUCERS Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray
GENRE Drama RATING PG for brief mild language RUN-
NING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE October 8, 2010
n 2003, Universal chased down seven
Oscar nominations with Seabiscuit. The
inspirational horse track drama didn’t
win a single one, and its $148.3 million
international gross wasn’t much of a payback
for the $87 million production, but that’s not
slowing down Walt Disney Studios from opening
the gates for their own equine uplifter.
Secretariat stars Academy Award nominee
Diane Lane as Penny Chenery, the Virginiabred
housewife who took over her father’s
horse farm and bred an unlikely champion.
Along with eccentric trainer Lucien Laurin,
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$120,277,109 / $158,574,297
BOXING
ALI
$58,203,528 / $81,896,995
TRACK & FIELD
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
$58,972,523 / $168,644,445
ICE HOCKEY
MIRACLE
$64,378,453 / $82,416,860
BASEBALL
THE ROOKIE
$75,600,977 / $103,625,477
FOOTBALL
THE BLIND SIDE
$255,959,000
BASKETBALL
COACH CARTER
$67,264,853 / $83,425,207
SOCCER
THE DAMNED UNITED*
$442,008
RUGBY
INVICTUS
$37,491,960
BOWLING
THE BIG LEBOWSKI**
$17,451,088 / $29,581,268
* limited US Release
** Not true-life, but … it’s The Dude, man
all data from BoxOffice.com
SADDLE UP
Diane Lane plays
a horse-mad
housewife
played by equally eccentric actor John Malkovich
as a brash oddball in Bermuda shorts,
Chenery took a huge gamble on a upstart
young horse. She bet—and bet right—that
Secretariat would win the Triple Crown, and
along the route she turned herself and her
horse into one of the media sensations of
1973.
Director Randall Wallace has had some
success putting together pedigreed historical
dramas. The Man in the Iron Mask and
We Were Soldiers fared respectably; better
were his screenplays for Braveheart and Pearl
Harbor, though Disney has tapped Mike Rich
of Finding Forrester and The Rookie to pen
this pricey sports flick. Their hope is that Lane
will appeal to women, sports and horses to
everyone. Last year, while sumptuous retro
flicks did decently during awards season, they
didn’t rake in much at the box office. But
Secretariat himself would advise the industry
not to count him out.
■
44 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

BALLS OUT
Jackass 3d
FEEL THAT?
The hits will be
harder in Jackass
3D
Distributor: Paramount Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-
O Director: Jeff Tremaine Writer: Preston Lacy Producers: Spike
Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine Genre: Documentary/Action
Rating: TBD Running time: TBD Release date: October 15, 2010
Why make a threequel for an MTV show
that’s been off the air for years? Consider
this: Jackass Number Two made eight times
its $11 million production cost. And—shockingly—it
was a critical darling, at least more of one than you’d
expect for a film with a segment on milking horse semen.
(Tom Green tried and failed to do it artistically.)
Jackass 3D has been the focus of much internet
buzz for the last four years and fans were delighted to
hear it was officially slated. When the trailer screened
during New Moon, guys bought tickets to Twilight
just to get a glimpse of the carnage. And even though
dozens of the stunts have already been announced,
that’s no spoiler for people who can’t wait to see just
how Bam Margera broke three ribs and a shoulder
during shooting.
Two things are different this go around. First, star
Steve-O has given up drinking. Drunken dares used to
be part of the clan’s ethos, but lead Johnny Knoxville
calmed fears that his friend has gone square, saying,
“Steve-O is probably getting the best footage out of
everybody. He is really going for it. He wants to prove
to everyone he can do these stunts sober.” And now,
those stunts will be in 3D. Camera man Lance Bangs
described the new look as “utterly crazy—everything
in 3D looks as brightly colored as candy.” With the
audience seeing the pain even more from the guys’
perspective, expect those yelps of sympathy and
disbelief to rattle the theater.
■
AMERICA’S RICHEST HOME VIDEO
Paranormal
Activity 2
Distributor: Paramount Cast: TBD Director: Kip Williams
Writer: Michael R. Perry Producers: Jason Blum, Oren
Peli Genre: Horror Rating: TBD Running time: TBD Release
date: October 22, 2010
The release date of Paramount’s followup
to the wildly profitable ghost story is
just three months away and rumor has
it, director Kip Williams is still in pre-production.
Even original stars Katie Featherston
and Micah Sloat aren’t in agreement if they’re
even in the cast. “I’m waiting to hear,” said
Featherston last month. “If I get that phone
call, I will be there. I will be scared or happy
or whatever they want me to be.”
Sloat sounds
more like he has
the inside scoop,
telling MTV, “I
know a lot I can’t
tell you. All I can
tell you is I’m very
excited for the
project—it’s really
cool, it’s gonna be really interesting and it’s
not gonna suck.” Nobody wants another
Blair Witch 2. And Paramount’s been working
hard behind the scenes to make sure that
more money won’t mean more problems.
While the budget’s going to be exponentially
greater than the $15K debut, the casual
production schedule has the air of a film that
wants to capture the intimate immediacy of
the original, infamously shot by director and
writer Orin Peli in just seven days.
Peli is signed
on as a producer
of the film, but to
direct, Paramount
first tapped Saw
VI helmer Kevin
Greutert. Lionsgate
pulled him
citing contractual
obligations, and so Paramount turned its
attention to everyone from Akiva Goldsmith
(A Beautiful Mind) to Brian De Palma. Williams
won out. He’s best known for another
haunted house flick, 2004’s The Door in the
Floor, which starred Kim Basinger and Jeff
Bridges. Can he and Paramount pull off another
media coup? With their teaser trailer—
security cam footage of a house, a dog and
a baby—debuting in front of Eclipse, they’re
determined to try.
■
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 45

COMING ATTRACTIONS
MAKE IT RAIN
Porntrepreneur
Luke Wilson
turns a flash into
cash
THE SLATE
Step Up 3d
SWEAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE
DISTRIBUTOR Touchstone Pictures CAST
Harry Shum Jr., Adam G. Sevani, Sharni
Vinson, Rick Malambri, Ruby Feliciano,
Stephen Boss, Keith Stallworth DIRECTOR
Jon Chu SCREENWRITERS Amy Andelson,
Emily Meyer PRODUCERS Erik Feig,
Jennifer Gibgot, Adam Shankman, Patrick
Wachsberger GENRE Music/Drama/
Romance RATING PG-13 for brief strong
language RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE
August 6, 2010
> 2008’s Step Up 2: The Streets
did d solid enough box office that
Disney and Touchstone are graduating
a new class of dancers to
the big screen. As ever, between
the dancing and the romancing,
there’s a lot of heavy
breathing. But this time,
every ery muscle in the
leads’ six packs
will gleam in
3D, enough
of a novelty
that teen
girls might
just get their
boyfriends to the
multiplex.
NO ORDINARY SQUEEZE
Middle Men
DISTRIBUTOR Paramount CAST Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht, Jacinda Barrett,
James Caan, Terry Crews, Laura Ramsey, Rade Sherbedgia, Kevin Pollak, Graham McTavish,
Kelsey Grammer, Diane Sorrentino DIRECTOR George Gallo SCREENWRITER George Gallo,
Anthony Weiss PRODUCERS Christopher Mallick, William Sherak, Jason Shuman, Michael Weiss
GENRE Drama/Comedy RATING R
for strong sexual content, nudity, language, drug use and
violence RUNNING TIME 105 min. RELEASE DATE August 6, 2010
> On day
one, there was the Internet. Day two, Inter-
net porn. And day three, web entrepreneurs learned
to use
the quest for flesh to make money. Luke
Wilson stars in this real life-inspired dramedy
of a
cash man who learned how to reroute the
dough through a third party--and learned the
consequences of messing around with the Russian
Mob.
CAR 54, DON’T BOTHER
The
Other
Guys
DISTRIBUTOR Columbia CAST
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg,
Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L.
Jackson, Steve Coogan, Andy
Buckley, Ben Schwartz, Anne
Heche DIRECTOR Adam McKay
SCREENWRITER Chris Henchy,
Adam McKay PRODUCERS
Patrick Crowley, Jimmy Miller
GENRE Action/Comedy RATING
TBD RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE
DATE August 6, 2010
WHO NEEDS
EDS
PANDORA?
The teen dancers
of
Step Up 3D
want to be this
summer’s stunninng
bodies
> Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson o are the baddest cops on the beat. But
pencil-pushers Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg
have moxie—the type of boisterous naivety that
makes
crooks chuckle. Adam McKay has written
and directed Ferrell’s best (Anchorman, Talladega
Nights, Step Brothers) and here’s hoping this gives
him a much needed hit.
