Boxoffice - July 2017

$6.95
JULY 2017
WORLD AT WAR
MATT REEVES BRINGS THE LATEST
APES CHAPTER TO THE SCREEN
CINEMA EATS
AND DRINKS
NAC’S DANIEL BORSCHKE
ON HIGH-END CONCESSIONS
GLOBAL CINEMA
FEDERATION
NATO ANNOUNCES WORLDWIDE
EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION
DINNER AT
THE MOVIES
MOVIE TAVERN STAYS AHEAD
OF THE CINEMA DINING CURVE
SPIDEY GETS
HIS SPIN BACK
HOW THE WRITERS BROUGHT THE
WEB SLINGER TO THE MCU
The Official Magazine of the National Association of Theatre Owners

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FEATURES
2017 VOL. 153 NO. 7
>> A busy week in Barcelona this June gave us
a lot to write about here at Boxoffice.
The biggest story, of course, is the
establishment of the Global Cinema
Federation, an international trade body
representing the interests of exhibitors
worldwide. You’ll get to read the full announcement
in this issue, and be sure to check back in future editions
for continued coverage on the developments
of this historic announcement.
Distribution and exhibition continue to become more intertwined in a
shared global perspective, and this month’s film coverage stresses this
trend. The two films showcased in this issue, War for the Planet of the Apes
and Spider-Man: Homecoming, are two great examples of the contemporary
studio tentpole.
Already in its third installment of the current series, the Apes saga stands
apart as one of the most compelling takes on an established property—
shifting the focus of the beloved series from the humans to a group of
apes who have become some of the best developed characters hitting
multiplexes over the summer. The current Apes series is a reminder of just
how much visual effects have evolved on-screen in recent years; audiences
can enjoy watching primates talk without stretching their suspension of
disbelief any more than usually required.
In the case of Spider-Man: Homecoming, we’re finally getting what
super-hero fans have been asking for over the last decade. Disney and
Sony have joined forces to bring Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic
Universe—a collaboration between the two studios that helps the IP’s
short and long-term narrative and financial prospects. It’s not easy making
these kind of deals happen, but it’s a great sign when they do: two industry
titans setting aside their exclusive rights to their respective brands for the
good of the industry overall. This title is part of a new stage in the current
super-hero era at the box office. With Fox confirming that R-rated titles can
triumph critically and commercially (Deadpool, Logan) and Warner Bros.
proving there’s an engaged interest in more female-driven titles (Wonder
Woman), Spider-Man: Homecoming has the potential to usher in a time of
unprecedented collaboration on established IPs.
As always, feel free to give us your reactions to this issue or any suggestions
for future coverage.
Daniel Loria
Editorial Director
Boxoffice Media
daniel@boxoffice.com
DINNER AT THE MOVIES
Movie Tavern stays ahead of the curve during
a boom in cinema dining
by Rob Rinderman
24
WOMEN IN CINEMA EXHIBITION
Meet three women making their
mark on the industry
40
HOW SPIDEY GOT HIS SPIN BACK
Writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley on
bringing Spider-Man: Homecoming to the MCU
by Shawn Robbins
50
WORLD AT WAR
Director Matt Reeves returns to the Apes franchise,
leading Caesar and company into an all-out war
by Daniel Loria
58
comingsoon synopses of upcoming releases
LADY MACBETH / WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES / WISH UPON / GIRLS TRIP / VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS /
DUNKIRK / ATOMIC BLOND / MENASHE / AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER / BRIGSBY BEAR / THE EMOJI MOVIE /
4 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

egularfeatures
4 HELLO
6 EXHIBITION BRIEFS
BOXOFFICE MEDIA
CEO
Julien Marcel
VP CREATIVE SERVICES
Kenneth James Bacon
VP CONTENT STRATEGY
Daniel Loria
12 TECHNOLOGY
16 WORLD CINEMA
18 CHARITY SPOTLIGHT
20 SECRET WEAPON brought to you by D-BOX
22 CONCESSIONS STAND
30 INDIE FOCUS brought to you by Spotlight Cinema Networks
36 CHINESE MARKET
38 CINEMA SEATING
44 SOCIAL MEDIA
48 EVENT CINEMA
55 LEVERAGING INNOVATION brought to you by Atom Tickets
BOXOFFICE ®
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Daniel Loria
MANAGING EDITOR
Laura Silver
CONTRIBUTORS
Matthew Bakal
Phil Contrino
Alex Edghill
John Fithian
Erica Lopez
Ameesh Paleja
Jonathan Papish
Jerry Pierce
Bruce Proctor
Rob Rinderman
Jesse Rifkin
Shawn Robbins
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Ally Bacon
BOXOFFICEPRO.COM
CHIEF ANALYST
Shawn Robbins
ANALYSTS
Alex Edghill
Jonathan Papish
Jesse Rifkin
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
Diogo Busato
ADVERTISING
56 3D CALENDAR brought to you by RealD
72 EVENT CALENDAR
74 BOOKING GUIDE
80 MARKETPLACE
BOXOFFICE ® (ISSN 0006-8527), Volume 153, Number 7, July 2017. BOXOFFICE ® is published
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JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 5

EXHIBITION BRIEFS
LEADING CINEMA OPERATORS LAUNCH
GLOBAL TRADE BODY
>> The world’s leading cinema operators today
announced the establishment of the Global Cinema
Federation, a worldwide grouping intended to
represent cinema exhibition’s global interests.
Cinema-going today is a global and dynamic
phenomenon, with growing annual box office
returns of $38.6 billion increasingly evenly spread
across the world. With the rapid development
of the industry in Latin America, Africa, and the
Asia-Pacific region, the operators involved recognize
the extent to which the business opportunities
and policy challenges they face—such as film theft,
technology standards, theatrical release practices,
international trade practices, and the highly valued
relationship with partners in film distribution—are
shared by counterparts across territories.
To address these issues and raise the profile
of cinema with global regulatory bodies and industry
partners, 11 leading cinema operators and
the two most internationally active trade bodies
have come together to found the Global Cinema
Federation, a federation of interests intended to
inform, educate, and advocate on behalf of the
sector worldwide.
Welcoming the announcement, Cinépolis CEO
Alejandro Ramirez Magaña, chair of the cross-industry
Global Working Group, which developed
plans for the establishment of the grouping,
commented:
“This is an exciting time for cinemas and their
business partners all around the world as the industry
enters a new era of global collaboration and
ongoing innovation. We decided to establish the
Global Cinema Federation to give our industry a
much stronger global voice in this new landscape
and will in the coming months actively reach out
to leading operators and their trade bodies around
the world to establish an inclusive organization
that is able to speak on behalf of a large share of
the global cinema exhibition community.”
Founding operator members of the group are
AMC, Cinemark, Cineplex, Cinépolis, Cineworld,
CJ-CGV, Event Cinemas, Les Cinemas Gaumont
Pathé, Regal Entertainment Group, Vue International,
and Wanda Cinemas. The founding trade
This is an
exciting time
for cinemas
and their
business
partners all
around the
world as
the industry
enters a new
era of global
collaboration
and ongoing
innovation.
Alejandro Ramirez
Magaña
associations are NATO and UNIC. Between them
these companies and organizations have interests in
more than 90 territories.
While further work continues on the formulation
of policy positions and working procedures
within the group, the founding members organized
an initial gathering—including a wide range of
other leading operators—at last month’s CineEurope.
Similar gatherings with key parties will be
held at CineAsia, CinemaCon, and at further trade
events around the world.
Further details on the Global Cinema
Federation:
The founding members of the Federation will
in the coming weeks work to formalize policy positions
in—and establish the nature of the organization’s
role with regard to—a number of key areas.
The latter might involve education and or advocacy
depending on the nature of the issue.
Members identified the following issues as
possible priorities:
• Movie theft
• Theatrical exclusivity
• Music-rights payments
• Accessibility and related regulations
• Relationship with major studios and the wider
creative community
• Technology and standards
• International trade and foreign investment
Alongside the founding members—who initially
will form the governing body of the organization
—it is anticipated that membership will be extended
to those larger global cinema operators with at least
250 screens, as well as to national cinema exhibition
trade bodies, resulting in an overall group that
speaks on behalf of a significant majority of those
making up the global exhibition sector.
Operators below the 250-screen threshold will
be able to join the initiative in order to remain
informed and support campaigning on key issues.
While the federation is not currently envisaged
as one where members pay subscriptions, all
founding organizations have committed to support
its day-to-day work by contributing the time of
senior executive management. n
6 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

EXHIBITION BRIEFS
B&B THEATRES REMODELS, GROWS
FOOTPRINT
B&B (above) completed six major recliner
remodels in 2016 and now operates
122 recliner auditoriums accounting for
33 percent of their indoor screens. The
most notable remodels include those in
Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa.
The Shawnee, Kansas, remodel is
expected to be complete in July. One
auditorium in the 18-screen Shawnee
location will feature ScreenPlay, B&B’s
newest concept that includes a play
structure, slide, and toddler play area in
the auditorium.
B&B operates the Extreme Screen at
Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.
The renovation there includes the
addition of 400 high-back Irwin leather
rockers. The screen, over 80 feet wide
and 50 feet tall, is one of the largest
screens in the nation. The theater will
continue to play first-run, museum,
and retro titles in conjunction with the
museum’s exhibits and events.
Construction has officially begun for
B&B’s second location in Lee’s Summit,
Missouri, in a new mixed-use lifestyle
center dubbed New Longview. The
seven-screen boutique facility with an Art
Deco theme will feature electric leather
recliners, a full kitchen, and a signature
Marquee Bar and Grille. The theater is
expected to open in the spring of 2018.
After years of planning, B&B has
officially started preliminary groundwork
on their flagship location in Liberty,
Missouri. This theater will feature recliner
seating and massive screens. In fact, each
screen in the new facility will be bigger
than the largest screen in the old facility.
B&B expects a late spring 2018 opening.
Construction will begin this fall for
a new 12-screen and bowling complex
in the District at Prairie Trail in Ankeny,
Iowa. This 12-screen facility will feature
an upscale bowling alley. The theater is
expected to open in the fall of 2018.
Several other remodels are in the
works for 2017, with B&B expecting to
have 50 percent of their screens converted
to recliners by the end of 2018.
SCREENVISION UNVEILS CREATIVE
LAUNCHPAD AT CANNES
Screenvision Media unveiled a new
creative launchpad ad unit at the 2017
Cannes Lions International Festival of
Creativity. The launchpad provides a
platform for the debut of cinema ads.
The new ad unit will have a dedicated
introduction and premium placement
within Screenvision Media’s Front +
Center pre-show.
Brands that use the launchpad
inventory to premiere a media campaign
will be eligible to win $1 million
worth of cinema media in 2018. The
prize, dubbed the Hegarty Award, will
be given to the most creative ad that
debuted in cinema and will be selected
by Screenvision Media’s creative chair
in residence, Sir John Hegarty, along
with a panel of judges. The winner of
the Hegarty Award will be announced
at the 2018 Cannes Lions International
Festival of Creativity.
“The creative industry is becoming
increasingly innovative and story-driven,
but the incredible work being produced
often gets lost, blocked, or skipped
within this fragmented marketplace,”
said John Partilla, CEO of Screenvision
Media. “We want to make sure those
stories have a place to shine, and there is
no questioning the impact that the 40-
foot screen provides.”
Whether ads are created for cinema
or television, all ads are invited to premiere
within the launchpad inventory.
Qualifying ads must run in cinema within
seven days of the campaign debuting.
All creative that runs within the launchpad
inventory from July 2017 until May
2018 will be eligible for review for the
Hegarty Award.
WEISSENBURGER TO HEAD SONY
DIGITAL CINEMA 4K
Sony Professional Solutions Europe
has appointed Damien Weissenburger
to spearhead the company’s expanding
theater solutions business, which serves
cinema chains and independent screen
owners.
Weissenburger assumes his new role as
business head of Sony Digital Cinema 4K
in parallel with current responsibilities as
business head of corporate and education
solutions. Based in the UK, he will
oversee strategic growth plans for the two
separate business entities.
“In this new role I will be building on
David McIntosh’s great work as Sony’s
cinema business moves into its next exciting
phase of growth,” said Weissenburger.
“Maximizing synergies from across Sony,
8 BOXOFFICE ® JUNE 2017

I believe we can develop innovative new
presentation solutions that will shape the
future of cinema exhibition.”
Weissenburger takes over from David
McIntosh, who now heads up Sony’s
sports division, which includes technology
innovator Hawk-Eye and sporting-content
solutions specialist Pulselive
D-BOX NAMES BOLLIER AS LATAM
SALES MANAGER
D-BOX Technologies Inc. has
announced the appointment of Ricardo
Bollier (right) as the new regional sales
manager for the theatrical division in
Latin America.
With over 15 years of experience in
the entertainment industry, multilingual
skills, and a deep understanding of Latin
America markets, Bollier will be responsible
for developing new business opportunities
and maintaining strategic contacts
with their existing partners. This new
hire is part of the company’s plan to play
a bigger role in the theatrical industry in
the coming year.
“We are excited to welcome Mr.
Bollier to the company,” said Claude Mc
Master, president and chief executive officer
of D-BOX. “His experience, strong
connections, and proven ability to work
on an international scale are attributes
that will serve us well as we move
forward into the second half of 2017. I
am very confident that he can help us
build on our presence in Latin America’s
theatrical industry.”
Prior to joining D-BOX, Bollier
worked with some of the biggest companies
in the entertainment industry
including Dolby, 20th Century Fox, and
Warner Bros. He holds a bachelor’s degree
in marketing, advertising, and publicity
from the University of São Paulo and a
post-graduate diploma in business administration
and management.
JUNE 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 9

EXHIBITION BRIEFS
GOLD MEDAL RECOGNIZED WITH
MANNY AWARD
At the 2017 Manny Awards, hosted by
Cincy magazine, Gold Medal was awarded
recognition as a “Best Place to Work.”
Acknowledging excellence in the
manufacturing industry, the Manny
Awards honor local Cincinnati companies
in categories including new product
innovation, best apprenticeship program,
top growth, and best place to work.
The Best Place to Work category is defined
by employee engagement, benefits
structure, employee-recognition programs,
and influence in the community.
President Adam Browning accepted
the award on behalf of the company.
“Gold Medal considers it an honor to
have earned the designation of Best Place
to Work. Our employees are at the heart
of what we do. That’s not just something
we say; we commit to demonstrating it
through our first-rate benefits package,
employee-appreciation activities, and
profit-sharing programs,” he said.
Echoing the sentiment, CEO and
chairman Dan Kroeger said, “This award
stands out because of what it means for
the individuals who make Gold Medal’s
success possible. Day to day, they give
their best efforts and, as a company, we
want to thank them by creating an environment
where employees are valued and
rewarded.”
SCREENVISION PROMOTES
MARMO, STRENGTHENS
CORPORATE TEAM
Screenvision Media has
promoted John Marmo to
vice president, training and
compliance, from director
of digital training
and compliance.
This
promotion
follows
recent
promotions
across
the national ad sales and business operations
departments.
Marmo works on training with exhibitors
at both the theater and corporate
levels to ensure the company’s best
presentation on-screen, while making
sure the exhibitors are satisfied with the
company’s distribution system and processes.
Marmo has been in the industry
since 1976 and part of the Screenvision
Media team for 11 years. Before joining
Screenvision Media, Marmo spent five
years as the manager of projection quality
control and training at Loews Cineplex
Theatres, and prior to that he was
the business agent for projection services
for Northern New Jersey, Local 632
IATSE. He holds a master’s degree from
Rutgers University Graduate School of
Education and is based in New York.
“Exhibitor relations are at the forefront
of our business, and our exhibitor
network is the strongest it’s ever been.
We’re incredibly proud of our team and
the relationships we’ve built with our
wider Screenvision Media family,” said
Darryl Schaffer, EVP operations and
exhibitor relations, Screenvision Media.
“John brings an incredible amount
of experience and knowledge to this
position, and we’re really excited to have
him work closely with our exhibitor
partners and lead the company’s training
and compliance.”
QUBE CINEMA HIRES
WATERSTON AS VP,
OPERATIONS
Qube Cinema Inc. announced
the appointment of
Mark Waterston (left) as vice
president, operations. Waterston
comes to Qube
with over a decade
of experience
in entertainment,
global
operations,
and digital
content
production
and distribution. He most recently served
as vice president, business development,
for LaboDigital and as the general manager
for LaboDigital’s Los Angeles facility.
Prior to that, he worked at Deluxe Digital
Cinema, where he oversaw process improvement
and the implementation of
emerging technologies in the field. He
began his career as an officer in the United
States Navy.
In his new role, Waterston will support
Qube Cinema’s continued growth
strategy.
Rajesh Ramachandran, president
of Qube Cinema, said of the appointment,
“Mark’s past experience in the
entertainment technology domain is
an asset. His connections will help in
delivering on our vision to make digital
cinema distribution highly accessible
for everyone in the cinema production
and distribution domain.”
MOVIO NAMES SWARTLAND HEAD OF
CLIENT SERVICES EMEA
Movio has appointed Gabriel Swartland
head of client services for Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
The announcement was made by Sarah
Lewthwaite, the managing director
and senior vice president of Movio,
EMEA, to whom Swartland will report.
Swartland was most recently director of
communications for UK-based exhibitor
Picturehouse Cinemas, directing marketing
communications strategy for sales
and corporate.
Swartland will be responsible for overseeing
Movio’s existing EMEA cinema client
portfolio, as well as supporting these
accounts with strategic advice and recommendations
related to their membership
and e-communication strategies. He will
also work closely with Lewthwaite to
develop business opportunities with new
cinema clients.
“Gabriel’s demonstrable success
managing the marketing and communications
of the UK’s leading independent
cinema group will be an invaluable
asset to Movio’s ongoing evolution,”
10 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

said Lewthwaite. “He brings enormous
experience and vision to Movio’s leadership
team.”
“I’m thrilled to bring my range of
communications and marketing expertise
to Movio, a company whose innovative
approach to data-based strategies I have
long admired,” said Swartland.
Highlights of Swartland’s award-winning
career at Picturehouse include
a complete redevelopment of their
loyalty program, numerous new cinema
openings including the flagship Picturehouse
Central, shepherding the brand
through its acquisition by Cineworld
Group, and launching the award-winning
distribution arm Picturehouse
Entertainment, whose credits include
20,000 Days on Earth; Branagh Theatre
Live (global distribution), which won
Event Cinema Campaign of the Year
from Screen Awards; Ben Wheatley’s A
Field In England; The Lobster, Theatrical
Campaign of the Year award-winning
campaign in partnership with Element
Pictures; The Imposter, £1m+ BO
BAFTA winner and top-ten highest-grossing
documentaries (UK); and
the global release of the Nick Cave documentary
One More Time with Feeling.
AMC “NOW SERVING” AT MORE THAN
250 LOCATIONS
AMC Theatres has opened its 250th
adult-beverage concept location with the
opening of MacGuffins, AMC’s branded
adult-beverage concept, at AMC Dine-In
Levittown 10 in Levittown, New York.
The newest MacGuffins location represents
multiple milestones, including the
first MacGuffins to open in the state of
New York.
The 250-plus locations now serving
beer, wine, and cocktails, means
more than one-third of all U.S. AMC
locations now offer this option. The rise
in locations has been significant, as the
company offered adult beverages in less
than 10 locations just seven years ago.
“The overwhelmingly positive guest
response and success of MacGuffins has
led to a continued acceleration of our deployment
plans nationwide,” said George
Patterson, senior vice president, food and
beverage, AMC Theatres. “Whether it’s
a glass of wine on a date night, a beer
with the guys, or a ladies’ night out for
one of our AMC Movie Feature Drinks,
MacGuffins is making the experience
more appealing to our guests and is one
of the many ways AMC is driving more
moviegoing frequency.”
This year at AMC’s locations with an
adult-beverage concept, guests who are
at least 21 with an ID can enjoy a drink
inspired by their favorite summer movie.
The current featured drink is The Gauntlet,
with a new drink and Party Ball cup
inspired by Rough Night. n
JUNE 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 11

TECHNOLOGY
BACK TO THE FUTURE
A GLIMPSE INTO THE UPCOMING SMPTE-DCE TRANSITION
by Arts Alliance Media
NATO and SMPTE held a SMPTE-DCP Summit on September 30, 2014,
as part of NATO’s Fall Summit. The result of those meetings and the
NATO Technology Committee meeting that followed was a recommendation
that NATO encourage the transition to SMPTE-DCP. It
seems that the reality to move to a SMPTE-DCP world is finally upon
us, with 2018 as the year of full transition.
There are many who are still unclear as to what it means for transition
from Interop-DCP to SMPTE-DCP, and why the transition is occurring.
In May, Arts Alliance Media published an interview with AAM
CTO Rich Phillips that describes many aspects of the change. That
interview, from the AAM blog post at https://www.artsalliancemedia.
com/blog/a-quick-guide-to-smpte-dcp, appears with permission
below.
The transition is a long time coming, but the careful planning and
testing has meant a better and almost seamless shift. The transition to
SMPTE-DCP will mean a better foundation for the continued performance
of the technical back room of the cinema.
Jerry Pierce
NATO Technology Consultant
The SMPTE what?
It’s the new emerging standard for packaging
and distribution of digital cinema content.
Generally pronounced sump-tee dee cee pee, DCP
stands for digital cinema package, and SMPTE is
the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers—the
organization that sets technical standards
for the television and cinema industries.
But we already have DCPs. Are they not SMPTE
DCPs?
No. They follow a slightly different packaging
format and are more properly referred to as “Interop
DCPs.”
Interop is not a standard but rather a packaging
format that was agreed between some of the early
manufacturers of digital cinema equipment to try
to ensure that content was interoperable between
all of their systems.
The SMPTE DCP is based upon the Interop
DCP but with some further enhancements, and
the specification is published as a formal standard
by SMPTE.
What we have now seems to be working OK.
Why should we care about standards?
Standards give manufacturers of equipment and
software detailed instructions they can use to make
sure that their products are built to a common
specification—helping to eliminate problems with
interoperability.
They are drawn up by committees of experts
after lots of consideration and debate, which helps
to ensure that all the requirements are considered
and nothing is left out.
The SMPTE DCP specification includes some
very useful features that are not supported in the
Interop DCP.
Like what?
Like support for 3D subtitles.
The interop DCP format cannot carry soft 3D
subtitles. Instead they have to be rendered into the
image track of the film, which means that every
subtitled language version has to be mastered
and distributed individually rather than sending
a single picture bed and just overlaying different
language subtitle text at playback, like we do for
2D subtitles. This is very costly
On the subject of subtitles, the SMPTE DCP
also supports encrypted subtitles. An Interop DCP
can have encrypted picture and audio but not subtitles.
This can be a risk particularly for distribution
of previews of much anticipated blockbuster titles
where the distributor wants to keep the details
about the plot secret.
So it’s all about helping the distributor?
Not at all. There are features that will benefit
the exhibitor too.
For a start the SMPTE DCP supports “Auxiliary
Data”—that’s the ability to include additional
data in the DCP other than the picture, sound,
and subtitles.
For example, Dolby uses this facility to transport
Atmos soundtracks within the DCP—this
data is then passed on to the audio processor from
12 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

TECHNOLOGY
Standards give
manufacturers of
equipment and
software detailed
instructions they
can use to make
sure that their
products are built
to a common
specification—
helping to
eliminate
problems with
interoperability.
the playback server for onward processing and
playback. The same mechanism can also carry
other payloads, such as the data necessary to drive
moving seats or lighting-effect systems, and synchronize
them with the playback of the film. This
feature is ready to support innovations that the
industry hasn’t thought of yet.
But I don’t have Atmos so I don’t need this.
There’s more.
SMPTE DCP also supports “markers”—these
are points in time within the composition representing
places where exhibitors might want
other things to happen. For example, attaching an
automation cue to bring up the houselights when
the credit roll starts.
Currently this has to be programmed manually.
With markers it will be possible to program theater
management systems to insert these cues completely
automatically, reducing effort, eliminating the
possibility of human error, and working toward
total automation.
Anything else?
Yes. The SMPTE DCP also supports something
called “Extended CPL Metadata.”
This is the ability to carry more information
about the content than is possible at the moment,
such as the name of the distributor, the audio format
(5.1/7.1/Atmos etc.), the aspect ratio, the light
level at which it was mastered.
Right now with the Interop DCP the only
way to carry this data is in the title of the content,
following the “DCP naming convention,” which
is a big pain. It makes the content items difficult
to identify on playback systems and limits the
number of characters that can be used to express
the title of the content itself.
Once extended CPL metadata is adopted everything
will be much easier. It will be much easier to
search for and identify content, and to distinguish
between different versions. More importantly it
will allow cinema software developers to build
more powerful automation into their products—
using metadata to identify the right version of a
piece of content and program it in the auditorium
with the matching specifications (e.g., sending the
7.1 version to the auditoria with the 7.1 audio
systems and the 5.1 version elsewhere).
Automation = fewer mistakes = better presentation
= happier customers.
Sounds good. But I don’t want to spend more
money upgrading my systems.
You shouldn’t have to.
Almost all digital cinema equipment is capable
of interpreting and playing back SMPTE DCPs,
as long as it is running the manufacturer’s latest
recommended software versions, with one or two
gotchas to be aware of.
Like what?
“Series 1” DLP cinema projectors are not capable
of rendering 3D subtitles.
However, many playback servers are. So it will
probably be possible to configure your system to
render subtitles on the playback server instead. Your
friendly cinema integrator should be able to advise.
Or move the older equipment to 2D only auditoria.
When will this change happen?
Some SMPTE DCPs are already being distributed.
Dolby Atmos, for example, is only supported by
the SMPTE DCP format.
However, not all of the features of the SMPTE
DCP are in common use yet.
Manufacturers, content service providers, integrators,
distributors, key exhibitors, and industry
bodies including the ISDCF, EDCF, and UNIC
are hard at work running tests and helping to
work out how to make this transition as painless
as possible. There is likely to be an extended
overlap period when some content is still Interop
and some is SMPTE. Making sure that systems
can handle the mixture of content types is key to
a smooth transition.
Is it worth it?
Absolutely.
The SMPTE DCP provides a great foundation
for further innovation, automation, cost savings, and
presentation quality. And it is a proper standard. n
14 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

WORLD CINEMA
INDIA’S DANGAL DOES MASSIVE
BUSINESS IN CHINA
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE GLOBAL CINEMA INDUSTRY?
by Phil Contrino, Data and Research Manager, NATO
As our industry continues to become
global in nature, there are bound to
be more success stories like the one
that is currently playing out with Dangal,
an inspirational film from India
about a man who trains his daughters
to become medal-winning wrestlers.
>> Dangal is only the fifth non-Hollywood
release to earn more than $300
million worldwide. (The other titles to hit
that plateau are The Mermaid and Monster
Hunt from China, The Intouchables from
France, and Your Name from Japan.) The
surprising part is that Dangal achieved its
record-setting success thanks to an expectation-defying
run in China, where it has
grossed more than $170 million.
Dangal is a huge word-of-mouth success
in the Middle Kingdom: the inspirational
flick took in only $2.1 million on
its first day, which means it has delivered
a record-setting 85-times multiple on
its debut. To put that into perspective,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened on
the same day as Dangal to mostly positive
audience feedback and it posted a $14.1
million opening day gross en route to a
$95 million cume—or roughly six times
its opening.
In China, websites such as Douban and
Mtime, as well as the widely used messaging
app WeChat, allow moviegoers to rate
and discuss films. The opinions expressed
quickly determine how well a title will
perform at the box office. The impact of
professional film critics in China is miniscule
when compared to the conversations
that take place on these various platforms.
“People who watched Dangal kept
spreading positive comments in the
WeChat community and other social
media platforms,” says Zhao Li, North
America consultant for EntGroup. “That
mostly explains why this movie had an
even higher second-week box office than
first week.”
Thanks to its staggering momentum,
Dangal’s theatrical run in China was
extended from the standard 30 days to
60 days—an exception to the government-mandated
run that doesn’t happen
very often with films that aren’t from
China. Even though China has more
screens than North America, competition
for what plays theatrically remains intense.
Films that don’t perform well right away
are often quickly pushed out of theaters to
make way for new entries.
Dangal star Aamir Khan has been
building up a following in China since
the release of his 2009 comedy 3 Idiots, a
film that unfortunately owes the bulk of
its popularity in China to rampant piracy.
In 2015, Khan’s P.K. earned $19 million
in China—a big breakthrough in its own
right considering that most Indian films
16 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