46 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

HINDU
GODDESS
The queen of
the box office
travels to India in
this best-selling
adaptation
YOU ARE THE
FATHER
But mom
Jennifer Aniston
doesn’t know
YOU ARE THE FATHER
The Switch
DISTRIBUTOR Miramax Films CAST Jennifer Aniston, Jason
Bateman, Jeff Goldblum DIRECTOR Will Speck, Josh Gordon
SCREENWRITER Allan Loeb PRODUCERS Albert Berger,
Allan Loeb, Bradley Thomas, Ron Yerxa GENRE Comedy
RATING PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexual material including
dialogue, some nudity, drug use and language. RUNNING
TIME TBD RELEASE DATE August 20, 2010
ASHRAM THERAPY
Eat, Pray, Love
DISTRIBUTOR Columbia CAST Julia Roberts, Richard Jenkins, Javier
Bardem, Richard Jenkins, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Viola Davis
DIRECTOR Ryan Murphy SCREENWRITERS Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt
PRODUCER Dede Gardner GENRE Drama RATING R for brief strong
language RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE August 13, 2010
> Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey make this late summer drama a heavyweight
contender. Based on the bestselling memoir (which Oprah flogged in two episodes),
this globetrotting tale about a mid-thirties woman who sets off to find
herself has name recognition and wish fulfillment on its side. And it can’t hurt that
writer-director Ryan Murphy just scored a hit with the FOX show Glee.
WINNING IS HALF THE BATTLE
Lottery Ticket
DISTRIBUTOR Warner Bros. CAST Bow Wow, Ice Cube, Brandon T.
Jackson, Naturi Naughton DIRECTOR Erik White SCREENWRITER Abdul
Williams PRODUCER Matt Alvarez, Mark Burg, Broderick Johnson,
Andrew A. Kosove GENRE Comedy RATING PG-13 for sexual content,
language including a drug reference, some violence and brief
underage drinking RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE August 20, 2010
> The good news is Bow Wow has just won $350 million in the lottery. The bad
news is he’s got to protect his ticket over the Fourth of July weekend—and his
neighbors are primed to seduce and steal to get their share. Cameos from every rapper/actor
on the block including T-Pain and Ice Cube have been designed to give
this comedy a box office boost.
TAKE A TIME OUT
Nanny McPhee
Returns
DISTRIBUTOR Universal Pictures CAST Emma Thompson, Maggie
Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Asa Butterfield, Ralph Fiennes
DIRECTOR Susanna White SCREENWRITER Emma Thompson PRODUCERS
Tim Bevan, Lindsay Doran, Eric Fellner GENRE Comedy/Family/
Fantasy RATING PG for rude humor, some language and mild thematic
elements RUNNING TIME 109 min. RELEASE DATE August 20, 2010
> Britain loves to export its magical nannies, and we like receiving them. 2006’s
Nanny McPhee, written by and starring Emma Thompson, made modest money in
the states and darned fine money abroad. This sequel, set in the countryside during
WWII, has gotten good enough reviews in Europe that it should go down like a
spoonful of sugar.
> This Jennifer Aniston comedy about a woman
whose male best friend (Jason Bateman) secretly
replaces her artificial inseminator’s, um, material,
with his own was once called The Baster. The new
title might be a bunt, but Miramax hopes the delicate
mix of edgy concept and America’s sweetheart
is a crossbreed women want to see.
ALL-YOU-CAN-STEAL
Takers
DISTRIBUTOR Screen Gems CAST Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Hayden
Christensen, Idris Elba, Chris Brown, T.I., Michael Ealy, Steve
Harris, Jay Hernandez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Zoe Saldana,
Johnathon Schaech DIRECTOR John Luessenhop SCREENWRITERS
Peter Allen, Gabriel Casseus, Avery Duff, John Luessenhop
PRODUCER William Packer GENRE Crime/Thriller RATING PG-13 for
intense sequences of violence and action, a sexual situation/
partial nudity and some language. RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE
DATE August 20, 2010
> Michael Ealy, Chris Brown, Paul Walker, Idris
Elba and Hayden Christensen play robbers with
a gift for the flashy score. When cop Matt Dillon
vows to track them down, it’s five against one, and
there’s a lot of firepower. Screen Gems has delayed
this release three times. Will the fourth opening
date be a charm?
CROSS-COUNTRY ROMANCE
Going the Distance
DISTRIBUTOR Warner Bros. CAST Justin Long, Drew Barrymore, Ron
Livingston, Jim Gaffigan, Kelli Gellar, Rob Riggle, Jason Sudeikis
DIRECTOR Nanette Burstein SCREENWRITER Geoff LaTulippe
PRODUCERS Jennifer Gibgot, Garrett Grant, Adam Shankman
GENRE Romance/Comedy RATING R for sexual content including
dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity
RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE August 27, 2010
> If any rom-com this summer will capture (500)
Days of Summer’s sparkle, it’ll be this charmer that
stars real life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin
Long as Chicago sweethearts with the bad luck
to meet just weeks before she moves to California.
Early word is the flick is both authentic and
funny—a recipe for good word of mouth.
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 47

PAGING CARRIE BRADSHAW: YOU’VE BEEN REPLACED
The Imperialists are Still Alive
BOOK IT!
THE SLATE
QUESTIONS? CONTACT US AT INDIE@BOXOFFICE.COM
BOOK IT! >
Little gems that
could pay off at the
box office
“Why can’t we be friends?” asked a
Transformer to this year’s Sundance
darling. In this issue of BOOK IT!, BOX-
OFFICE talks to a quirky theater owner
making that fun introduction. Alongside
boutique indies, he’s installing D-BOX
seats and 3D. That’s the sound of summer
2010: studios and scrappers making
sweet harmony. Read on to find our
picks for the indie hits and undistributed
gems you should book today--and our
tips on how to make sweet music by
reaching their right audience.
In addition to our Internet eavesdropping
through WebWatch, we occasionally
indulge in the old-fashioned
kind. Especially at trade shows. We
recently overheard two seasoned exhibitors
talking about the current state of the
independent filmworld. “How are you
booking independent pictures?” asked
the first. “What independent pictures?”
replied the second.
And there you have it. The independent
film distribution system is broken. The
capital freeze and changing business
models in Hollywood are among the flies
in the ointment, but the fundamental
truth is that millions of moviegoers will
pay to see “small” films on big screens.
Welcome to BOXOFFICE’s modest
proposal to help solve the problem:
BOOK IT!, our guide to the independent
films we think are worthy of your
attention.
IRON MAIDEN
Imperialists’
Élodie Bouchez
is strong and
cool
CAST Élodie Bouchez, Karim Saleh, José María de Tavira DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER Zeina Durra PRODUCER
Vanessa Hope GENRE Comedy RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME 90 min RELEASE DATE TBD
BOOK IT > Vanesa Hope / vwexpress@gmail.com
Steve Ramos says…
> Imagine your favorite episode of Sex and the City: replace Carrie Bradshaw
and Co. with a hip, ethnic cast and the result is first-time feature filmmaker
Zeina Durra’s The Imperialists Are Still Alive!, a witty, stylish tale of Middle
Eastern ex-pat Asya (Élodie Bouchez) working, playing and loving in Manhattan
with her artist friends. French actress Bouchez has been seen in CQ, The
Dreamlife of Angels and a multi-episode arc on TV’s Alias. Like its title (borrowed
from Jean-Luc Godard), the film is filled with stylish ’60s influences.
By setting her Manhattan tale around Middle Eastern ex-pats, Durra makes
great use of the post 9/11 war on terrorism and the impact politics makes on
the lives of these friends, though she stays connected to the comedy. Think
young, fresh, edgy and adventurous, and of course reach out to the Middle
Eastern community.
■
TARNISH ON THE AMERICAN DREAM
California Company Town
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER/PRODUCERS Lee Anne Schmitt GENRE Documentary RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME
76 min RELEASE DATE July 24 NY
BOOK IT > Lee Anne Schmitt / 313 304 4588 / leeanneschmitt@gmail.com
Matt Nestel says…
> California’s boomtowns of yore and their infinite orange groves have undergone a mass exodus—what
remnants remain look and feel like nuclear fallout. Documentarian Lee Anne Schmitt
scouted her shots many moons before she locked and loaded her camera with reels of 16mm stock.