up to that point had a hard time hitting
even $2 million in the territory. Other
major Indian stars such as Shah Rukh
Khan have failed to achieve the same level
of success as Aamir Khan.
So why did Dangal connect with Chinese
audiences in such a visceral way? The
answer may not be very complicated.
“Everyone loves an underdog story,
and that’s been proven innumerable times
throughout the history of cinema the
world over,” says Nitin Tej Ahuja, publisher
of Box Office India.
“But Dangal is not just about David
overcoming Goliath,” adds Ahuja. “Many
of the film’s themes—the tussle between
tradition and modernity, the place of
women in conservative society, and the
changing dynamic between parents and
children over time—also resonate across
national boundaries. That identification is
even more pronounced in a nation such
as China that, like India, is an ancient,
conservative culture grappling with the
changes brought about by recent globalization
and massive economic growth.”
With its strong female characters,
Dangal ’s success is born out of the same
audience desire that’s currently pushing
Wonder Woman to a massive global tally.
(As of this writing, Wonder Woman has
earned just shy of $80 million in China.)
Female moviegoers of all nationalities
are sending a loud and clear message to
content creators.
Dangal has also caught the attention of
political leaders. According to news reports
in the Indian media, Chinese president Xi
Jinping told Indian prime minister Narendra
Modi at a summit in Kazakhstan that
he “loved” Dangal, and that he wanted to
see more movies like it released in China.
(Quick trivia: Xi also went on record to
praise Saving Private Ryan.)
With China’s quota of 34 foreign films
allowed per year currently being renegotiated,
Dangal’s success couldn’t have come
at a better time. It makes a strong case that
Chinese moviegoers are very interested in
cinema from around the world, and that
Hollywood isn’t the only foreign player
that can truly prosper as the market continues
to grow.
An increase in the quota is not the
only way for more foreign films to enter
China. Flat-fee distribution deals—in
which content owners can get around the
quota system by selling rights to Chinese
companies—are becoming more lucrative
thanks to higher sale prices and new
deal structuring that allows for revenue
sharing after a title hits a certain plateau
at the box office.
More films from around the world
flooding into China will help the market
to achieve the lofty goal of surpassing
North America at the box office. From a
global perspective, the entire exhibition
industry benefits when a film like Dangal
surprises and helps to grow a surging territory.
Dangal’s story is a major validation of
the power of the theatrical experience. n
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 17

CHARITY SPOTLIGHT
Compiled by Erica Lopez, Executive Director, Variety – The Children’s Charity of the United States
PAST EVENTS
THE MOTION PICTURE CLUB:
24TH ANNUAL MAX FRIED
GOLF OUTING
The Motion Picture Club held its
24th annual Max Fried golf outing
on June 8, at Engineers’ Country Club in Roslyn Harbor,
New York. This year’s honoree was Bob Lenihan, president of
programming at AMC Entertainment, with proceeds benefiting
The Motion Picture Club, Variety–the Children’s Charity of New
York, and Will Rogers Motion Picture Club Foundation.
Kyle Davies (Paramount), Steve Bunnell (Regal Cinemas),
and Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics)
Golf flight winners Tony Null (AMC), Steve Felperin (Theatre Service Network),
Shaun Barber (Lionsgate), and Dominic Baltazar (Lionsgate)
Greg Skurow (Disney), Doug Whitford (Southern Theatres),
Kip Smiley (Comprehensive Film Buying), and Chris Aronson (Fox)
PHOTOS: ALISON MATHEIS, DISNEY
Karel Hooper (Screenvision), Tracey Boyce, Kerry Maloney,
and Gabi Mizrahi, Variety – the Children’s Charity of New York
L to R: Dr. Barry Leshman, Dr. Jeffrey Kovan, Dr. Eric Kovan, and Dr. Bruce Benderoff
VARIETY OF DETROIT:
VARIETY KOVAN GOLF CLASSIC
Variety of Detroit hosted the annual
Variety Kovan Golf Classic on Monday,
June 12, 2017, at Birmingham Country
Club in Birmingham, Michigan.
The successful outing, with presenting
sponsor Team Rehabilitation, included
more than 80 sponsors and 222 golfers
who enjoyed a beautiful day to support
Variety’s mission. The outing, chaired
by Dr. Eric Kovan, included a fabulous
strolling dinner and both live and silent
auctions, which raised $150,000.
18 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

UPCOMING EVENTS
VARIETY OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA’S 7TH ANNUAL
CHARITY POKER AND CASINO
NIGHT
Wednesday July 26, 6 to 10 p.m.
Paramount Studios in Los Angeles
bit.ly/2s6QOAJ
Variety of Southern California is going
“all in” for kids! More than 400 studio
and exhibition executives, corporate
partners, and industry
colleagues will enjoy great
food and Vegas-style game
play while celebrities walk
the red carpet and help
Jamie Gold, World Series of Poker main event champion, to
host the 7th Annual Variety Charity Poker and Caasino Night
fund-raiser
raise awareness and attention for Variety.
Variety SoCal’s Poker Nights have raised
over $850,000, providing lifesaving
support for disabled, abused, physically
challenged, and underprivileged children
in Southern California.
VARIETY OF WISCONSIN’S
BEN MARCUS MEMORIAL VARIETY
GOLF CLASSIC
Monday, July 17
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
bit.ly/2s6ACzm
Join us for the 40th Ben Marcus
Memorial Variety Golf Classic! Proceeds
benefit children with physical disabilities.
VARIETY OF NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA’S GOLD HEART
CLASSIC
Friday, September 15, 7 a.m. start
Peacock Gap Golf Club in San Rafael, CA
ayesha@varietync.org / 415-781-3894
The Variety Gold Heart Classic is an
annual golf tournament, luncheon,
and charity auction to benefit Variety
– the Children’s Charity of Northern
California’s Freedom Program, providing
independence and mobility to disabled
and disadvantaged children. This is a
fun no-experience-necessary event that
encourages everyone to play a round for
Variety kids.
GET IN TOUCH WITH US TO ADD AN EVENT TO OUR MONTHLY LISTING: NUMBERS@BOXOFFICE.COM
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 19

SECRET WEAPON
b r o u g h t t o y o u b y
THOMAS RÜTTGERS
Managing Director
Weltspiegel Kino Mettmann
In this monthly column, we profile executives who play key roles in making the moviegoing experience
so memorable. In this issue we speak to Thomas Rüttgers, managing director of Weltspiegel
Kino Mettmann, a historic German cinema that dates back more than 100 years. Rüttgers
has had a long, varied career in exhibition that has focused on bringing the latest technology
to cinemas across Europe, including recent stints as a cinema owner in Bulgaria and Germany.
Like many people in this industry,
you have a long family history in
exhibition—though you didn’t start as
a cinema owner at first.
My family started working in the cinema
in the early ’60s. My grand-uncle was an
architect; he built all the nice palace theaters
in that decade. My father started business
in the ’60s for system integration: projection,
sound equipment, and so on. In 1987
I joined my father and worked on bringing
projection and sound to all the multiples
in the ’90s. I’m from Germany so we were
originally focused on that market. In 2000,
when the European market was opened,
we started expanding to Russia and central
and southern Europe. By 2010 I had around
16 companies across the continent with at
least 50 percent market share in all these
territories for projection and sound equipment.
Around that point I decided to sell the
company, Dcinex, and had to find something
new to do. I started with consulting. I set up
the ICTA in Europe and began to look at new
seating options.
Innovation and new technology is very
much at the heart of your own career.
What was your first impression of
immersive seating technology?
I first heard of D-BOX in 2009. I was at
the TCL Chinese Theatre and became very
impressed by 4D. It was something I knew
I had to bring to Europe. We did the first
installations in Europe in 2009, in Austria,
Germany, and the Netherlands—but I have
to admit that I was too early. We were still
in the middle of the digital conversion. We
were just beginning to talk about 3D and
here I was talking about 4D. I love cinema
and am always committed to finding the
next innovation required to keep cinema
well positioned. After leaving Dcinex, I’ve
used the time to promote D-BOX in Europe,
especially Germany, since 2014. We currently
have 85 screens in Germany equipped with
D-BOX and we’re looking to have 100 by
the end of the year. I have a passion for this
technology, and I am happy to pass it to
more exhibitors.
How did these experiences with cinema
technology lead you to become an
exhibitor yourself?
My other passion is as an exhibitor.
Two years ago I started my first exhibition
experience in Bulgaria. I took a four-plex in
Plovdev, the second-biggest city in Bulgaria,
a location that did about 20,000 admissions
per year. We refurbished it completely,
including D-BOX technology, and within a
year we tripled the admission rate to more
than 60,000 admissions. D-BOX helped us
differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
It was further proof for me to see that if you
invest in the right technology, it will have an
impact on your business. Earlier this year I
sold my shares in the Bulgarian cinema—it
was just too far away for me, but it was a
great investment and a great experience.
Last year I took over one of the oldest
cinemas in Germany. The theater was
opened in 1907, so this is its 110th year. I
took over last year, but the last refurbishment
had taken place over 40 years ago—in the
1970s. We had three screens, about 450
seats, and about 30,000 admissions per year.
I had to take out everything, put in stadium
seating, put in recliner D-BOX seats, Dolby
Atmos sound—and opened just in time for
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story last year. Now,
six months into the year, I can tell you that
we’ve doubled admissions; we are already at
60,000 admissions. We increased the ticket
price from €8 to €9.70. Mettmann is a small
city with a population of about 40,000, but
it’s close to larger cities like Dusseldorf, Essen,
and Wuppertal, and now people are coming
from these big cities to my small-town
cinema. It’s a historic cinema with the latest
cinema technology.
You mentioned pricing, which can be
a drawback to some consumers who
might not be familiar with the new
technology. How do you make sure that
the price increases don’t drive away
your patrons?
We haven’t seen any complaints about
the price on our Facebook page. We keep
our concessions prices reasonable; I sell popcorn
for €3, the same price we charge for a
half-liter-sized soda. Yes, you need the latest
technology—but it’s also important to have
reasonable prices in other aspects, such as
concessions. If you are too expensive overall,
then people won’t come.
With so much talk of innovation, what
do you believe is the future of cinema?
One of the dangers of operating a big
complex is having it be too impersonal,
almost like a supermarket. You need to have
heart in your cinema, someone to be there
to greet you and answer your questions.
That’s why I think the traditional houses—
three screens, five screens—I think we are
going to see more of them in the coming
years. Instead of seeing an eight-plex with
3,000 seats, I think we’ll see eight-plexes
with 1,000 seats. Recliners allow you to price
differently, to give the consumer better
attention, even if it’s at a lower capacity. n
20 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

THE BEST RETURN
ON YOUR INVESTMENT
HAPPENS WHEN YOUR
CUSTOMERS KEEP
RETURNING.
And we have the numbers to prove it.
Add the power of D-BOX to your existing
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way to boost box office sales.
1-888-442-3269 theatrical@d-box.com d-box.com

CONCESSIONS STAND
NAC ON CINEMA
EATS & DRINKS
INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL C. BORSCHKE,
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF CONCESSIONAIRES
by Daniel Loria
What are some of the panels or events
you’re looking forward to most at the
2017 NAC EXPO?
Every year we are told by our members
that they would appreciate more
networking time, but of course they also
encourage the EXPO planners to provide
the most topical and relevant information
possible. 2017 is no different—the battle
between networking opportunities and
educational sessions continues.
Because legislation and regulation are
always vital for our exhibitor members,
we are planning a review of what is happening
in Washington and in states and
municipalities. Our annual Government
Relations Update will include Belinda
Judson and Esther Baruh from NATO,
Eric Dell from NAMA (vending), Dan
Shorts from NCA (confectioners), Rebecca
Butler from Coca-Cola, and Joel Rice
from the law firm of Fisher Phillips.
We will also be highlighting three
memorable speakers: Our keynote speaker
is Derreck Kayongo (“From Homeless
Refugee to Living the American
Dream”), who fled a civil war in Uganda
as a child and has been designated as a
CNN Hero for his entrepreneurial and
philanthropic efforts, which include remanufacturing
used hotel soap and providing
it to third world countries. Randy
Dean will be holding our hands as he
teaches us how to battle information
overload, and June Jo Lee will present
her take on millennial and Generation
Z food preferences within an American
food and hospitality renaissance.
And to emphasize the fact that we
should always look toward the future, a
session entitled “Teaching the Next Generation
of Concessionaires” will feature
Radesh Palakurthi from the University of
Memphis and Michael Chang of Florida
International University. NAC director
of education Larry Etter, CCM, will
facilitate a conversation about how we are
investing in improving the concessions
industry one person at a time.
There has been a lot of interest in
alcohol service from the theatrical
exhibition community, a topic you
addressed at the NAC panel at
CinemaCon this year. Would you say
this is a trend on the rise or have you
begun to see it stabilize?
Because we see spectacular potential
despite continuous growth in the
acceptance of alcohol in the movie
theater setting, we will be presenting
a Wednesday Summer Afternoon Beer
Seminar. Our members are telling us
that craft beers are all the rage, and we
will discuss how beer and food pairings
can be an incremental moneymaker for
the exhibitor. Both New Belgium and
Sierra Nevada will provide samples of
some of their brands as Patrick Micalizzi
from National Amusements, C.T. Nice
from Legends Hospitality, and Tony
Hendryx from Spectra Food Services
will share success stories and a challenge
or two on what it takes to serve
beer (alcohol) in entertainment and
sports venues. We will also have food
samplings that may give credence to the
fact that beer and snacks can assist in
improving your per cap.
There seems to be a move by
consumers to favor higher-end fare at
the concessions stand. It’s a shift that
simultaneously favors local offerings
and more specialized international
fare—nachos are no longer the most
exotic option at a venue. Do you
believe cinemas have applied these
concepts correctly in their expanded
and cinema-dining menus?
I don’t know if I would use the term
high-end. It would be more apt to say
that consumers are demanding higher
quality and a greater variety of foods and
beverages everywhere, and that includes
cinemas. If concessionaires are going to
22 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