The result is a jarring jaunt through the underbelly of Americana, a study of a failed town that’s
full of austerity and woe. With the country fueling anger towards big businesses that are failing the
nation, frame screenings with an after-doc talk back—consider inviting local professors or journalists
for a publicity boost.
■
PARADISE BELOW
Southern District Zona Sur
CAST Ninón Del Castillo, Pascual Loayza, Nicolás Fernández, Juan Pablo Koria, Mariana Vargas, Viviana Condori DIRECTOR/SCREEN-
WRITER Juan Carlos Valdivia PRODUCER Gabriela Maire GENRE Drama; Spanish- and Aymara-languages, subtitled RATING Unrated RUN-
NING TIME 109 min RELEASE DATE TBD
BOOK IT > Cinenómada / info@zonasurfilm.com / 011 (5912) 211 27 50 / 011 (5912) 278 59 42
Steve Ramos says…
> A sublime tale of societal conflicts and the decline of the upper class unfolds in an exclusive
enclave in writer/director Juan Carlos Valdivia’s jewel-like, Spanish-language drama, Southern
District (Zona Sur). That’s the name of an affluent valley neighborhood of La Paz—and arguably
the last refuge of the country’s blue bloods as they struggle to maintain their plush lifestyle and
stop the rise of Bolivia’s indigenous people, the Aymara. In most cities, the wealthy live above
the working-class people in hilltop neighborhoods, but in La Paz they live below in a spectacular
valley of sprawling, slate-roofed homes. Valdivia and cameraman Paul de Lumen make great use
of their setting via rotating camerawork and choreographed images. What elevates the film is
Valdivia’s quiet storytelling, attention to Bolivian customs and courageous use of silence. Most
tales of the spoiled rich tumble in the tabloid arena of Gossip Girl, but Southern District unfolds
48 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

like the best John Cheever story as adapted by Carl Dreyer. Premiering in
North America at Sundance 2010, Southern District combines artful technique
with a socio-political plot that specialty film fans will find attractive—reel
them in by reaching out to Spanish-language audiences and radio stations
and nearby schools.
■
HONESTY OR INTIMACY
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
DISTRIBUTOR Arthouse Films DIRECTOR Tamra Davis PRODUCERS David Koh, Lilly Bright, Stanley Buchthal,
Alexis Spraic GENRE Documentary RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME 88 min RELEASE DATE July 21 NY
Ray Greene says…
> A fine, visually handsome
biographical documentary
about the brief life—and even
briefer career—of the great 20th
Century graffiti pop artist …
and a film that demonstrates all
the strengths and weaknesses
of what might be called the
“cinema of personal affiliation.”
Directed by Tamra Davis, a filmmaker
and Basquiat associate
who conducted a seemingly
limited but relatively global
interview with the artist (and
Madonna ex) at the height of his
notoriety, Child benefits from
Davis’ close affiliation with her
subject. But would be even better
if she fully appreciated the
distinction between detailed analysis and advocacy. Despite some technical
limitations, Child is a commercial slam-dunk; production costs were presumably
minimal, and Davis’ artful and comprehensive use of archive footage
gives this Child an epic sweep. Expect art aficionados and students, pop culture
junkies and the crowd that assembles around car crashes and celebrity sightings
to give this film notable arthouse traction.
■
INSCRUTABLE INDECENCY
Life During Wartime
DISTRIBUTOR IFC CAST Shirley Henderson, Ciaran Hinds, Allison Janney, Michael Lerner, Ally Sheedy,
Paul Rubens, Paris Hilton, Michael Kenneth Williams DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER Todd Solondz PRODUCERS
Christine K. Walker, Derrick Tseng GENRE Dark Comedy RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME 96 min. RELEASE
DATE July 23 NY
Ed Scheid says...
> In Life During Wartime, writer/director Todd Solondz (Palindromes, Welcome to
the Dollhouse) revisits the deadpan dysfunction of the family from 1998’s Happiness
and invites along characters from his other films. Using different actors
than the earlier works, Solondz and his game cast capture his trademark black
comedy, but the film does not probe as deeply into Happiness’ dark emotions.
Solondz’s name and the eclectic acting ensemble, that ranges from Charlotte
Rampling to Paris Hilton to Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens, should draw an
edgy arthouse audience.
SOMETHING I
SAID?
It’s splitsville
for the unhappy
couple of Wah
Do Dem
Wah Do Dem
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner CAST Sean “Bones” Sullivan,
Norah Jones, Carl Bradshaw PRODUCERS Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner,
Katina Faye Hubbard RATING Unrated RUNNING TIME 76 min RELEASE DATE
June 18 NY/LA
BOOK IT > Daniel C. Murray / 917 226 4107 /
dannymurr@gmail.com
Steve Ramos says...
> Norah Jones receives top billing in the sparkly
lost-in-Jamaica drama, Wah Do Dem (Jamaican Patois
for “what’s wrong with them”) but she only appears
in the independent feature at the start. The spotlight
belongs to Sean “Bones” Sullivan of the rock band
Sam Champion, playing a Brooklyn musician dumped
by his girlfriend prior to a planned Jamaican cruise.
Sullivan’s easygoing performance syncs perfectly with
writers/directors Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner’s
dreamlike storytelling. Max is on a vacation nightmare,
but after another Chace and Fleischner remain
focused on the spiritual side via handheld camerawork,
frequent use of natural light and long passages
of silence. Wah Do Dem kicks off its DIY platform
release in New York and Los Angeles and strong
word of mouth and added publicity over Wah Do
Dem musical acts The Congos and Suckers will help
attract youthful film fans and well as music buffs. Get
it touted on public or college radio by giving away a
couple pairs of tickets.
IF YOU’VE GOTTA SING OUT, SING OUT
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 49

BOOK IT! (continued from page 49)
CLASSIC WEINSTEIN
The Concert
DISTRIBUTOR The Weinstein Company CAST Alexei Guskov, Dmitry Nazarov, François Berléand, Mélanie
Laurent, Miou-Miou, Valeriy Barinov DIRECTOR Radu Mihaileanu SCREENWRITERS Radu Mihaileanu, Alan-
Michel Blanc, Matthew Robbins PRODUCERS Alain Attal GENRE Comedy; French-language, subtitled RAT-
ING Unrated RUNNING TIME 119 min. RELEASE DATE July 23 NY/LA, August 6 Exp.
MON DIEU
Inglourious
Basterds’
Mélanie Laurent
makes music in
The Concert
Wade Major says…
> Just one short decade ago Harvey Weinstein might have shepherded a film
like The Concert to both box office gold and Oscar glory. Its hallmarks are those
on which Miramax—during its glory days when the Weinsteins were still at
the helm—established its reputation: funny, heartfelt, tasteful, unabashedly
European and profoundly humanistic. The story centers on a once-renowned
Russian conductor whose refusal to cow to Soviet-era anti-Semitism destroyed
his career, dooming him to a job as the Bolshoi’s janitor. But when he intercepts
an urgent fax requesting that the Bolshoi step in to replace a cancellation
at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, an unwieldy, impossible scheme to
resurrect his career—and those of his similarly disgraced former colleagues—
begins to take shape. It is, by any stretch of the imagination, preposterous, yet
Mihaileanu’s goal has little to do with the maintenance of verisimilitude—if
anything, this is Kusturica-lite, a gentle parable about forgiveness, redemption
and the persistence of impossible dreams.
■
CINEMA AS CATHARSIS
Lebanon
DISTRIBUTOR Sony Classics CAST Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Zohar Shtrauss
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER Samuel Maoz PRODUCER Uri Sabag, Anat Bikel, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery, David
Silber, Benjamina Mirnik. Ilann Girard GENRE Drama; Hebrew-, Arabic-, French- and English-languages,
subtitled RATING R for disturbing bloody war violence, language including sexual references, and some
nudity RUNNING TIME 93 min. RELEASE DATE August 6 NY
Pam Grady says…
> Like Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir, Samuel Moaz’s Lebanon was made by a
middle-aged man trying to come to terms with his service in the Israeli army
during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. But while Folman dressed his story in animation
and documentary, Moaz focuses on the drama (and trauma) that confront
a quartet of young tank soldiers in the opening hours of the war. After a year on
the festival circuit that included stops at the Venice, Toronto International, New
HYBRID
HOUSE
Silicon Valley’s Camera
7 shelters specialty and
commercial fare
by Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
Jack NyBlom, founder of The Camera Cinemas chain
in Santa Clara County, California, used to drive an
hour north to UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive to
watch repertory screenings. “I’d just started college and
a theater became available and I thought ‘Shoot! This
is a way to see the movies we want!’” NyBlom had his
brainstorm in 1975, decades before “Indie” was a brand,
and well before he ever realized mixing mainstream titles
with boutique films would be the recipe for his success.