charge a competitive price it behooves
us to make sure that what we sell is of
the highest quality available. Yes, we are
definitely seeing millennials change what
is expected at the concessions stand, but
we all must be very careful in thinking
that just because people say they want
“healthier products” or vegetarian, GMO,
or gluten-free items that it will be reflected
in purchases.
Not all markets and not all exhibitors
can profit off the new food trends that we
are now experiencing. Dine-in
theaters are not for everyone,
and we need to recognize that.
We also need to recognize that
popcorn and soft drinks are still
a major moneymaker for most
of our members, and though
we are seeing an expansion of
offerings, there are always added
costs to expanding those menus.
Higher-quality fare, however,
can lead to high-end prices.
What is your take on the more
price-conscious approach that
we have begun to see pop up
in several venues, one with
a low price ceiling that can
appeal to a wider range of
consumers?
Concessionaires are always
cognizant of price points, and
the more successful food and
beverage purveyors know that
they can certainly play both
ends against the middle. We see
many theaters offering discount
Tuesdays and combo meals and summer
morning or afternoon packages while
maintaining, if not expanding, their
higher-quality efforts on the busy weekend
and evening offerings. Bottom line
is that a concessionaire must know their
audience and how far they can extend the
price point and when it is important to
be more flexible with your margins.
Technology is as vital a part of the
concessions industry as it is for
exhibition. Have there been any new
product launches that have caught
your eye lately?
What is so exciting is the synchronization
of apps with POS systems and
signage or menu boards. It is mind-boggling
to see what is now available in
order-entry and delivery technology.
Stadiums and arenas are offering preordering
of food and beverage via apps or
in-stadium ordering via your phone with
almost instantaneous delivery of hot food
and cold beverages—eliminating the long
lines. Theaters are moving in the same
direction now that many operations are
once again offering reserved seating. We
all know that the longer people wait in
line the less likely they are going to be
happy and less likely to spend. These new
systems offer easy access to the menu, and
credit card purchasing always equates to
more purchases. Tie these new systems
to your reward programs and you have a
customer for life.
What are some of the latest trends
or lessons from the concessions
business at large that you believe
could be valuable for the exhibition
community?
Our members, be it the cinema or
universities or sports or entertainment
venues—they are all in the hospitality
business and certainly can learn from
each other. Thus our Annual EXPO
brings together operators and suppliers,
all facets of the industry, to discuss and
hopefully solve mutual issues
and concerns.
We are seeing some specialization
when it comes to
sporting venues. Stand-alone
pizza, alcohol, upscale beverages,
and ethnic or specialized
foods are all being situated and
marketed without a cafeteria or
multiproduct delivery element.
Depending on the market,
these stand-alone stations can
move the customers through
the line so much faster than
a multi-offerings approach.
But again, it doesn’t work for
everyone. The lines need to be
shorter because the negative
side of this equation is instead
of standing in one line, you are
now forcing your customers to
stand in many lines.
Craft beer acceptability
is phenomenal. You are now
seeing on-draft or bottled
beers in such variety that it is
becoming harder and harder to
decide. Some venues now have 50, 60,
or even more varieties to choose from.
It is almost like a kid in a toy store with
a gift certificate—this can possibly take
awhile.
These are exciting times in the
concessions and hospitality industry.
Companies and customers are willing
to experiment. Not all of these offerings
are going to succeed, but it sure is fun
determining what will be the next best
nacho or candy bar. n
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 23

CINEMA EATERIES
DINNER
AT THE
MOVIES
MOVIE TAVERN STAYS AHEAD OF
THE CURVE DURING A BOOM IN
CINEMA DINING
BY ROB RINDERMAN
24 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

ROASTED ARTICHOKE, SAUSAGE,
AND ARUGULA PIZZA
FRESH OVEN-ROASTED ARTICHOKES
SEASONED IN OLIVE OIL, SPRINKLED ONTO
A BED OF MOZZARELLA AND PROVOLONE
CHEESE, AND SERVED WITH INSERNIO’S
SAUSAGE AND GARDEN ARUGULA
>> As a provider of premium in-theater dining
experiences at affordable prices, Movie Tavern
understandably has a wide and growing appeal
across multiple demographics and regions. Its
next location will be the chain’s 23rd and will
push the circuit across the 200-screen threshold.
The chain is expected to finish the year with a
total of 214 screens across a 10-state footprint.
“We’re going to be opportunistic about new
locations,” says Movie Tavern parent company
CEO John Caparella, who was appointed by
VSS-Southern Theatres, LLC, earlier this year to
succeed founder George Solomon. “We are not
likely to be in a city but are keen on suburban
locations that are underserved in the diningcinema
market.”
Caparella’s strong and diverse hospitality-sector
background made him an ideal candidate for
VSS (Veronis Suhler Stevenson). Southern’s
private-equity-firm owner hired an executive
recruiter to search for the company’s new
chief executive, and Caparella was identified
as someone uniquely qualified to join the
organization’s C-suite.
“As a trained hotelier [Gaylord Entertainment,
ITT Sheraton, and Las Vegas Sands] I have a very
hospitality-minded background, with guest
services being paramount in that industry. I also
have food and beverage, ticketing, and events
experience as well. Madison Square Garden
[where he served as EVP of operations prior to
joining the Southern team], of course, put all of
the above on steroids.”
(continued on next page)
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 25

CINEMA EATERIES
PREMIER FULL SERVICE LOCATIONS
FEATURE FULL IN-THEATER FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICE
AHI SALAD
MOVIE TAVERN CEO JOHN
CAPARELLA
DEPLOYING RESOURCES
As CEO, Caparella is in charge of directing
how Movie Tavern applies its corporate resources
and assets, including deploying and scaling
financial and human capital. He is also focused on
enhancing corporate culture, providing strategic
vision, and expanding their aforementioned theatrical
footprint. Caparella is feeling pretty good
about the company’s current operating model and
cash-flow levels.
“We can get deals done on our own and tend
to look at leases or REIT-type financing,” he
says. “If you look where we are geographically,
we’re not limited to any one particular market.
We don’t purchase the land, which allows us to
get into more markets sooner. The reality is that
building our own is very predictable. We know
what it’s going to cost, what it will look like, and
how long it will take. We also know what our best
kitchen design is.
“With acquisitions we might find, as you
often do, that the kitchen layout might not be
right or you have to repurpose the theater in
some way. Frankly, I’m not as keen on conversions.
You just can’t possibly do all the diligence
required when you purchase someone else’s
building,” he acknowledges.
TEAM DEPTH
“Right now, I’m focusing the most on scale and
growth, because I already have very deep technical
and operational knowledge of the movie theater
business within our organization,” he says.
In addition to having the luxury of being able
to regularly rely upon Solomon (who remains with
the organization as chairman) and his more than
four decades of industry expertise, Caparella can
also periodically tap into Southern president/COO
Ron Krueger’s knowledge and his array of exhibition-related
experience.
A seasoned, second-generation movie theater
executive, Krueger was president of St. Louis-based
Wehrenberg Theatres (a recent, regional roll-up
acquisition by Marcus Theatres) between 1999 and
2008. He has also served in a national leadership
role with both the NATO and NAC trade groups
throughout his long career.
A few months into his brief tenure at the Movie
Tavern helm, Caparella says, “I think this is the
whole package, and we have put everything together
as a very service-oriented organization. If you
check off every box you will find that we’ve really
put it all together quite well.”
CUTTING-EDGE TECH—IN AND OUT OF THE
KITCHEN
The full-service in-theater dining experience features
push-button technology, comfort seating—
including recliners at many locations—and the
convenient table designs. Processes and procedures
are similar to what you would see in an established
restaurant’s kitchen operations.
An order is placed and it electronically
proceeds to the specific line, such as the pizza or
grill station. Although the customer doesn’t see
this, it ensures speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
26 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

CINEMA EATERIES
ULTIMATE GRILLED CHEESE AND SOUP
SIGNATURE “TAVERNITA” AND “THE BLUE THING”
What the customer also doesn’t see is that chairside
call buttons tie in to a master electronic
floor plan that servers and management monitor.
It’s tied in with an escalation response system
that changes colors.
Movie Tavern’s in-theater technology also
includes state-of-the-art sound, screens, and sight
lines on a par with its leading peers. As with many
other exhibitors, they are taking a close look at
new industry innovations such as laser projection.
According to management, there are three or four
possible platforms, and they will continue to evaluate
their options to make sure they stay on top of
this important future decision.
Closely studying various analytics and data is
very important to Movie Tavern’s senior team. “We
have four people and this is their primary focus,
looking specifically at operating metrics. I don’t
think there are many decisions we make without
some analytics applied to it. Whether on the theater
or operating base . . . we study what the return
would be and what is the typical ramp-up within
the industry,” says Caparella.
REFRESHING THE MENU
Recent company-wide changes to their standard
menu have yielded positive results thus far. Among
the modifications was a tweak resulting in a more
artisanal pizza offering. Diners can choose from
among 10 different toppings to create their own
customized meal.
Some other culinary successes include a South
of the Border Burger and a grilled cheese and
As a trained hotelier,
I have a very
hospitality-minded
background, with
guest services being
paramount in that
industry. I also have
food and beverage,
ticketing, and events
experience as well.
Madison Square
Garden, of course, put
all of the above on
steroids.
tomato soup comfort food combo—with the soup
served in a coffee mug. A key lesson for theaters
serving hot liquids in a darkened environment
is that you must make it easy for guests to enjoy
without risking spillage. For dessert, homemade
churros have done well.
Adult beverages are also understandably popular
with many audiences. A Caramel Salted-Pretzel
Grown-Up Shake (spiked with Stoli Salted
Karamel flavored vodka) has really caught on with
patrons, and mojitos are invariably top sellers.
According to management, patrons have been requesting
more craft beer and cocktail varieties, and
the bar team is accommodating them.
MEMBERSHIP LOYALTY AND ALTERNATIVE
PROGRAMMING
According to VP of marketing, Danny Digiacomo,
Movie Tavern membership is growing at a 20
percent annual clip. “We view this program as the
first step of a full-blown loyalty program and are
looking at some different ways to approach this as
a way to better engage with our customer base.”
According to Digiacomo, the circuit also is
curating its own popular Retro Cinema series,
which brings a wide array of classic movies to the
big screen. Some locations are also teaming up
with Fathom Events, an industry leader in bringing
alternative entertainment to cinemas around the
United States, including a live and archived Metropolitan
Opera series, which offers audiences a
front-row view as well as exclusive backstage access
and interviews. n
28 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

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Contact us to ask about digital images and signage!
© 2017 White Castle Management Co.

INDIE FOCUS
b r o u g h t t o y o u b y
TOP TITLES 2016
La La Land
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Captain Fantastic
Don’t Think Twice
A Man Called Ove
The Eagle Huntress
TOP TITLES HISTORICAL
We curate our lineup to ensure that all people
in our community can see their lives and stories
represented through our art form. Broadly successful
titles for revenue have been The Lobster,
The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel,
Birdman, Moonrise Kingdom, 127 Hours, Austenland,
and a little/big gem that rocked our world called
Brokeback Mountain. We have had films that
hold for over 20 weeks, such as Slumdog
Millionaire and New York Doll (with a
local twist!). In 2016 we exhibited
34 docs, 93 international titles, 169
exclusive engagements, and 279
total films.
SALT LAKE FILM SOCIETY
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Contributor: Tori Baker, Executive Director
>> Salt Lake Film Society (SLFS), at seven screens/two venues, is
robust for a community-based nonprofit cinema. At our Broadway
Centre Cinemas (1989), we seat 1,086 patrons in six auditoriums.
Our largest auditorium is 248 seats including the maximum
ADA accommodated seating areas. At our one-screen historic
Tower Theatre venue (1928), we seat 340 including the balcony.
HISTORY
The SLFS was founded as a 501c-3 nonprofit
cinema by a small group of volunteers determined
to save the Tower Theatre and keep diverse, independent
film content accessible to residents. A
brother-sister team purchased the company assets
(a dense video library and the lease for the
Tower Theatre) and managed the space as
sole proprietors before turning Salt Lake
Film Society into a nonprofit cinema
in 2001. Our founders defined the
mission to educate, advocate,
and inform about and through
TORI BAKER cinema. We deliver socially rele-
30 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

By 2004, the still-young 501c-3 had grown
from a one-screen audience of approximately
20,000 people to a seven-screen audience of over
90,000 people annually. Bringing unique content
and running lean on resources, the founders were
still operating a cash-based, sole-proprietor model.
I was brought on board in 2004 having honed
skills at Muscular Dystrophy Association, Salt
Lake Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Sundance
Institute/Sundance Film Festival. Realizing
immediately that the well-intentioned founders
were not maximizing the organization’s potential,
I dug quickly into why SLFS mattered, diversified
programs, grew revenues, and hired staff. It has
always been my goal to actively shape and define
what an art house cinema means to a community
and to lead the organization to become indispensable
to the cultural core of our capital city. We
started programs, tested community need, fundraised,
grew the governing board, and worked
toward defining SLFS as a local arts leader. In
recent years, we have grown annual budgets,
diversified revenues, grown our political capital,
increased membership and donor support,
remodeled and upgraded both facilities, increased
audiences, launched community initiatives, and
raised public and private contributions in support
of our programs. We are now one of the largest
nonprofit arts presenters in the city with an economic
impact of over $9 million annually.
THE TOWER THEATRE OPENED
ON JANUARY 10, 1928. IT IS
THE OLDEST MOVIE THEATER
IN SALT LAKE AND WAS THE
FIRST AIR-CONDITIONED
CINEMA IN TOWN. WHEN IT
CONVERTED TO SOUND IN 1930
IT WAS KNOWN AS TOWER
TALKIES.
CONCESSIONS AT THE BROADWAY CENTRE CINEMA
PHOTOS: PURPLE MOSS PHOTOGRAPHY
vant, diverse, quality film and community cultural
programs to people from across the socioeconomic
continuum by presenting first-run independent,
documentary, international, historic, and locally
produced cinema of the highest quality. We are
the only home for independent cinema in the Salt
Lake valley.
In late 2001, SLFS founders made a brave and
risky move to expand into a deserted Loews six-auditorium
cineplex in the central business district of
Salt Lake. This one decision immediately changed
SLFS’s growth course and the impact we have had
in the city. More screens meant mission diversity
and potential for long-term financial sustainability.
COMMUNITY
Today, SLFS continues to operate the Tower
Theatre and Broadway Center Cinemas with seven
screens active 365 days a year. SLFS actively works
to increase and diversify the numbers and demographics
of citizens engaged in the film arts. SLFS
presents over 270 film titles representing more than
20 countries, owns one of the rarest archive DVD/
video collections in the country, and operates 22
community projects under three initiatives: film
access, film culture/education, and film fostering.
Every year, individuals are exposed to the best
films from contemporary artists, historic archive
collections, and films in the zeitgeist of the community.
Proving our mission matters, 93 percent
of our audiences said SLFS programs open up new
worlds to them, 88 percent said we give them new
perspectives, and 84 percent said that SLFS venues
serve as a community anchor; a full 23 percent
said they had a life-changing experience with our
THE THEATER GOT ITS NAME
FROM ITS ORIGINAL FAÇADE,
REMOVED IN 1950, THAT WAS
DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE THE
TOWER OF LONDON.
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 31