NyBlom couldn’t predict that the late ’90s would bring
major corporate chains to his neighborhood. But when
they appeared, his theaters—which had grown beyond
rep titles to specialty and foreign films, too—had to be
flexible to meet the community’s mixed interests and
50 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

BALANCING
ACT
Filmmaker
Alejandro Adams
manages the
Camera 7, which
plays both
specialty and
commercial fare.
In the lobby, the
theater’s third
3D screen waits
to be installed
stay in the competition.
He’d have to satisfy
the traditionally
dueling arthouse and
mainstream audiences
under one roof, which
is like getting the Hatfields
and the McCoys
to play nice—that is,
if the Hatfields paid in
concessions and the
McCoys paid in word
of mouth and brand
loyalty.
Next to Toy Story 3 in
3D, NyBlom’s Camera
7 Theater in Campbell,
California, shows the
Sundance successes Joan
Rivers: A Piece of Work
and Winter’s Bone. Next
door to these, he’s gutted
a theater to outfit it
with D-BOX seats. As he
describes it, his mission
is to “bring a perfect balance”
to the theater.
One key part of his
team is Amy Choice,
who came on as director
of marketing in 2005.
Back then, NyBlom had
four functioning theaters:
a four-house theater
in nearby Los Gatos
for costume drama and
upscale commercial
fare; a three-screener
downtown for specialty
and foreign titles; the
more-mainstream Camera
12, just a block from
the 3; and the Camera
7—the hybrid heart of
the chain.
Choice’s first task was to unite the
brand identity of these locations. “When I
started five years ago, they had a different
logo for each theater,” she says.“I scrapped
that and used the one Camera Cinemas
bug.” Choice also had a hand in organizing
the 7’s extra programming. She launched
Diaper Days, a set screening at which
parents are encouraged to bring their children
to sleep while they watch grown-up
movies, which then spawned Diaper Date
Nights, a biweekly nighttime screening
for couples with small children. Spurred
ADOBE
ORIGINAL
Built as a
theater when
its surrounding
shopping center,
The Pruneyard,
was errected, the
theater’s seen
many changes
since NyBlum
purchased it in
2005
on, Choice now also organizes screenings
of operas and ballets, Midnight Movies, a
membership rewards program called the
Camera Cinemas Club and sing-a-longs.
“We’re not in San Francisco with all their
eclectic communities; we didn’t know how
it was gonna go,” says Chance. So she put
even more energy into making it click with
the community. “I pitched a sing-a-long to
some local press, made keepsake songbooks
and it was a huge success—the grosses were
huge.”
But with all these divergent offerings,
it’s hard to keep the theater from looking
unfocused. Citing brand identity as a group
goal, Choice said, “We needed to have one
identity so people could be loyal.“
“The biggest tension is a fight for
screens,” NyBlom says. “It changes with the
time of year, but if you look at an overall
year, the Camera 7 probably programs half
specialty and half mainstream.”
Adds Camera 7 Manager Alejandro Adams,
“This hybrid identity is hard to maintain.
It’s through sheer force of will—one
wears his indie film cape and smiles and
says, ‘Please excuse the mess of the D-BOX
demo. Winter’s Bone is in theater 3.’”
Adams is a well-known local filmmaker
who’s become savvy in the strategic use of
social media. He’s a smart choice to help advertise
the chain—he’s become a brand himself.
“They’re hiring a brand—this makes us
unique in this business because in addition
to the press release that would announce my
promotion, I would be issuing a release that
says, ‘My films will be available on Netflix in
a few months.’ It’s a filmmaker brand used
to advertise a brick-and-mortar theater.”
And there’s room for other employees
to pitch in. Adams is pushing for staffproduced
viral videos for their pre-show
content and signage, including drawings, by
employees. “We’ll be touching on the stuff
that the corporate theaters don’t care about.”
And their neighborhood perspective has
given them another great brainstorm: inviting
local journalists and critics to program
their own favorite films at the theater—can
you say free publicity?
Camera Cinemas credits its success to
diversity and commitment, which in it’s
own way is a type of consistency. Take their
indie programming. Says NyBlom, “If we
commit to running an artfilm we realize it’s
going to need a few weeks for it to find its
audience.” NyBlom knows how to get the
most out of one film—and he also knows
how to sustain a community, build a film
culture and adopt the latest technology. For
35 years, he’s navigated the indie tides and
the digital explosion by staying flexible and
focused. He might be a hybrid, but he’s no
monster—he’s a box office beauty.
■
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 51

BOOK IT! (continued from page 50)
York and San Francisco International film festivals, this Best Film nominee at
the Israeli Film Academy awards arrives in theaters for a late summer arthouse
release. Intense and claustrophobic, the film’s appeal to fans of personal stories
and antiwar drama, as well as moviegoers interested in the history and politics of
the 1982 campaign, should translate into modest box office success.
■
YOUNG LOVE, AWKWARD LOVE
Flipped
DISTRIBUTOR Warner Bros. CAST Madeleine Carroll, Callan McAuliffe, Anthony Edwards, Aidan Quinn,
Penelope Ann Miller, Rebecca De Mornay, John Mahoney, Morgan Lily DIRECTOR Rob Reiner SCREEN-
WRITERS Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman PRODUCERS Rob Reiner, Alan Greisman GENRE Comedy/Drama
RATING PG for language and some thematic material RUNNING TIME 90 min. RELEASE DATE August 6 ltd.;
August 27, 2010 Exp.
THE LIVING DEAD
Get Low
SO LONG AND
THANKS FOR
ALL THE FISH
Robert Duvall
plans his exit
from the planet
DISTRIBUTOR Sony Pictures Classics CAST Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill
Murray, Lucas Black, Bill Cobb DIRECTOR Aaron Schneider SCREENWRIT-
ERS Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell PRODUCERS Dean Zanuck, David
Gundlach GENRE Drama/Comedy/Mystery RATING PG-13 for some thematic
material and brief violent content RUNNING TIME 102 min. RELEASE
DATE July 30 NY/LA
Pam Grady says…
> Reclusive Robert Duvall is an object of fascination
and wild rumors in his small, Depression era
Southern town, a hermit suspected of extravagantly
evil deeds. In director Aaron Schneider’s
funny, touching debut, as Duvall nears the
end of his life, his decision to set the record
straight with a “living funeral,” roils the town
and old ghosts even as it forces him out of his
self-imposed isolation. A deft blend of drama,
comedy, mystery and a touch of romance, this
self-financed indie received the benediction of
the Sundance Film Festival as one of its “Premieres”
selections, thanks in part to a perfect
cast that includes Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek.
Get Low’s robust characters, dry wit and great
performances will appeal strongly to a mature
audience. Sony Classics’ strategy to release the
film in summer as counter-programming to the
season’s popcorn blockbusters should pay handsome
dividends at the box office.
■
Pete Hammond says…
> Returning the territory he explored in Stand By Me, his landmark 1986 film
about pre-teen adolescence, the Oscar-nominated and much-loved Rob Reiner
scores with one of his finest films in years. A story of awkward first love told
from the dueling points of view of a pair of seemingly mismatched eighth
graders, Flipped is set in the years between 1957 and 1963. With a soundtrack
chock full of golden oldies, this sweet and perceptive film may initially appeal
more to nostalgia-inclined parents than their kids (or grandkids), but it strikes
the right chord to win appreciative audiences on all sides of the age spectrum.
In an unusual move for modern majors, Warner Bros plans to treat this as a
specialty item, platforming in early August before going wide at the end of the
month. Tender loving care is just what this gem needs.
■
THE CALLING CARD OF DIRECTORS’ DREAMS
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
DISTRIBUTOR Anchor Bay CAST Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton DIRECTOR/SCREEN-
WRITER J Blakeson PRODUCER Adrian Sturges GENRE Thriller RATING R for violent content, pervasive language
and some sexuality/nudity RUNNING TIME 98 min. RELEASE DATE August 6 ltd.
Pam Grady says…
> This impressive first feature from writer/director J Blakeson boasts a deceptively
simple plot: two ex-cons kidnap a young woman for ransom. But plot is
only the mechanism that Blakeson uses to explore character and psychology
in this edgy, economical thriller. Dazzling turns by stars Eddie Marsan, Martin
Compston and Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans)—along with unrelenting
suspense and a wealth of black humor—will appeal to an arthouse crowd
tough enough to take its violence.
■
A NEW, GREAT TALENT
Animal Kingdom
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics CAST Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki
Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton, James Frecheville DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER David Michôd PRODUCER Liz
Watts GENRE Drama/Crime RATING R for violence, drug content and pervasive language RUNNING TIME
112 min. RELEASE DATE August 13 NY/LA
Pam Grady says…
> Frying pan or fire? After a Melbourne teenager’s heroin-addicted mother
fatally overdoses, he’s sent to live with his thieving grandmother and uncles in
David Michôd’s explosive directing debut. A complex narrative that combines
52 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

a gangster thriller with a dysfunctional family drama, it’s been gaining
buzz since its Sundance world premiere. More character-driven
than action-packed—and very deliberate—this is aimed at an audience
with an attention span who is willing to be invited into this
violent clan. The rare crime film made more for the arthouse than
the multiplex, with careful handling it should rack up healthy box
office numbers.
■
ON THE HOUR
Cairo Time
GOLDEN HOUR
The gorgeous
romance of Cairo
Time
DISTRIBUTOR IFC Films CAST Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddiq, Tom McCamus DIRECTOR/
SCREENWRITER Rubba Nadda PRODUCERS Daniel Iron, David Collins GENRE Romance RATING
TBD RUNNING TIME 88 min. RELEASE DATE August 6 NY
Steve Ramos says…
> By embracing the gentle spirit of classic Hollywood romances
like An Affair to Remember, filmmaker Ruba Nadda makes a
modern love story sure to please mainstream specialty audiences
interested in a sweet break from more challenging fare. Beautiful
photography of the Cairo cityscape, good use of attractive leads
Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig and a lovely score by Irish
composer Niall Byrne bring added polish to the fast-paced drama.
IFC purchased US rights after its showings at the Toronto International
Film Festival, and it should experience good reviews and
strong response from older arthouse moviegoers.
■
CHRISTIE DIGITAL SYSTEMS
10550 Camden Dr.
Cypress, CA 90630
Craig Sholder
714-236-8610
craig.sholder@christiedigital.com
www.christiedigital.com
Inside front cover
CINEDIGM
55 Madison Ave., Ste. 300
Morristown, NJ 07960
Suzanne Tregenza Moore
973-290-0080
info@accessitx.com
www.cinedigm.com
Back cover
CROSSPOINT
P.O. Box 2128
Mail Drop DY-02
Dalton, GA
Steve Magel / 706-879-4055
steve.magel@shawinc.com
www.crosspointfabrics.com
PG 26
DOLBY LABORATORIES
100 Potrero Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94103
Christie Ventura / 415-558-2200
cah@dolby.com
www.dolby.com
PG 5, 13
D-BOX TECHNOLOGIES
2172 de la Province
Longueuil, QC
J4G 1R7 CANADA
888-442-3269 ext. 225
www.d-box.com
PG 28
DOLPHIN SEATING
313 Remuda St.
Clovis, NM 88101
575-762-6468
www.dolphinseating.com
PG 4
FRANKLIN DESIGNS
208 Industrial Dr.
Ridgeland, MS 39157
601-853-9005
franklindesigns@aol.com
www.franklindesigns.com
PG 1
GOLD MEDAL PRODUCTS
10700 Medallion Dr.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
Stephanie Goodin
513-769-7676
sgoodin@gmpopcorn.com
www.gmpopcorn.com
PG 10
AD INDEX
KERNEL
SEASONS
1958 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Krystal LaReese-Gaul
773-292-4576
info@kernelseasons.com
www.kernelseasons.com
Inside back cover
MAROEVICH, O’SHEA &
COUGHLAN
44 Montgomery St., 17th Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94104
Steve Elkins
800-951-0600
selkins@maroevich.com
www.mocins.com
PG 3
NATIONAL TICKET
COMPANY
P.O. Box 547
Shamokin, PA 17872
Ginger Seidel
ticket@nationalticket.com
www.nationalticket.com
PG 56
PACKAGING
CONCEPTS, INC.
9832 Evergreen Industrial Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63123
John Irace / 314-329-9700
jji@packagingconceptsinc.com
www.packagingconceptsinc.com
PG 35
ODELL’S
8543 White Fir St. #D-1
Reno, NV 89523
Arthur Anderson
775-323-8688
odells@popntop.com
www.popntop.com
PG 7
PROCTOR
COMPANIES
10497 Centennial Rd.
Littleton, CO 80127-4218
Bruce Proctor
303-973-8989
sales@proctorco.com
www.proctorco.com
PG 33
PROMOTION IN MOTION
3 Reuten Dr., P.O. Box 558
Closter, NJ 07624
Felicia Bompane
201-784-5800
mail@promotioninmotion.com
www.promotioninmotion.com
PG 23
Enhance Your Concessions, Lobby & More!
READY THEATRE
SYSTEMS
4 Hartford Blvd.
Hartford, MI 49057
Mary Snyder
865-212-9703x114
sales@rts-solutions.com
www.rts-solutions.com.com
PG 7
SCHULT
INDUSTRIES
900 N.W. Hunter Dr.
Blue Springs, MO 64015
800-783-8998
sales@schult.com
www.schult.com
PG 7
SENSIBLE CINEMA
SOFTWARE
7216 Sutton Pl.
Fairview, TN 37062
Rusty Gordon
615-799-6366
rusty@sensiblecinema.com
www.sensiblecinema.com
PG 56
TEXAS DIGITAL
400 Technology Pkwy.
College Station, TX 77845
Romney Stewart
979-446-0173
www.txdigital.com
PG 53
TRI-STATE THEATRE
SUPPLY CO.
3157 Norbrook Drive
Memphis, Tennessee 38116
800-733-8249
www.tristatetheatre.com
PG 56
VISTA ENTERTAINMENT
SOLUTIONS LTD.
P.O. Box 8279
Symonds Street
Auckland, New Zealand
Meika Kikkert
011-649-357-3600
info@vista.co.nz
www.vista.co.nz
PG 9
WHITE CASTLE
555 West Goodale St.
Columbus, OH 43215
Timothy Carroll
614-559-2453
carrollt@whitecastle.com
www.whitecastle.com
PG 15
Multi-color LED Displays
Digital Concessions
bring your menu to life!