INDIE FOCUS
programming includes annual highlights such as
Summer Late Nights, a series of cult attractions
that gives film lovers a new way to see film; The
Greatest, a month-long repertory series (2016
highlighted black directors; 2017 is musicals),
Tower of Terror, which includes shadow-cast films
and classic horror titles; Big Pictures, Little People,
bringing over 1,000 children from low-income
daycares, foster group homes, and shelters to
experience artistic family content on the big screen;
Wassail & Waffles Holiday Film Series, complete
with kids making waffles and a visit from Santa;
and many more. SLFS has the highest-attended
national Czech That Film Tour; we do an annual
collaborative project Filméxico Film Tour and will
launch a dance-film tour in 2018.
JULY’S BROADWAY CENTRE
THEATRE SCHEDULE INCLUDES
SCREENINGS OF THE JOURNEY,
THE BIG SICK, THE LITTLE
HOURS, THE B SIDE, MAUDIE,
AND LADY MACBETH (FEATURED
ON PAGE 64 OF THIS ISSUE).
programs (Source: Avenue ISR/Bryn Mawr Art
House Survey 2015). SLFS is our city’s window to
the world of diverse cultures, new points of view,
and the timeless magic of the cinema experience.
CONCESSIONS
We use our concessions to engage individuals in
longer conversations with us and develop an interest
in who we are and why we are worthy of support,
in addition to generating revenue. Of course,
customers also have fun selecting from an array of
unusual items such as edamame (we had it first!),
specialty coffee, international chocolates, and local
food specialties such as Rico’s Mexican, vegan hot
dogs, and ice cream. Even with cool and unusual
offerings, the usual suspects of popcorn and soda
rank highest in sales. We sell specialty bottled local
drinks, but in Utah, alcohol sales have not been an
option for us. In 2016 we sold 155,131 concessions
items, making up 21 percent of our annual
revenue. While our concessions revenue is lower
than the averages for non-indie theaters, it remains
important in directly supporting our nonprofit.
PROGRAMMING
Programming is the heart of any mission. With
169 exclusive engagements in 2016 we were able to
dig deep into the art form as well as our community
needs. The most successful programs rely upon
a deep network of collaborators and community
supporters. We start programs based on community
demand and adjust as the need changes. Our
ENGAGEMENT
One strategy we used to improve engagement
was rebranding. SLFS operates both the Broadway
and the Tower, and we united our complicated
name in logos and uniform colors. Secondly, our
lobby remodel was essential in phasing out the
Loews look and creating a branded space that
matched our mission. We also produce our own
creative collateral. We use local artists for our cult
programs and build collateral featuring movie
imagery to keep the visuals compelling. One of our
most recent strategies includes a mandate to incorporate
fund development language into any and all
materials and marketing channels. We follow more
strict style guidelines so that whether patrons find
us in social media, on the website, or their iPhone
home screens, the look and feel of our information
is consistent.
We focus on collaborating in our community.
SLFS has built strong relationships with local consulates,
issue-based nonprofits, social services, city/
county government, our Utah Film Commission,
and fellow arts nonprofits. We work for quality of
experience and mission impact, not volume. While
audiences have grown over the years, it remains
our goal to ensure that the impact is high. Since
the traditional model of marketing in cinema relies
on heavy lifting from the distributors, nonprofit
cinemas can struggle with marketing smaller titles.
Some films will take on their own momentum in
social media, but others need a boost, and finding
the resources to apply to that goal isn’t always
realistic for a minimum of seven films each week.
For this reason, at SLFS we put marketing efforts
32 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

INDIE FOCUS
SLFS SERVES INDIVIDUALS
OF ALL AGES, RACES, AND
SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS AND
HAS A TRACK RECORD OF
SUCCESS AS BOTH A LOCAL
BUSINESS AND A NONPROFIT
LEADER.
toward fund development, telling our story (our
“why”) and engaging loyalty more heavily than we
invest in marketing specific titles.
CINEMA ADVERTISING
I have found Spotlight Cinema Networks to
be the greatest of art house champions, along with
Sundance Institute, Boston Light and Sound,
and those key art houses that founded the Art
House Convergence movement. Spotlight Cinema
Networks has actively believed in small community-based
mission-driven theaters. We consider
them family.
I love to tell the story of how SLFS became clients.
I met Jerry Rakfeldt (CEO, Spotlight Cinema
Networks) in the first founding years we worked
to make Art House Convergence a reality (with
the collective art house support of many peers all
across the nation). Each year at our annual conference,
Jerry would ask me if I was open to looking
at the Spotlight on-screen advertising model. Each
year, I was resistant. I was not sure it was right
for SLFS audiences. I had hopes that one day I
could curate pre-show content and create a unique
experience that meant folks would rather see it in
the theater than on their personal devices, but I
had to be convinced that cinema advertising was
part of that picture. After increasing human capital
at SLFS, it was finally time to test out pre-show
models. What would work, what would not, what
are audience behaviors and expectations, and what
are their limits? Of course, I called Spotlight. I prepared
for a flood of donor and supporter e-mails
in resistance to watching ads. Not one came. The
unique thing Spotlight Cinema Networks does for
the pre-show is that it seamlessly integrates into art
house programming. Donors and supporters understand
that in order to be strong and sustainable
as a bricks-and-mortar home for cinema, it takes
outside support; they just don’t want the feeling of
their art house to be interrupted by the wrong ad
appeals. Spotlight gets this.
We didn’t stop there. Spotlight Cinema Networks,
in collaboration with SLFS, has launched
a new, revolutionary, Art House Public Service
Announcement Project that stemmed from a
long-time vision I’ve had. Often, as creative
arts leaders, nonprofit cinemas create short
films for the pre-show. I felt it was time to have
professional pre-show content that harnessed a
different kind of message and carried a different
weight. I was ready to launch a vision to make
this happen locally. But why stop locally? I called
Jerry at Spotlight Cinema Networks and pitched
him my vision: let’s create an Art House PSA
Project that produces two to four professional
PSAs annually that feature legendary film artists
talking about the value of independent cinema
and local screens. Underwrite that with sponsors
that want access to art house audiences and their
powerful loyalty. Release it nationwide for free to
every art house in our network because it’s sponsored.
Being the champions they are, Jerry and
the team at Spotlight Cinema Networks loved
the idea. The first 2017 Art House PSA Project
spots feature film legends Penelope Spheeris and
Peter Bogdanovich. We are live in 26 states, 150
theaters and growing. It is a unique opportunity
for sponsors to associate their brands with
community-based, mission-driven theaters and
their loyal audiences. The project is not limited
to Spotlight clients, although I continually give
positive testimonials to our network about the
Spotlight team. Sponsors would be insane not to
seize the opportunity to access the demographics
that art houses nurture. When it comes to advertising,
our networks provide quality and a higher
repeat viewership. Future spots are in production
and we intend the project to be successful
long-term. We plan to continue to message the
importance of seeing movies the way they were
intended to be seen, on a big screen, in a dark
auditorium, with community. n
34 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

WANDA CINEMAS MAKES OFFICIAL
NAME CHANGE TO WANDA FILM
HOLDING
>> Days after Wanda made the announcement
it would be acquiring a
1.9 percent stake in Bona Film Group,
the film arm of real estate group Dalian
Wanda has officially been rebranded as
Wanda Film Holding. The company had
previously explained that its name change
is meant to reflect Wanda’s involvement
in multiple sectors of the entertainment
ecosystem and not just in theaters and
film exhibition. Wanda Film Holding is
China’s biggest cinema chain, with a 14.5
percent share in the country’s burgeoning
box office. It also separately owns
Australia’s second-largest operator, Hoyts
Group, and North America’s largest
exhibitor, AMC Theatres.
ONLINE TICKETING APP WEYING
TECHNOLOGY ACQUIRES CHINESE
RIGHTS TO WILD BUNCH ART HOUSE
TITLES
>> China’s leading online ticketing app
Weying Technology continued its foray
into the distribution sphere by snapping
up the Chinese distribution rights to nine
Wild Bunch titles that screened at this
year’s Cannes Film Festival. While the
Chinese box office has been dominated
by commercial studio films, interest
in art house cinema is growing, and
major Chinese players are attempting to
take advantage of this largely untapped
market. Weying is a founding member
of the Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse
Cinemas led by the State Administration
of Press, Publications, Radio, Film, and
Television’s China Film Archive, which
covers 100 cinemas in 31 Chinese provinces
and autonomous regions.
US DELEGATION TO RENEGOTIATE
CHINA FILM QUOTA IN AUGUST
>> A U.S. government delegation will
travel to Beijing in August to try to
convince officials in China to allow
more foreign films—especially Hollywood
films—to be imported under
CHINESE MARKET NEWS
Compiled by Jonathan Papish
TANG MEDIA PARTNERS
AND UTA CREATE CHINA
DISTRIBUTION FUND
>> Los Angeles–based entertainment
company Tang Media Partners
and Hollywood creative agency
UTA have teamed up with local
Chinese distributor Joy Pictures to
create a $50 million to $100 million
fund to import approximately 12
U.S. films per year into China. Joy
Pictures has made a mark in China
in recent years as a savvy promoter
of flat-fee imports, those brought
into the country outside the official
revenue-sharing quota of 34 studio
titles per year. In February 2016, Joy
Pictures released and marketed La
La Land in China. The Oscar winner
went on to gross $36 million to become
the highest-grossing musical
ever in the territory.
revenue-sharing terms. The U.S.-Asia
Institute (USAI) will organize a delegation
of members of the U.S. Congress
focused on the entertainment and media
industry in August 2017. Preapproved by
the U.S. Department of State under the
Mutual Education and Cultural Exchange
Act (MECEA), USAI has been organizing
these delegations to China since
1985. U.S.-Asia Institute Trustees Chris
Fenton and Tom Ara (partner, Greenberg
Traurig) will facilitate and accompany the
delegation, which is scheduled for August
18 to August 26 with meetings in Beijing,
Shanghai, and Hangzhou.
NEW REGULATIONS REGARDING
PRIVATE ON-DEMAND THEATERS
SPUR THEATER ALLIANCES
>> Private movie-on-demand theaters in
China currently occupy a gray zone in
terms of their legal status, but this may
soon change: China’s SAPPRFT recently
announced that it will seek to legitimize
and regulate these private theaters. Going
forward, private cinemas will operate as
second-run theaters, and the box office
revenues from these cinemas will finally
be accounted for in the tallying of China’s
box office. In response to the government’s
push to legitimize and regulate
movie-on-demand and private theaters,
online platform 1905 has established its
own branch of movie-on-demand theaters
while two of China’s movie-on-demand
exhibitors, Ivi Movies and Yiqikan, are
forming theater alliances.
CAA, BONA FILM GROUP LAUNCH
$150 MILLION FILM FUND WITH
MIDWAY
>> Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and
Bona Film Group will create a US$150
million film production fund with an
investment in blockbuster director
Roland Emmerich’s upcoming Midway.
The fund will “focus on financing
English-language films for the global
marketplace, Chinese co-productions,
and Chinese-language films for the local
market,” the companies said in a statement.
Bona will handle China distribution
of films produced under the deal,
while CAA will handle sales for North
American and international distribution.
DADI CINEMAS TO SCREEN LIVE
CONCERTS IN THEATERS
>> It’s not uncommon for movie theaters
to be used as venues for broadcasting
live events, but Dadi Cinemas,
China’s largest cinema exhibitor in
terms of screen count, hopes to open
up new sources of revenue by using its
theaters to host live concerts, starting
with 10 concerts in five different cities
from May to July this year. n
36 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

CHINESE MARKET
THREE THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT CHINESE MOVIE THEATERS
1The vast majority of cinema auditoriums
in China are outfitted with
night-vision surveillance cameras. The
reason for this is not to monitor audience
members, but rather to supervise and
ensure screening quality and for security
maintenance. The cameras have also been
used to help moviegoers retrieve misplaced
or lost personal items.
2Seasoned Chinese film fans or moviegoers
who have seen films abroad
often grumble that local theater owners
turn on auditorium lights while the
credits are still rolling, thereby prematurely
ushering moviegoers out of screenings
and fostering poor moviegoing habits. In
essence, the reasons behind this behavior
can be attributed to commercial motivations
as well as existing habits on the part
of Chinese audiences.
Since external revenue streams such
by Jonathan Papish
as concessions are rather negligible to
Chinese exhibitors’ bottom lines—especially
compared to their Western counterparts—theater
owners are inclined to
squeeze in as many screenings per day as
they can to boost their box office revenue.
Turning on the lights and sending in
cleaning staff during the credits helps cut
down on the time between showings.
Exhibitors also claim that the existing
habit of Chinese moviegoers to hurriedly
leave screenings once the end credits start
rolling forces their hand to turn on the
lights in order to guarantee the safety of
departing customers.
3Antipiracy proponents have lauded
an article in China’s new film law
giving theaters the right to request any
individual who is recording films without
permission from the rights holder to leave
the premises immediately.
But despite these continued efforts by
government officials to advocate antipiracy
behavior, social media apps including
Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter)
and WeChat (the Chinese version of
WhatsApp) are flooded with images and
even short videos of the latest Chinese or
Hollywood blockbuster. In some cases,
a film’s official social media account may
even encourage moviegoers with the
promise of prizes for ticket buyers who
take a screenshot of the opening credits
or a particular scene and post it to their
“friend wall” with the film’s hashtag.
To combat longer-form piracy such as
cam versions uploaded onto torrent sites,
the government has started to add digital
watermarks to film prints. The watermarks
are indistinguishable to the naked
eye but can be used by film companies to
track down culprits. n
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JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 37

CINEMA SEATING
THE POWER OF THE COMFY CHAIR
AN INSIDER’S LOOK AT PREMIUM SEATING
by Bruce Proctor, President, Proctor Companies
>> A mere 10 or 15 years ago, cinema seats were
reminiscent of the hard wooden seats used in performance
halls since the days of vaudeville—heck, since
the days of burlesque in the Old West. Sure, some
padding had been added, but the seats remained
small, nonadjustable, and well short of comfortable.
Plop yourself down in an auditorium seat today
and you’ll experience something completely different.
You’ll be wrapped in wide, plush, leather-clad
comfort. Ample armrests, reclining mechanisms,
extending footrests, large cup holders, and even
swiveling eating surfaces help create your personal
movie-watching domain. You own it. You can settle
in, scrunch up, or lie back to your heart’s content.
Luxury seating in the cinema industry emerged
with—and is a necessary component of—in-theater
dining. But who, a decade ago, would have dreamed
how impactful luxury seating would be? Who would
have thought that cutting an auditorium’s seat count
in half could double revenue? Yet that unlikely scenario
is exactly what we’ve seen play out across the
industry. All hail the comfy chair!
So now, as an owner, you’ve filled your auditoriums
with luxury seating. You’ve made changes to
your back-of-house to support in-theater dining.
You’re seeing more customers, and they’re spending
more money.
But is that enough? Are you still leaving money
on the table? If you haven’t applied the same seating
considerations to your
lobby, lounge, bar, and
restaurant as you have
to your auditoriums, the
answer is probably yes—
because comfortable,
inviting seating not only
encourages customers to
enjoy these spaces but it
induces them to settle in
and hang out. And, as
we know, the longer they
stay, the more they spend.
The longer they stay, the
more they spend
For every project
Proctor Companies
undertakes, this is the
guiding mantra for the
front-of-house design,
where your brand is most
noticeably on display and where receipts, free of
revenue sharing, make a bigger impact on your
bottom line. We believe optimization of these spaces
is the next evolution in in-theater dining. And,
as in auditoriums, seating is the key.
At first blush, front-of-house seating choices
may seem simple: just point to a product in
a catalog and choose a quantity. But there are
myriad other factors to consider. Will chairs and
stools need to be moved or reconfigured? If so, are
they heavy, do they fold or stack, will they scuff
the floor? How durable is the seating? Can it be
repaired if damaged? How stain-resistant is the
fabric—how difficult is it to clean? Can coverings
be easily changed to reflect a new color scheme or
new design?
And what if there is no off-the-shelf product
that fits the need at all? What if a custom design
is required for your banquettes or loose furniture?
What at first appears like a fairly straightforward
decision-making process quickly becomes complicated
with seemingly endless options.
But with professional advice and guidance, your
front-of-house seating choices will strike the right
balance to maximize your revenues and bolster
your margins. That’s why, when we begin seating
discussions with our clients, we tell them, “Sit
down. Make yourself comfortable. We’ve got a lot
to talk about.” n
38 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

Shouldn’t your concession
stand have a few drinks?
Adding beer, wine, and liquor to your concession
stand attracts upscale patrons and increases profits.
But you’ve got to do it right.
That’s why we’re here. For over 45 years, Proctor
Companies has been creating innovative, inviting
spaces that sell, sell, sell.
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WOMEN IN GLOBAL EXHIBITION
In collaboration with Celluloid Junkie, Boxoffice is proud to introduce this ongoing feature recognizing
50 top female executives in the global film industry.
CATHARINE DES FORGES
DIRECTOR, INDEPENDENT CINEMA
OFFICE
UNITED KINGDOM
A college job as a (freelance) usher at the
on-campus arts center turned into a career
in exhibition for Catharine des Forges, who
currently acts as the director of the Independent
Cinema Office, the UK’s national
association for the support and development
of independent film exhibition. The appeal of
that first post led to what she describes as her
“first proper exhibition job” as a trainee film
exhibition officer at the British Film Institute.”
In an interview with Celluloid Junkie last
year, Des Forges shed light on some of the
factors that she believes have contributed
to a dearth of female executives in top roles.
“I think there are a number of reasons for
this, some of which are not unique to the
film industry, for example motherhood and
opportunities around flexible working, but
some of which are about confidence and
received wisdom about the kinds of skills
required to run a business. There are some
very successful exceptions to the rule here
too, but it’s a complicated question and
the solution needs to be multilayered and
cut across formal training, mentoring, peer
networks, and visible role models.”
Some of the solutions she has suggested
include more family-friendly working
policies, being open to part-time roles, and
developing more women-only training and
networking schemes.
Des Forges has put this focus into action,
playing an active role in helping create more
opportunities for minority groups to receive
the support and mentorship needed to
advance in the industry. “A lot of our training
initiatives have come from our own sense
of the barriers and challenges in the sector,”
she explains. “Both the women’s leadership
course and the FEDS (film exhibition,
distribution and sales trainee scheme for
BAME/disabled entrants) form part of an
interventionist strategy seeking to diversify
the industry workforce..
40 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

MELISSA COGAVIN
CEO, EVENT CINEMA ASSOCIATION
UNITED KINGDOM
Melissa Cogavin’s career has spanned
several segments of the entertainment
industry, from home entertainment to theatrical
post-productions, and a three-year
tenure as the director of film operations
at Paramount’s London office. Her current
role, however, is at the forefront of both
exhibition and distribution. In 2009 Cogavin
left Paramount to start her own consulting
firm, where she worked with several event
cinema companies. Three years later she
founded the Event Cinema Association, an
industry group dedicated to championing
the event cinema sector worldwide. Serving
as the entity’s chief executive officer,
Cogavin has helped grow the association
to over 200 members across 38 territories in
only five years.
“I love the community I work with,” says Cogavin. “The event cinema
industry is young and close-knit, and there is an almost total lack of
hierarchy, which makes it very social, even
amongst competitors; people are very
approachable and we work together to
establish best practices, enable communication,
and promote the sector as a whole.”
Part of the harmony in the sector comes
from a collaborative approach as the
industry continues to grow globally. While
acknowledging that the industry still has
a long way to go in terms of promoting
more female executives, Cogavin believes
the event cinema sector has acted as a
positive source for that change. “Things
are changing slowly, and technology is
enabling flexible working more and more
so that experienced women don’t vanish
from the workforce once they’ve had
children, and anecdotally things are better
than they were,” she says. “I would estimate
there are more women working in event cinema than in other areas
of exhibition and distribution, but this is an industry characterized
by start-ups, which is often a by-product of flexible working, as
opposed to the corporate career ladder. ”
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 41

WOMEN IN GLOBAL EXHIBITION
BARBARA TWIST
MANAGING DIRECTOR,
ART HOUSE CONVERGENCE
UNITED STATES
Barbara Twist’s involvement with the Art
House Convergence began in 2012,
shortly after graduating from
the University of Michigan. She
started at the “community-based,
mission-driven” organization
as a conference assistant for
the group’s annual convention
of independent exhibitors in
Utah. Her role in organizing
the event grew
in proportion to the
convention’s scope; as
the group expanded
its January conference
and added several
regional events to
its schedule, she
rose in the ranks to
become Art House Convergence’s managing
director. She cites the group’s strong sense
of community as one of her favorite parts of
the job. “I love the long conversations I have
with theaters that are just opening, or with
people interested in opening a theater.
Talking with them and hearing their
reasons for opening an art house is
very heartwarming and reminds
me that we are providing a
much-needed resource.”
There are three core strategies
that Twist believes can be
immediately implemented
by the industry to
support current and
future female executives:
representation,
professional development,
and implicit-bias
training. “Without representation
at the top
level, the policies and decisions will not be
as comprehensive and beneficial to the organization
overall,” she says of the first strategy,
adding that professional development is crucial
to complement that initial presence. “By
giving women the opportunity to improve
skills at conferences, classes, and seminars,
you can build your pool of qualified talent.”
She also suggests that all organizations
should consider implicit-bias training, which
can help any minority group, not just women,
advance professionally. Lastly, she says it’s
crucial that when we talk about encouraging
“more women executives,” we don’t limit it
to cisgender females. “Seeing more women
executives in the industry means all women,”
she says.
Twist will be moving on from her role at the
Art House Convergence this fall, stepping
aside from her day-to-day conference-planning
duties in order to continue her education
at Columbia University. n
42 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

SOCIAL MEDIA
REVISITING
BRÜNO
THE ‘TWITTER EFFECT’
EIGHT YEARS LATER
By Alex Edghill
Sacha Baron Cohen was one of the hottest
comedians on the earth back in 2009.
After TV success with hit shows in the
UK and a brief run in the U.S. on HBO,
the comedian took one of his trademark
quirky characters to the silver screen in 2006’s Borat:
Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious
Nation of Kazakhstan. The comedy was a hit, creating
excitement for his follow-up, Brüno, based on the last
of his three infamous character from the TV shows.
Brüno prompted a bidding war by studios for its rights,
which cost Universal a reported $42.5 million. After a
hefty marketing campaign and mostly positive reviews,
the film opened to $14.4 million on its first Friday of
release. That was more than 50 percent higher than
Borat—and pundits were calling for another huge run.
But the film hit a wall on its second day and plummeted
by 39 percent (Borat rose by 10 percent on Day 2)
and the drops continued until it was out of theaters
with a shade over $60 million, less than half of Borat’s
total. Pundits were quick to point out that the new
social media service Twitter was filled with negative
tweets about the film, declaring a cause-and-effect
scenario with little empirical evidence—and thus the
term “Twitter effect” entered the conversation.
(continued on page 46)
44 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 45

SOCIAL MEDIA
2017 TOP 10 FRIDAY TO SATURDAY BOX OFFICE DECLINES
TWITTER SENTIMENT BOX OFFICE
MOVIE Fri Tweets Sat Tweets Change Fri Pos:Neg Sat Pos:Neg Change Fri ($ mill) Sat ($ mill) Change
All Eyez On Me 120,250 51,707 -57.00% 6.26 3.25 -48.08% $12.81 $7.69 -39.97%
The Fate of the Furious 41,232 37,338 -9.44% 20.63 12.7 -38.44% $45.70 $31.54 -30.98%
Fifty Shades Darker 63,928 232,383 263.51% 5.72 14.09 146.33% $21.44 $15.84 -26.12%
Alien: Covenant 45,216 28,565 -36.83% 4.36 5.23 19.95% $15.30 $12.00 -21.57%
Rough Night 5,553 2,909 -47.61% 19.58 11.68 -40.35% $3.37 $2.84 -15.73%
47 Meters Down 5,421 4,331 -20.11% 3.11 1.74 -44.05% $4.37 $3.77 -13.73%
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 49,644 25,718 -48.20% 10.74 6.12 -43.02% $23.57 $20.34 -13.70%
Ghost in the Shell 53,916 39,462 -26.81% 3.24 4.83 49.07% $7.66 $6.68 -12.79%
The Bye Bye Man 12,296 9,261 -24.68% 1.41 0.6 -57.45% $5.43 $4.85 -10.68%
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 76,146 72,998 -4.13% 52.89 57.97 9.60% $56.08 $51.30 -8.52%
Wonder Woman 339,529 327,582 -3.52% 30.56 33.77 10.50% $38.25 $35.25 -7.84%
Everything, Everything 9,124 5,037 -44.79% 36.13 28.23 -21.87% $4.76 $4.41 -7.35%
Patriots Day 7,276 4,261 -41.44% 22.95 33.92 47.80% $4.67 $4.35 -6.85%
Cars 3 26,667 13,856 -48.04% 164.48 50.67 -69.19% $19.60 $18.45 -5.87%
Logan 129,238 107,810 -16.58% 30.34 43.9 44.69% $33.01 $31.32 -5.12%
The Mummy 31,533 26,506 -15.94% 3.93 4.19 6.62% $12.04 $11.48 -4.65%
Live By Night 3,041 2,334 -23.25% 8.76 6.41 -26.83% $1.95 $1.87 -4.10%
Power Rangers 95,690 75,699 -20.89% 11.83 13.06 10.40% $14.92 $14.59 -2.21%
Beauty and the Beast 303,999 227,810 -25.06% 74.95 16.06 -78.57% $63.78 $62.71 -1.68%
Rings (2017) 5,297 3,648 -31.13% 1.26 1.2 -4.76% $5.63 $5.63 0.00%
AVERAGE 71,250 64,961 -14% 26 17 -31.87% 20 17 -12.03%
2006’S BORAT PULLED IN $262
MILLION WORLDWIDE, WHILE
STAR SACHA BARON COHEN’S
FOLLOW-UP, BRÜNO, TOPPED
OUT AT JUST $139 MILLION.
In the following months many papers, articles,
and TV segments attempted to prove or disprove
the theory. Analysis ranged from complex mathematical
equations that looked at the service with
a strictly quantitative methodology to more of a
qualitative approach focusing on surveys of users
and their behaviors. This analysis also extended
far outside the realm of Hollywood, as other
industries were very keen on understanding the
impact of the service on their products and how
best to harness it.
As a side note, I began reporting on Twitter
tweets in September of 2009 largely because my
interest was piqued thanks to the debate surrounding
Brüno, something I have continued at BoxOfficePro.com
for the past eight years—the longest
consistent Twitter coverage as it relates to the box
office anywhere.
Fast forward to today and social media offerings
such as Twitter are now the old men of the online
landscape. Its user base has grown by over 20 times
since the summer of 2009 and now sits at 328
million at the end of Q1 2017. The next logical
question is, if the amount of users has grown that
much, has the influence of the service on moviegoers
also increased by that amount? Does the Twitter
effect still exist? Did it ever?
The methodology here will be to look at all
2017 wide-release films up to and including the
June 16 releases and how their first Friday-to-Saturday
box office performance relates to their overall
Twitter mentions and sentiment. Our analysis includes
60 films that had an average Friday-to-Saturday
box office revenue decline of 1 percent,
which basically meant that on average films tend
to hold steady across their first two days of release.
The same films on average saw a 10 percent fall in
overall mentions across their first two days while
their sentiment on average fell 9 percent. Once
we had that baseline, we took it a step further and
looked at the 10 films with the biggest declines
from Friday to Saturday in 2017.
On average these 10 films saw a Friday to Saturday
box office decline of 24 percent, while their
46 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