VitalCAST Digital Signage Solution
Digital Concessions via LCD or Plasma Displays
Digital Box Office & Auditorium with POS Interface
Digital Movie Posters for Lobbies & Hallways
Pre-Show Advertising with Reporting Capabilities
CineVIEW LEDs for Box Offi ce, Lobby & Auditorium
Digital Movie Posters
and Auditorium signs
bring life to your lobby
and hallways
VitalCAST interfaces with your
box offi ce and concessions POS for
maximum effi ciency and update speeds
on LCD and LED displays
www.txdigital.com
cinemasales@txdigital.com
800.693.2628
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 53

BOOKING GUIDE
Action = Act Arthouse = Art Documentary = Doc Family = Fam
Adventure = Adv Biography = Bio Drama = Dra Fantasy = Fan
Animated = Ani Comedy = Com Epic = Epic Foreign Language = FL
FILM RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE RT FORMAT
CBS FILMS 310-575-7052
FASTER Wed, 11/24/10 Dwayne Johnson, Salma Hayek George Tillman Jr. NR Act/Dra
BEASTLY Fri, 3/18/11 Neil Patrick Harris, Vanessa Hudgens Daniel Barnz PG-13 Fan/Hor/Rom
DISNEY 818-560-1000 / 212-593-8900
STEP UP 3-D Fri, 8/6/10 Sharni Vinson, Rick Malambri John Chu PG-13 Mus/Dra/Rom Digital 3D/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
TALES from EARTHSEA Fri, 8/13/10 LTD. Mariska Hargitay, Timothy Dalton Goro Miyazaki NR Ani/Adv/Fan 115
YOU AGAIN Fri, 9/24/10 Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver Andy Fickman PG Com Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
SECRETARIAT Fri, 10/8/10 Diane Lane, John Malkovich Randy Wallace PG Dra/Spt Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
TANGLED Wed, 11/24/10 Kristen Chenoweth, Mandy Moore Glen Keane/Dean Wellins NR Ani/Com/Fam/Mus Digital 3D/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
TRON: LEGACY Fri, 12/17/10 Michael Sheen, Jeff Bridges Joseph Kosinski NR 3D/Act/SF Digital 3D/IMAX/Quad
I AM NUMBER FOUR Fri, 2/18/11 Alex Pettyfer, Sharlto Copley D.J Caruso NR SF Quad
MARS NEEDS MOMS! Fri, 3/11/11 Seth Green, Joan Cusack Simon Wells NR Ani/CG Digital 3D/Quad
AFRICAN CATS Fri, 4/22/11 Alastair Fothergill/Keith Scholey NR Doc
FOCUS 818-777-7373
THE AMERICAN Wed, 9/1/10 George Clooney, Violante Placido Anton Corbijn NR Dra/Sus Dolby Dig/DTS/Dolby SRD/Scope
IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY Fri, 9/24/10 EXCL. NY/LA Kier Gilchrist, Emma Roberts Anna Boden/Ryan Fleck PG-13 Dra DTS/Dolby SRD/Flat
SOMEWHERE Wed, 12/22/10 EXCL. NY/LA Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning Sofi a Coppola R Com/Dra 98 DTS/Dolby SRD/Flat
THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH Fri, 2/25/11 Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell Kevin Macdonald PG-13 Dra DTS/Dolby SRD/Scope
JANE EYRE Fri, 3/11/11 LTD. Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender Cary Fukunaga NR Rom/Dra Dolby SRD/Flat
HANNA Fri, 4/8/11 Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan Joe Wright NR Adv/Thr DTS/Dolby SRD/Scope
FOX 310-369-1000 / 212-556-2400
RAMONA AND BEEZUS Fri, 7/23/10 Selena Gomez, Ginnifer Goodwin Elizabeth Allen G Com 104 Scope/Quad
VAMPIRES SUCK Wed, 8/18/10 Ken Jeong, Parker Dash Jason Freidberg/Aaron Seltzer PG-13 Com
MACHETE Fri, 9/3/10 Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro
Robert Rodriguez/Ethan
Maniquis
NR Act/Adv/Cri/Thr
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS Fri, 9/24/10 Shia LaBeouf, Javier Bardem Oliver Stone PG-13 Dra 135 Scope
UNSTOPPABLE Fri, 11/12/10 Denzel Washington, Chris Pine Tony Scott NR Act/Dra/Thr Scope
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS Wed, 11/24/10 Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway Edward Zwick NR Dra Flat
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
Fri, 12/10/2010 Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes Michael Apted NR Adv/Fam/Fan 3D/Scope/Quad
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS Wed, 12/22/10 Emily Blunt, Jason Segel Rob Letterman NR Adv/Com 3D/Scope
MONTE CARLO Fri, 2/11/11 Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester Tom Bezucha NR Rom/Com
BIG MOMMAS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Fri, 2/18/11 Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson John Whitesell NR Com
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID 2: RODRICK RULES Fri, 3/25/11 Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn NR Com
RIO Fri, 4/8/11 Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris Carlos Saldanha NR Ani/CGI 3D
FOX SEARCHLIGHT 310-369-1000
NEVER LET ME GO Fri, 10/1/10 LTD. Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley Mark Romanek R Dra/Thr/SF Scope/Quad
CONVICTION Fri, 10/15/10 LTD. Sam Rockwell, Hillary Swank Tony Goldwyn R Dra/Bio Flat
LIONSGATE 310-449-9200
SEASON OF THE WITCH Fri, 3/19/10 Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman Dominic Sena PG-13 Act/Dra/Hor 98 DTS/Dolby SRD
THE EXPENDABLES Fri, 8/13/10 Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham Sylvester Stallone R Act
THE LAST EXORCISM Fri, 8/27/10 Ashley Bell, Patrick Fabian Daniel Stamm NR Hor/Sus
ALPHA AND OMEGA Fri, 9/17/10 Christina Ricci, Justin Long Ben Gluck/Anthony Bell NR Ani/Adv/Com 3D
BURIED Fri, 9/24/10 LTD. Ryan Reynolds, Samantha Mathis Rodrigo Cortés NR Mys/Thr 95
SAW VII 3-D Fri, 10/22/10 Tanedra Howard, Tobin Bell David Hackl NR Hor/Sus 3D
THE NEXT THREE DAYS Fri, 11/19/10 Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks Paul Haggis NR Cri/Rom/Dra
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED
SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF
Fri, 1/14/11 Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey Tyler Perry NR Dra
TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY Fri, 4/22/11 Tyler Perry Tyler Perry NR Com
MGM/UA 310-449-9200 / 212-708-0300
RED DAWN Wed, 11/24/10 Josh Peck, Chris Hemsworth Dan Bradley NR Act
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS Fri, 1/14/11 Richard Jenkins, Anna Hutchison Drew Goddard NR Com/Fan/Hor 3D
MIRAMAX 323-822-4100 / 917-606-5500
THE SWITCH Fri, 8/20/10 Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman Josh Gordon/Will Speck PG-13 Rom/Com
GNOMEO AND JULIET Fri, 2/11/11 Emily Blunt, James McAvoy Kelly Asbury NR Ani/Fam/Com 3D
OVERTURE 424-204-4000 / 212-905-4200
JACK GOES BOATING Fri, 9/17/10 LTD. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan Philip Seymour Hoffman R Dra 89
LET ME IN Fri, 10/1/10 Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins Matt Reeves NR Hor
PARAMOUNT 323-956-5000 / 212-373-7000
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS Fri, 7/30/10 Steve Carell, Paul Rudd Jay Roach PG-13 Com 114 Flat/Quad
WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” Fri, 9/17/10 LTD. Davis Guggenheim NR Doc 102
JACKASS 3-D Fri, 10/15/10 Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O Jeff Tremaine NR Doc/Act/Com 3D
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 Fri, 10/22/10 Tod Williams NR Hor
MORNING GLORY Fri, 11/12/10 Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford Roger Michell NR Com
THE FIGHTER Fri, 12/10/10 Christian Bale, Amy Adams David O Russell NR Dra SCOPE
TRUE GRIT Sat, 12/25/10 Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges Ethan & Joel Coen NR Dra/Wes
UNTITLED ASHTON KUTCHER/
NATALIE PORTMAN
Fri, 1/7/11 Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman Ivan Reitman NR Rom/Com
RANGO Fri, 3/4/11 Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher Gore Verbinski NR Ani/Act/Adv
FOOTLOOSE Fri, 4/1/11 Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid Craig Brewer NR Com/Dra/Mus
THE CROODS Fri, 3/30/12 Chris Sanders NR Ani/Adv/Com 3D
MEGAMIND Fri, 11/5/10 Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt Tom McGrath NR Ani/Fam 3D
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PICTURES 801-943-1720
STANDING OVATION Fri, 7/16/10 Jeana Zettler, Al Sapienza Stewart Raffi ll PG Mus 108
EXPECTING MARY Fri, 9/10/10 LTD. Elliott Gould, Lainie Kazan Dan Gordon NR Fam 99 Dolby SRD/Scope
SAMUEL GOLDWYN PICTURES 310-860-3100 / 212-367-9435
LEGENDARY Fri, 9/10/10 LTD. Patricia Clarkson, John Cena Mel Damski PG-13 Dra/Spt
SONY 310-244-4000 / 212-833-8500
SALT Fri, 7/23/10 Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber Phillip Noyce PG-13 Act/Sus Dolby Dig
THE OTHER GUYS Fri, 8/6/10 Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg Adam McKay NR Act/Com Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