positive-to-negative ratio fell
20 percent, and overall Twitter
mentions rose 9 percent. When
compared to the overall numbers,
the sentiment for the top
10 with the biggest falls more
than doubled but the resulting
correlation between sentiment
and box office still proved to
not be statistically significant,
with a correlation coefficient of
just 0.18. So in a nutshell, the
Twitter effect does not exist as
it was originally described, even
though a much larger percentage
of North Americans are
using the service and posting
their reviews and anticipation.
Now that the quantitative
portion of the analysis is over
we need to delve a little bit
further into the qualitative to
get a better understanding of
Twitter, its impact, and its users.
Internet forums in general
suffer from a regrettable troll
mob mentality that can create
massive chatter regardless of
how true or relevant the source
material is. Negative sentiment
is oftentimes not related to
anything to do with a film but
rather an offensive tweet that
snowballs into a trending topic.
Twitter is ripe with these types
of scenarios which can quickly
create a trending topic that is
the biggest news of the day surrounding
a film. Ghostbusters
(2016) is a prime example of
this. The film had very poor
sentiment leading up to its release
largely due to a prolonged
series of baseless sexist tweets
which were unrelated to the
film itself.
Brüno suffered a similar
fate, enduring a raft of homophobic
slurs and commentary
that was quickly challenged
by an equal number
2017 TWITTER OVERVIEW
NUMBER OF FILMS 60
Average Friday ($ millions) $9.94
Average Saturday ($ millions) $9.87
Average Change ($ millions) -0.71%
Average Friday Twitter Mentions 29831
Average Friday Sentiment (Pos:Neg Ratio) 26
Average Saturday Twitter Mentions 26768
Average Saturday Sentiment (Pos:Neg Ratio) 23
Average Mentions Change -10.27%
Average Sentiment Change -9.03%
of the film’s defenders. There
never was a Twitter effect
as the term was originally
employed, especially since at
the time of Brüno’s release
fewer than 5 percent of the
North American population
had Twitter accounts and
likely less than 1 percent of
moviegoers looked to Twitter
for movie advice. Add to that
the fact that it was a summer
sequel with massive marketing,
which creates front-loaded
openings, and what we
are left with is the only thing
the “Twitter Effect” had any
control over—increasing the
public’s and Hollywood’s
awareness of Twitter itself as a
potential marketing source.
Studios have increasingly
used Twitter as a marketing
tool as opposed to the
crowdsourcing tool that many
had originally envisioned.
Treating it as just another way
to spend marketing budgets
on blanket messaging has
provided the least value. The
best, and indeed most profitable,
marketing campaigns on
Twitter have been those that
have engaged their prospective
audiences. Campaigns for
films such as Deadpool and
Paranormal Activity spring to
mind for their creativity and
effectiveness. This is the true
effect of the service—creating
a unique and engaging
channel for films to get their
messages out, something
that has been replicated and
employed by studios for each
new social media service over
the past eight years. They
can all partially thank Sacha
Baron Cohen and Brüno for
paving the way and shining a
light on Twitter’s potential. n
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 47

EVENT CINEMA
CHRISTIAN BORLE, ANTHONY ROSENTHAL, AND STEPHANIE J. BLOCK STAR IN FALSETTOS
PHOTOS: JOAN MARCUS
FROM THE TONYS TO A THEATER NEAR YOU
SCREENVISION MEDIA RAMPS UP EVENT CINEMA OFFERINGS WITH FALSETTOS,
THE ANCIENT MAGUS BRIDE, YU-GI-OH
by Jesse Rifkin
ANTHONY ROSENTHAL
>> Screenvision Media made its return to event
cinema distribution in January 2016. With more
than 15,000 screens in its nationwide cinema
advertising network, and at least three major
event cinema titles already released or scheduled
in 2017, Screenvision re-joins the ranks of companies
dedicated to increasing the presence and
diversity of alternative content programming in
the United States.
In July, Screenvision will partner with KAOS to
launch a live Broadway performance of Falsettos,
which was nominated for a Tony Award this year
for Best Revival of a Musical.
“We did a deal with CBS so Whoopi Goldberg
announced it would be coming to movie theaters
when introducing the cast’s performance at the
Tony Awards,” explains Darryl Schaffer, Screenvision’s
executive vice president of operations and
exhibitor relations. “It’s the highest ticket sales
we’ve ever had that far out from an event date.”
The response at the awards ceremony was a reflection
of the potential impact that Broadway content
can have at U.S. cinemas; Goldberg unexpectedly
had to pause for a moment after announcing the
theatrical release to account for spontaneous audience
applause.
Currently, Broadway theater tickets remain
inaccessible both financially and geographically
for most of the U.S. population. If the theatrical
release of Falsettos proves successful, it may spawn
subsequent limited theatrical releases of stage
productions, just as other cultural institutions such
as the Metropolitan Opera and the U.K.’s National
Theatre have expanded the reach of their brands
and the accessibility of their content through event
cinema. For comparison, the National Theatre’s
2015 filmed performance of Hamlet starring
Benedict Cumberbatch became the highest-gross-
48 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

ing event cinema screening in the U.K. by earning
almost £3 million.
Screenvision’s return to event cinema has
already seen positive results in 2017 with January’s
release of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Dark Side of Dimensions,
based on the popular Pokemon-style Japanese television
show and card game. The two-week limited
run for the animated film earned more than $1
million in the United States.
Also coming up later this summer is The
Ancient Magus’ Bride, an anime adaptation of
the popular Japanese manga series. Though
primarily airing on Crunchyroll, the biggest
website and app for streaming anime series,
Screenvision will partner for a special theatrical
showing on July 26.
“We’re feeling confident about that,” Schaffer
says. “Crunchyroll has a million subscribers, two
million Facebook likes, a five-million-member
e-mail list, and 20 million people visit their site.”
Tickets for Falsettos can be purchased for the
evening show on Wednesday, July 12 or the two
weekend matinee performances on the afternoons
of July 15–16 at FalsettosInCinema.com. n
THE ANCIENT MAGUS BRIDE
Congratulations to the Star of the Show!
Tish Hardric, ACS
National Sales Manager-
Theatre Division
Great Western Products
Recipient of the
NAC Krystal La Reese-Gaule
Membership Award
From your friends at
Kernel Season’s, LLC
theater@kernelseasons.com
kernelseasons.com • 866-328-7672
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 49

FILMMAKER INTERVIEW
HOW SPIDEY GOT
HIS SPIN BACK
WRITERS JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN AND JOHN FRANCIS
DALEY ON BRINGING SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING TO
MARVEL’S CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
By Shawn Robbins
Spider-Man has been one of Hollywood’s most important franchises of
the last 15 years, with each installment consistently ranked among the
most anticipated summer movies. Since the dawn of Marvel’s Cinematic
Universe in 2008, however, the rallying cry of fans has been loud and
clear: bring Marvel’s most popular character into the Avengers’ fold.
Thanks to a landmark deal struck between Sony and Disney (the former still owns
the character’s film rights), that wish will be granted. It began with last year’s introduction
to actor Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. This summer,
everyone’s favorite web slinger takes an even deeper dive into the MCU—albeit
with some tutelage and support from Tony Stark/Iron Man—with his first solo film.
The challenge of creating a new vision of Spider-Man—a character who has
already been the focus of two on-screen origin stories—is an exciting one say writers
Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the latest creative team to join Marvel’s
ranks on Spider-Man: Homecoming. The two first met 15 years ago when Daley was
an actor and Goldstein a writer on the short-lived ABC sitcom The Geena Davis Show.
The screenwriting duo spoke with Boxoffice about their approach to Peter Parker’s
newest story, which will mark the 16th chapter of the MCU..
(continued on page 52)
50 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 51

FILMMAKER INTERVIEW
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING SCRIBES JOHN FRANCIS DALEY AND JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN
You guys wrote Horrible Bosses together, and then went on
to Vacation. What transpired to bring you into the Marvel
universe?
Daley: That’s a good question. We were in post on Vacation at
the time, and we had always wanted to break into writing action
movies, which can be difficult when you’re known as comedy
guys. But Marvel was the place to do it because they’re known
for finding people you wouldn’t normally expect to direct or
write their movies. Our manager pitched us to write and direct
Spider-Man, and we had about one weekend to put together a
rough story and directing pitch, which we did. From that, we
ended up getting the writing job. It was a really interesting,
different process working with them, because they’re so protective—understandably—of
their brand. So we spent a month
or two in a room with the producers, director, Amy Pascal, and
Rachel O’Connor, her producing partner, figuring out how to
make this different enough from the Spider-Man movies people
were familiar with in the past.
Goldstein: I think there was a real intention on the part of
Marvel to make this a Spider-Man movie that felt like a real
high school movie for the first time, where it wasn’t 30-year
old dudes playing Peter Parker but an actual kid with real kid
problems. The thing that we brought to it was the sense that
just because you get superpowers, you don’t become a grownup
and it doesn’t solve all your problems. In some ways, it
exacerbates them, and I think that’s what we put in our pitch
and they responded to.
I imagine that gave you a chance to freshen up this character
in a lot of ways.
Daley: What we kept pitching it as, and what I know
Kevin Feige [president of Marvel Studios] was looking for,
was a John Hughes movie. It’s a real kid with high school
problems, and he doesn’t become an adult in the second act.
In fact, he’s very much the same geeky high school kid at
the end of the movie as he is in the beginning, but he’s just
learned a little bit in the process.
It’s interesting that you mention John Hughes. What other
films or writers have informed this movie, as well as your own
writing styles, and what do each of you bring to the table
when you work together?
52 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

TOM HOLLAND (SPIDER-MAN) AND MICHAEL KEATON (THE VULTURE) WITH DIRECTOR JON WATTS
Goldstein: In terms of comedic sensibility, for me, it’s probably
a combination of Woody Allen and Monty Python. The
combination of the smart and the ridiculous—to me, that’s always
been the sweet spot for comedy. And I think, instinctively,
if there’s a cliché, we tried to turn it on its head. Especially with
superhero movies, there are so many things that have been done
so many times; the audience is going to be ahead of it. We try
to play with their expectations and take it and turn it in a way
that you haven’t seen before.
Are there any examples you can give without violating the numerous
nondisclosure agreements I’m sure you have with Marvel?
Daley: The notion of his best friend finding out that he’s
Spider-Man. We wanted there to be a sounding board for Peter,
someone who’s equally geeky and sort of loser-y that he can
express his delight and frustration to, and the notion of how
cool it would be to have a best friend who is a superhero and
to not have to deal with any of the repercussions but to be the
devil on their shoulder telling them, “Oh, you should use your
powers for this game!” It was fun to have there be an entirely
immature, non-superhero character there pushing him.
And you only had one weekend to crack the story?
Daley: Yeah, we went into it late in the game. Our manager,
John Huddle, got us a meeting with them. He sent them a
script that we did that had not yet been produced, called The
Bus Driver, which was a more grounded and darker movie than
a lot of the ones we had done before. It was a kind of calling
card for us to show that we could branch out from the genre
that we were most known for. And they said, “All right, we’ll
meet with them on Monday,” and this was like Thursday night
when we heard about it. So we had Friday through Sunday to
basically crack an entirely new Spider-Man movie, one that did
not feel derivative and checked all the boxes they were looking
for. And what’s funny is so much of what we put together in
that initial pitch is still in the movie.
Goldstein: Yeah, most of the big set pieces that you’ve seen
in the trailer—like the Washington Monument and even the
selection of [the villain] Vulture—that was all stuff that came
from that first weekend’s conversation.
Was either of you Spider-Man or Marvel fans before you took
on the job?
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 53

FILMMAKER INTERVIEW
Daley: For sure. I grew up when Marvel was having quite a
resurgence in cartoons and trading cards. That was my generation.
I read a lot of comics, and Marvel was certainly my
favorite. I know Jonathan was around back with Stan Lee.
Goldstein: I am old enough to remember the ’70s cartoon
of Spider-Man, which was pretty terrible, but I loved it. It
originated the fantastic theme music, which the composer
(Michael Giacchino) has redone for the movie. But I was a big
comic book geek as a kid. I would do anything to make enough
money to buy more comic books. I remember spending an entire
day raking up the leaves on this old lady’s lawn because her
grown son had comic books. I discovered about two minutes
into the job that the leaves were just a thin cover for all the dog
shit that covered the lawn. So I spent a day bagging dog shit
for five crappy comic books. It was horrible, but I couldn’t walk
away. At that point I was committed.
I can understand where you’re coming from
because Spider-Man was one of the first comic book
characters I took interest in as a kid. Sam Raimi’s first
two films came out when I was a teenager and were
something of an awakening to what superhero movies
could be at that time.
Daley: Absolutely. He’s the most approachable
and most relatable of all the superheroes because
he wasn’t born with it, he didn’t choose to become
a superhero, and he’s a kid. He’s still learning
about girls and the social structure of high
school, so it’s a really fun world to explore. I
think that’s why there’s such an appeal to that
particular character.
Goldstein: There’s also an analogy between
his discovering his powers and a boy
going through puberty, discovering all these
new abilities. We tried to play into that a
bit in the script.
Daley: Instead of shooting webs, you
grow armpit hair. They’re basically the same
thing.
Was it always part of the plan to bring in Robert
Downey Jr. and Iron Man when you were breaking
the story?
Daley: We always liked the idea of Robert
Downey Jr. being this sort of strange father figure
who Peter was trying to impress and gain the respect
of. It falls in line with so many coming-of-age
movies where there is a father figure who, no matter
what you do, you can’t quite impress enough to
be happy.
Goldstein: The groundwork for that
was laid in Captain America: Civil War,
which preceded this, where we see Tony Stark basically choose
Peter Parker once he learns of his powers. So we were continuing
that story line. But I think that connection works really well. It’s
the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Everything is tied together. They
didn’t want Spider-Man to be off on his own, and this is a way of
incorporating him into that family of the Avengers.
The deal between Marvel and Sony is unique—even
unprecedented in modern cinema. When you were in
the writers’ room, from your perspective, what was the
collaboration like between them?
Goldstein: There was a bit of a difference in that Sony was
a big part of it, but on the day-to-day front it was a lot more
Marvel. We would meet with the Sony people and talk about
the big picture. But in terms of developing it, Sony was less
involved. It is the first genuine Marvel Spider-Man movie, and
that’s exciting because Marvel has proven they’re pretty
good at these.
Was Michael Keaton’s Vulture an antagonist that Marvel
had already decided on, or did you have input into that?
Daley: No, it was an open market basically for
who the villain would be. We were given a list
of potential choices. What we liked about the
Vulture is that he doesn’t actually have superpowers.
He’s sort of like if Batman went rogue
and used his technology for the worst.
Goldstein: Yeah, everybody liked the idea
of bringing Spider-Man down to the ground
level of the Marvel universe so it wasn’t like
this superpowered villain who, frankly, Peter
Parker would have no chance against. We
wanted to start the movie, since this is a new
series, with someone a little more blue collar in
his villainy.
Did you work with Kevin Feige directly?
How involved in the process was he when
you came on board?
Daley: Yeah, surprisingly, he was
there a lot considering how many movie
franchises he was juggling at the time. He
has really good instincts and, in many ways, he’s an
“anti-studio head.” He seems like a normal guy who
knows what the people want in a way that isn’t out
of touch.
Goldstein: He has a real instinct for what
people want to see in a new Spider-Man movie,
what kinds of moments need to be in there. Not
just marketing moments, but story-wise and
character-wise, what’s going to really make this
movie special. n
54 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