54 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010

Horror = Hor Live Action = LA Performance = Per Science Fiction = SF Suspense = Sus Urban = Urban
Kids = Kids Martial Arts = MA Political = Poli Stop-Motion Animation = SMAni 3D = 3D War = War
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered = LGBT Mystery = Mys Romance = Rom Sports = Spr Thriller = Thr Western = Wes
FILM RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE RT FORMAT
EAT, PRAY, LOVE Fri, 8/13/10 Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup Ryan Murphy PG-13 Dra Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
TAKERS Fri, 8/27/10 Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen John Luessenhop PG-13 Act/Cri 108 Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE Fri, 9/10/10 Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter Paul W.S. Anderson NR Act/Thr 3D/IMAX
EASY A Fri, 9/17/10 Stanley Tucci, Emma Stone Will Gluck NR Rom/Com Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Fri, 10/1/10 Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake David Fincher NR Dra/Com Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
BURLESQUE Wed, 11/24/10 Cher, Christina Aguilera Steve Antin NR Dra
EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT Fri, 12/17/10 Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd James L. Brooks NR Dra/Com
COUNTRY STRONG Wed, 12/22/10 Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw Shana Deste NR Dra
THE GREEN HORNET Fri, 1/14/11 Seth Rogen, Enzo Cilenti Michel Gondry NR Act/Adv 3D
RESTLESS Fri, 1/28/11 Mia Wasikowska, Schuyler Fisk Fus Van Sant NR Dra
THE ROOMMATE Fri, 2/4/11 Cam Gigandet, Leighton Meester Christian E. Christiansen NR Cri/Mys Scope
JUST GO WITH IT Fri, 2/11/11 Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston Dennis Dugan NR Rom/Com
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES Fri, 3/11/11 Michelle Rodriguez, Aaron Eckhart Jonathan Liebesman NR Act/SF 3D
BEAUTIFUL GIRL Fri, 3/11/11 NR Sus
BORN TO BE A STAR Fri, 4/22/11 Christina Ricci, Stephen Dorff Tom Brady NR Com
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS 212-833-8851
ORLANDO - REISSUE Fri, 7/23/10 EXCL. NY/LA Jimmy Somerville, Tilda Swinton Sally Potter Dra 93 Dolby SRD/Flat/Scope
GET LOW Fri, 7/30/10 EXCL. NY/LA Lucas Black, Bill Murray Aaron Schneider PG-13 Cri/Dra 100 Dolby SRD/Scope
LEBANON Fri, 8/6/10 EXCL. NY Reymond Amsalem, Ashraf Barhom Samuel Maoz R Dra 90 Dolby Dig/Dolby SRD/Flat
ANIMAL KINGDOM Fri, 8/13/10 EXCL. NY/LA Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn David Michod R Cri/Dra 112 Dolby Dig/Scope
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP
aka San qiang pai an jing qi
Fri, 9/3/10 EXCL. NY/LA Honglei Sun, Xiao Shen-Yang Yimou Zhang NR FL/Dra 95 Dolby Dig/Scope
YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER Wed, 9/22/10 EXCL. NY/LA Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin Woody Allen R Rom/Com Dolby Dig
TAMARA DREWE Fri, 10/8/10 EXCL. NY/LA Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans Stephen Frears NR Com 111
MADE IN DAGENHAM Fri, 11/19/10 EXCL. NY/LA Rosamund Pike, Miranda Richardson Nigel Cole NR Dra 113
THE ILLUSIONIST Sat, 12/25/10 EXCL. NY/LA Jean-Claude Donda, Edith Rankin Sylvain Chomet NR Dra/Ani 113
ANOTHER YEAR Wed, 12/29/10 EXCL. NY/LA Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville Mike Leigh NR Com/Dra 129 SCOPE
SUMMIT 310-309-8400
RED Fri, 10/15/10 Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman Robert Schwentke NR Act/Com
DRIVE ANGRY Fri, 2/11/11 Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard Patrick Lussier NR Thr 3D
THE THREE MUSKETEERS Fri, 4/15/11 Christoph Waltz, Logan Lerman Paul W.S. Anderson NR Act/Adv 3D
UNIVERSAL 818-777-1000 / 212-445-3800
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD Fri, 7/30/10 Zac Efron, Kim Basinger Burr Steers PG-13 Dra/Rom Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD Fri, 8/13/10 Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead Edgar Wright PG-13 Act/Adv/Com Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS Fri, 8/20/10 Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal Susanna White PG Com/Fam 109 Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU Fri, 9/17/10 Matt Damon, Emily Blunt Geogre Nolfi NR Rom/SF Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
CATFISH Fri, 9/17/10 LTD. Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman NR Doc 94 Quad
MY SOUL TO TAKE Fri, 10/29/10 Denzel Whitaker, Max Thieriot Wes Craven R Hor/Sus 3D/Quad
LITTLE FOCKERS Wed, 12/22/10 Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller Paul Weitz NR Com
UNTITLED RON HOWARD/VINCE VAUGHN/KEVIN
Fri, 1/14/11
JAMES COMEDY
Vince Vaughn, Kevin James Ron Howard NR Com Quad
KIDS IN AMERICA aka YOUNG AMERICANS Fri, 1/28/11 Topher Grace, Anna Faris Michael Dowse R Dra/Com Quad
NIGHT CHRONICLES: THE DEVIL Fri, 2/11/11 Chris Messina Drew Dowdle/John Erick Dowdle NR Hor/Sus Quad
JAMES CAMERON PRESENTS SANCTUM Fri, 3/4/11 Richard Roxburgh, Alice Parkinson Alister Grierson NR Adv/Dra/Thr 3D
THE DARK FIELDS Fri, 3/18/11 Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro Neil Burger NR Dra/Sus Quad
HOP Fri, 4/1/11 Russell Brand, James Marsden Tim Hill NR CGI/Com
YOUR HIGHNESS Fri, 4/8/11 James Franco, Natalie Portman David Gordon Green R Com/Fan
WARNER BROS. 818-954-6000 / 212-484-8000
INCEPTION Fri, 7/16/10 Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page Christopher Nolan PG-13 Act/SF 142
IMAX/Scope/Quad/Dolby Dig/
DTS/SDDS
CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE Fri, 7/30/10 Chris O’Donnell, Jack McBrayer Brad Peyton PG CGI/Com 100 3D/Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
FLIPPED Fri, 8/6/10 LTD. Penelope Ann Miller, Rebecca De Mornay Rob Reiner PG Rom/Com/Dra 90 Quad/Flat
LOTTERY TICKET Fri, 8/20/10 Ice Cube, Bow Wow Erik White PG-13 Com 105 Scope/Quad/Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
GOING THE DISTANCE Fri, 8/27/10 Drew Barrymore, Justin Long Nanette Burstein R Rom/Com Quad
THE TOWN Fri, 9/17/10 Ben Affl eck, Jon Hamm Ben Affl eck NR Dra/Cri/Rom Quad
LEGEND OF THE GAURDIANS:
THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE
Fri, 9/24/10 Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving Zack Snyder NR Ani/Adv/Fant 3D/IMAX/Scope/Quad
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT Fri, 10/8/10 Katherine Heigl, Josh Lucas Gary Berlanti PG-13 Rom/Com Quad
HEREAFTER Fri, 10/22/10 Matt Damon, Cecile De France Clint Eastwood NR Thr Quad
DUE DATE Fri, 11/5/10 Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Galifi anakis Todd Phillips NR Com 100 Quad
HARRY POTTER 7 Fri, 11/19/10 Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson David Yates NR Adv/Dra/Fan 3D/IMAX/Scope
YOGI BEAR Fri, 12/17/10 Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake Eric Brevig NR Ani 3D/Quad
UNKNOWN WHITE MALE Fri, 1/7/11 Liam Neeson, January Jones Jaume Collet-Serra NR Dra/Thr Quad
THE RITE Fri, 1/28/11 Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue Mikael Håfström NR Dra Quad
BOBBIE SUE Fri, 2/11/11 Cameron Diaz NR Com Quad
HALL PASS Fri, 2/25/11 Owen Wilson, Jason Sudekis Peter & Bobby Farrelly NR Com Quad
SUCKER PUNCH Fri, 3/25/11 Vanessa Hudgens, Amanda Seyfried Zack Snyder NR Act/Fan/Thr 3D/IMAX
RED RIDING HOOD Fri, 4/22/11 Amanda Seyfried, Max Irons Catherine Hardwicke NR Sus Quad
WEINSTEIN CO./DIMENSION 646-862-3400
THE CONCERT aka Le concert Fri, 7/23/10 EXCL. NY/LA Aleksei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent Radu Mihaileanu NR FL/Com/Mus 119
THE TILLMAN STORY Fri, 8/20/10 LTD. Josh Brolin Amir Bar-Lev NR Doc 97
PIRANHA 3-D Fri, 8/20/10 Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O’Connell Alexandre Aja R Hor/Thr Digital 3D
NOWHERE BOY Fri, 10/8/10 Ann-Marie Duff, Aaron Johnson Sam Taylor Wood R Bio/Dra 98 Dolby Dig
THE COMPANY MEN Fri, 10/22/10 EXCL. NY/LA Ben Affl eck, Tommy Lee Jones John Wells NR Dra/Com 109
THE KING’S SPEECH Fri, 11/26/10 LTD Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush Tom Hooper NR His/Dra
BLUE VALENTINE Fri, 12/31/10 LTD Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams Derek Cianfrance NR Rom/Dra 120
SCREAM 4 Fri, 4/15/11 Neve Campbell, David Arquette Wes Craven NR Hor/Sus Dolby Dig/DTS/SDDS
AUGUST 2010 BOXOFFICE 55

CLASSIFIED ADS
DRIVE-IN CONSTRUCTION
DRIVE-IN SCREEN TOWERS since 1945. Selby
Products Inc., P.O. Box 267, Richfield, OH 44286.
Phone: 330-659-6631.
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
ASTER AUDITORIUM SEATING & AUDIO. We offer
the best pricing on good used projection and sound
equipment. Large quantities available. Please visit
our website, www.asterseating.com, or call 1-888-
409-1414.
BOX OFFICE TICKETING AND CONCESSIONS
EQUIPMENT. Stand-alone ticketing or fully integrated
theater ticketing and/or concessions systems are
available. These fully tested, remanufactured Pacer
Theatre Systems have extended full-service contracts
available. Complete ticketing and concessions systems
starting at $2,975. Call Jason: 800-434-3098;
www.sosticketing.com.
WWW.CINEMACONSULTANTSINTERNATIONAL.
COM. New and used projection and sound equipment,
theater seating, drapes, wall panels, FM transmitters,
popcorn poppers, concessions counters, xenon
lamps, booth supplies, cleaning supplies, more.
Call Cinema Consultants and Services International.
Phone: 412-343-3900; fax: 412-343-2992; sales@cinemaconsultantsinternational.com.
CY YOUNG IND. INC. still has the best prices for
replacement seat covers, out-of-order chair covers,
cupholder armrests, patron trays and on-site chair
renovations! Please call for prices and more information.
800-729-2610. cyyounginc@aol.com.
DOLPHIN SEATING At www.dolphinseating.com
Find today’s best available new seating deals 575-
762-6468 Sales Office.
TWO CENTURY PROJECTORS, complete with base,
soundheads, lenses. Pott’s 3-deck platter,like new.
Rebuilt Christie lamp,goes to 150 amps. Model H-30.
603-747-2608.
EQUIPMENT WANTED
OLD MARQUEE LETTERS WANTED Do you have
the old style slotted letters? We buy the whole pile.
Any condition. Plastic, metal, large, small, dirty,
cracked, painted, good or bad. Please call 800-545-
8956 or write mike@pilut.com.
MOVIE POSTERS WANTED: Collector paying TOP $$$
for movie posters, lobby cards, film stills, press books
and memorabilia. All sizes, any condition. Free appraisals!
CASH paid immediately! Ralph DeLuca, 157 Park
Ave., Madison, NJ 07940; phone: 800-392-4050; email:
ralph@ralphdeluca.com; www.ralphdeluca.com.
POSTERS & FILMS WANTED: Cash available for
movie posters and films (trailers, features, cartoons,
etc.). Call Tony 903-790-1930 or email postersandfilms@aol.com.
OLDER STEREO EQUIPMENT AND SPEAKERS,
old microphones, old theater sound systems and old
vacuum tubes. Phone Tim: 616-791-0867.
COLLECTOR WANTS TO BUY: We pay top money
for any 1920-1980 theater equipment. We’ll buy all
theater-related equipment, working or dead. We remove
and pick up anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.
Amplifiers, speakers, horns, drivers, woofers, tubes,
transformers; Western Electric, RCA, Altec, JBL, Jensen,
Simplex & more. We’ll remove installed equipment
if it’s in a closing location. We buy projection
and equipment, too. Call today: 773-339-9035. cinema-tech.com
email ILG821@aol.com.
AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTS LLC is
buying projectors, processors, amplifiers, speakers,
seating, platters. If you are closing, remodeling or have
excess equipment in your warehouse and want to turn
equipment into cash, please call 866-653-2834 or email
aep30@comcast.net. Need to move quickly to close a location
and dismantle equipment? We come to you with
trucks, crew and equipment, no job too small or too large.
Call today for a quotation: 866-653-2834. Vintage equipment
wanted also! Old speakers like Western Electric and
Altec, horns, cabinets, woofers, etc. and any tube audio
equipment, call or email: aep30@comcast.net.
AASA IS ASTER AUDITORIUM SEATING & AUDIO. We
buy and sell good used theater equipment. We provide
dismantling services using our trucks and well-equipped,
professional crew anywhere in the United States. Please
visit our website, www.asterseating.com, or call 1-888-
409-1414.
FOR SALE
First run movie theater. Vibrant Vermont college
town. Vaudeville stage, 3 screens, 298 seats, renovated.
$850,000. 802-999-9077.
FOR SALE Independent owned & operated, eight-screen,
all stadium-seating theater complex located in suburban
Chicago. Completely renovated in 2004. Seating capacity
for 1,774 people within a 48,000-square-foot sqft building
on 5.32 acres. Preliminary site plan approval for expansion
of additional screens. Proximate to national/regional retail
and dining. Strong ticket and concession revenues. Excellent
business or investment opportunity. Contact Kevin
Jonas at 305-631-6303 for details.
FIVE-PLEX, FULLY EQUIPPED AND OPERATIONAL:
$735,000, land, bldg., equip., NW Wisconsin. Priced
$50,000 below appraised value. 715-550-9601.
FIVE-PLEX THEATER FOR SALE in the beautiful Florida
Keys. Business established in 1974 with no competition
within 40 miles. Completely renovated five years ago. Call
Sam: 305-394-0315.
THEATER FOR RENT 1,500 seating capacity. No hanging
balconies. Largest single screen in Chicagoland. Over
500,000 potential patrons, serving NW side of Chicago
and suburbs. Contact dkms72@hotmail.com.
THEATERS FOR SALE Three screens (370 seats), North
Florida. First-run, no competition 60 miles. Additional
large multipurpose room (75 seats), with HD projector on
13.5-by-7-foot screen for birthday parties, conferences,
receptions and café. Contact 850-371-0028.
HELP WANTED
PARTNER AND/OR EXPERIENCED GM NEEDED for
ground floor opportunity in Arizona. New and popular
7’6” Value Series Retracta-Belt ®
$69
+ UPS
Knocked-Down
Shipping saves over 50%
Patent Pending Brake
creates the safest post
Built-in Sign Frame
Adapter
All Parts Easily
Replaceable
Universal Belt Clip
works with most
existing posts
TRI-STATE THEATRE SUPPLY CO.
800.733.8249
www.tristatetheatre.com
“Brew and View” concept in outstanding area. Contact
Stadiumtheatres@aol.com
GREAT ESCAPE THEATRES is a regional motion picture
exhibition company with 24 individual locations that
include 275 screens throughout the Midwestern United
States. Founded in 1997, Great Escape is one of the fastest-growing
movie theater operators in the country. We
are currently seeking a motivated individual to fill our position
as the chief financial officer or vice president of finance
and accounting. Please send resumes to amccart@
alianceent.com.
STORYTELLER THEATRES (TRANS-LUX THEATRES)
have management positions open in Los Lunas, Taos and
Espanola, NM. Prior management experience required.
Salary commensurate with experience. Send resumes to
2209 Miguel Chavez Rd. BLDG A Santa Fe, NM 87505 or
email to info@storytellertheatres.com.
SERVICES
DULL FLAT PICTURE? RESTORE YOUR XENON RE-
FLECTORS! Ultraflat repolishes and recoats xenon reflectors.
Many reflectors available for immediate exchange.
(ORC, Strong, Christie, Xetron, others!) Ultraflat, 20306
Sherman Way, Winnetka, CA 91306; 818-884-0184.
FROM DIRT TO OPENING DAY. 20-plus years of theater
experience with the know-how to get you going. 630-417-
9792.
SEATING
AGGRANDIZE YOUR THEATer, auditorium, church or
school with quality used seating. We carry all makes of
used seats as well as some new seats. Seat parts are also
available. Please visit our website, www.asterseating.
com, or call 888-409-1414.
ALLSTATE SEATING specializes in refurbishing, complete
painting, molded foam, tailor-made seat covers, installations
and removals. Please call for pricing and spare
parts for all types of theater seating. Boston, Mass.; 617-
770-1112; fax: 617-770-1140.
DOLPHIN SEATING At www.dolphinseating.com, find
today’s best available new seating deals: 575-762-6468
Sales Office.
THEATERS WANTED
WE’LL MANAGE YOUR THEATER OR SMALL CHAIN
FOR YOU. Industry veterans and current exhibitors with
40-plus years’ experience. Will manage every aspect of
operations and maximize all profits for you. Call John
LaCaze at 801-532-3300.
WELL-CAPITALIZED, PRIVATELY HELD, TOP 50 THE-
ATER CHAIN is looking to expand via theater acquisitions.
We seek profitable, first-run theater complexes with
6 to 14 screens located anywhere in the USA. Please call
Mike at 320-203-1003 ext.105 or email: acquisitions@uecmovies.com
FOR SALE
3-screen theatre in Marshall,
MO. Owner will carry back
some financing. Contact
Dennis 816-407-7469
56 BOXOFFICE AUGUST 2010