LEVERAGING INNOVATION
b r o u g h t t o y o u b y
>> In this monthly column, Atom Tickets will feature conversations with studios and exhibitors
about their different innovative approaches to marketing movies and the moviegoing experience.
This month, David Doyle, Chief Information Officer of Regal Entertainment Group, talks about some
of Regal’s latest offerings—such as the circuit’s new website, investment on premium seating and
premium large-format auditoriums, and the ongoing changes at the concessions stand.
You recently relaunched Regal’s website. What
were you hoping to accomplish?
Regal continues to seek new ways to provide the
ultimate moviegoing experience for guests, and our
new website is the apex of modern, user-friendly
web material. In partnership with Atom Tickets,
Regal’s new website is a site where guests can order
tickets, browse movies, and view exclusive content
without ever leaving REGmovies.com.
It has a unique, elevated visual element that
creates an appealing online hub for moviegoers.
The website provides a cohesive, intelligent user
experience on any browser or screen to offer guests
an optimal view, making browsing easier and more
enjoyable.
Looking back over the last year, have you
changed your marketing approach to connecting
with customers and if so, how?
The market is constantly changing, and we continue
to find new ways to deliver services that our
guests want. We work hard to stay at the forefront
of innovation. Our marketing and technology approach
allows Regal to stay connected with guests
and create a seamless moviegoing experience.
Have you made any notable upgrades to your
theaters over the last year? How have the
changes been received?
This last year we have had some exciting,
ongoing projects to delight moviegoers. One of
our most popular theater upgrades is the addition
of Regal king-size recliners, which allow guests to
kick back and relax as they take in the movies. In
addition, thanks to our new website, guests can
reserve tickets via their computers or mobile devices
to enjoy top-tier convenience without any rush
or stress. Currently, Regal offers luxury reclining
seating in 1,500 auditoriums nationwide.
With experiences like IMAX and RPX theaters,
Regal offers unbeatable premium screens
and surround sound to fully immerse viewers in
their favorite films. Regal has also introduced 4DX
technology to several theaters nationwide, inviting
guests to rock, roll, and ride along with their favorite
movie heroes. With moving seats and weather
effects, these theaters draw guests into the movies
for an unforgettable experience.
Regal strives to lead the pack as a forward-thinking
technology organization. We are
always looking for ways to improve the moviegoing
experience for guests.
Which avenues do you see customers using to
purchase tickets?
Ticket purchases continue to shift from the traditional
box office to mobile and online channels.
Our aim is to maintain a relationship with our
customers before, during, and after the moviegoing
experience. Providing access to tickets in and out
of our physical buildings is part of maintaining
that connection.
Any notable trends from a concessions
perspective?
Concessions are an important part of the
moviegoing experience, and Regal offers a variety
of dining experiences. Select theaters offer
an enhanced menu, including gourmet burgers,
stone-fired pizzas, salads, and desserts, along with
the cinema classics like popcorn and Coca-Cola.
Looking forward, we will see new ways to select
and purchase traditional concession treats and
menu items. n
INTERVIEW
WITH DAVID
DOYLE, CHIEF
INFORMATION
OFFICER, REGAL
ENTERTAINMENT
GROUP
Interview by
Ameesh Paleja,
CEO, Atom Tickets
& Matthew Bakal,
Chairman,
Atom Tickets
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 55

COMING SOON IN 3D
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
JULY 7 · SONY
CAST Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei
DIR Jon Watts
GENRE Act/Superhero
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
JULY 14 · FOX
CAST Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson
DIR Matt Reeves
GENRE Act/Adv/Dra
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
JULY 21 · STX/EONE
CAST Cara Delevingne, Dane DeHaan
DIR Luc Besson
GENRE Act/Adv/Sci-Fi
THE EMOJI MOVIE
JULY 28 · SONY
VOICE CAST T. J. Miller, Anna Faris
DIR Tony Leondis
GENRE Ani/Adv/Com
THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE
AUG 11 · OPEN ROAD
VOICE CAST Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph
DIR Cal Brunker
GENRE Ani/Adv/Com
THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE
SEPTEMBER 22 · WARNER BROS.
VOICE CAST Dave Franco, Jackie Chan
DIR Charlie Bean
GENRE Ani/Act/Adv
BLADE RUNNER 2049
OCTOBER 6 · WARNER BROS.
CAST Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling
DIR Denis Villeneuve
GENRE SciFi/Thr
GEOSTORM
OCTOBER 20 · WARNER BROS.
CAST Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess
DIR Dean Devlin
GENRE Act/SciFi/Thr
THOR: RAGNAROK
NOVEMBER 3 · DISNEY
CAST Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston
DIR Taika Waititi
GENRE Act/Adv/Fan

ALSO UPCOMING IN 3D
THE STAR
November 10 – Sony/Columbia
JUSTICE LEAGUE
November 17 – Warner Bros.
COCO
November 22 – Disney
STAR WARS:
THE LAST JEDI
December 15 – Disney
FERDINAND
December 15 – Fox
JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
December 20 – Columbia
BLACK PANTHER
February 16, 2018 – Disney
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET:
WRECK-IT RALPH 2
March 9, 2018 – Disney
A WRINKLE IN TIME
March 9, 2018 – Disney
TOMB RAIDER
March 16, 2018 – Warner Bros.
ANUBIS
March 23, 2018 – Fox
RAMPAGE
April 20, 2018 – Warner Bros.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
May 4, 2018 – Disney
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3
May 18, 2018 – Fox
UNTITLED HAN SOLO FILM
May 25, 2018 – Disney
THE INCREDIBLES 2
June 15, 2018 – Disney
REALD.COM

COVER STORY
There are films that, on paper, look impossible to pull off, and
it takes a special kind of director to shepherd them onto the
screen—let alone establish them as fan favorites. With each new
title in his filmography, Matt Reeves has established himself as
that sort of director, a filmmaker capable of incorporating his own style and
tone into projects that many others would struggle with. How do you approach
found-footage horror after The Blair Witch Project? Reeves gave us the
best possible answer to that question with the J.J. Abrams–produced monster
flick Cloverfield. How do you pull off a remake of Let the Right One In, a
virtually flawless Norwegian art house horror darling with a vocal legion of
fans? Reeves gave us an equally enthralling American version with Let Me In.
His following project was similarly daunting. Coming into the second entry in
Fox’s Planet of the Apes revamp, 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Reeves
was faced with helming a franchise coming off of critical and financial success.
Expectations were high. Once again he delivered, adding his signature style to
establish the new Apes franchise as one of the most compelling in the industry.
Now entering the third installment, War for the Planet of the Apes, Reeves
spoke with Boxoffice magazine’s Daniel Loria about his unique approach to
creating a world destined to be conquered by primates.
WORLD
at WAR
Director Matt Reeves
returns to the franchise,
leading Caesar and
company into an
all-out war
By Daniel Loria
58 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

is the spectacle of having these emotive, talking,
photorealistic apes. Of course, the big secret of the
franchise is that we’re actually holding up a mirror
to ourselves—looking at the apes and experiencing
their emotions informs who we are.
WOODY HARRELSON, AS THE
COLONEL, IS BENT ON THE
DESTRUCTION OF CAESAR
AND HIS APE ARMY
KARIN KONOVAL, PERFORMS AND
VOICES BENEVOLENT ORANGUTAN
MAURICE, WITH NEWCOMER AMIAH
MILLER AS ADOPTED HUMAN
DAUGHTER NOVA
What drew you to this franchise?
I was a huge fan of the franchise as a kid. I was
obsessed with Planet of the Apes, I wanted to be an
ape, I loved the John Chambers make-up, I had
all of the Mego dolls. I was a lifelong fan. When I
saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I was emotionally
affected in a way that I never expected to be. It was
a through-the-looking-glass moment, where for
the first time I felt like I was one of the apes in the
film, thanks to Andy Serkis’s character, Caesar. I
got really excited when I was approached to direct
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes because my son at
the time was just learning to speak. There were
these moments when I would look at him and be
reminded that we’re just animals. Andy’s performance
in the movie really reminded me of my
son, and I thought it would be a rare opportunity
to do something that I loved as a kid and that felt
relevant to me both emotionally and thematically
now as an adult. In a world dominated by superheroes
and science fiction, the core of this franchise
Your movies are very much grounded in reality despite
having fantastic scenarios. Cloverfield works
because it feels so authentic, as if it’s developing
in real time in front of you. With Let Me In you
were able to introduce a child vampire into a small
American town while still retaining an overall
sense of normalcy—that sets up the foundation
for the rest of the film to work. You continued that
trend with Dawn, and it looks like you’re sticking
with it for War for the Planet of the Apes.
It’s funny, I never thought I would be a genre
filmmaker. I always loved genre films, but I was
more interested in the emotional content of
whatever I did. The one thing about Cloverfield
that got me so excited was realizing that you
could use the metaphor of a giant monster to talk
about our fears. The whole idea was to keep the
monster as the sole fantastic element in the film,
grounding everything else in real emotion. I took
the same approach with Let Me In; it reminded me
of my childhood—I was also bullied—this idea
of the vampire being a metaphor for the pain of
adolescence. I’m always looking for what is under
the surface of the metaphor. Trying to ground
emotionally some great fantastical tale comes to
be what I find most exciting about these kinds of
movies.
Despite their differences, all these movies have
an aesthetic consistency. Was that difficult to
achieve when you tackled an established property
like Planet of the Apes?
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 59

COVER STORY
AT THE MOVIES
MOVIE MEMORY
I remember seeing a Preston Sturges movie,
Unfaithfully Yours, at a revival house. I’ll always
remember sitting in that crowd and watching
that crowd die of laughter. To have that communal
experience is so unique, everyone connecting
to the same joke. There’s something about sharing
that moment with an audience that is so
special, and that’s something you can
only get at the movies.
AT THE CONCESSIONS STAND
I love popcorn—there’s nothing like
that smell. I got my son into it too.
Sometimes we’ll catch that smell at
the mall and walk into the theater
to grab some popcorn to go.
To be honest with you, I had been resistant to
getting involved in any studio franchise because
I specifically feared that I would lose any kind of
perspective and not be able to express my point
of view. I came in very skeptically to talk about
doing Dawn, and I was ready at every point to say
no. I wanted to tell a specific story with that film,
something that felt very personal to me—which is
all I can really bring to a project. I expected some
sort of Faustian bargain, where I would get 30
percent of what I wanted to do as long as I did a
crazy fight at Candlestick Park or whatever. To my
surprise, when I came in and passionately pitched
my perspective about the project, they said, “Great,
are you in?” I had to step back and ask, “Wait, you
really want me to make that movie?” And they did.
Because I was so clear about the direction I wanted
to take, every time something came up we already
had a compass to lead us in the right direction.
At the end of the day, it’s self-preservation; I don’t
know how to tell a story unless I’m deeply connected
to it. These two Apes movies are very personal
to me; it’s rare to do that on such a large canvas.
How did you approach War for the Planet of the
Apes? What were you able to explore with the
characters and the story this time around?
We wanted to take Caesar on a journey that was
new and surprising, yet inevitable. The last film ends
on the precipice of war, a war that he had done ev-
60 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

erything he could to avoid. In the course of trying to
prevent that war from happening, he ends up having
to kill his brother, Koba, and he’s devastated by that.
Entering this story, I wanted him to be burdened by
this war while acknowledging the blind spot of being
unable to predict Koba’s reaction in the last film.
Koba had such a different experience of dealing with
humanity than Caesar, and he couldn’t possibly conceive
of living side by side with humans. I wanted to
take Caesar on a journey that would haunt him and
push his character to a place he’s never been before.
It’s not only a war movie in the sense that it’s two
species fighting each other, it’s a battle for Caesar’s
soul. It’s an epic war movie that feels very intimate.
This movie is told entirely from Caesar’s point of
view. We wanted to take that journey with Caesar
and set the film on a bigger canvas, leaving behind
the Muir woods and making our way across the state
and up the Sierras. This movie has a much larger
scale in that sense. We wanted to put him in a place
he had never been before and discover an entirely
new world, including the idea of characters he didn’t
even know existed. The idea was to continue making
this world larger and larger as the story keeps on
getting more intimate.
There’s a constant foreboding atmosphere in
your movies, a very unsettling feeling. Is it fair to
call it a horror sensibility or is it more closely tied
to suspense?
This movie is told
entirely from Caesar’s
point of view. We
wanted to take that
journey with Caesar
and set the film on a
bigger canvas, leaving
behind the Muir woods
and making our way
across the state and up
the Sierras.
I really do love suspense and dread because I’m
filled with my own anxiety. It was exciting when
I first started doing horror because it was a place
where I could express those fears. That’s always
exciting for a filmmaker because you get in touch
with the parts of yourself that feel the most out of
control, finding a way to marshal those feelings so
audiences can share those anxieties with you. The
most powerful thing that cinema can do is to put
you in somebody else’s shoes. I’m a huge Hitchcock
fan. I originally came to Hitchcock through Scorsese;
as a teenager I loved movies like Raging Bull
and Taxi Driver. Those films were very personal but
borrowed a point-of-view style of filmmaking from
people like Hitchcock. I love that style of storytelling,
one that finds a way to put you in a situation
of slow-burn dread. I always thought of Dawn as a
slow-motion car wreck; you know it’s going to turn
into the planet of the apes, but the movie shows you
a moment when peace almost could have happened.
But we know it won’t, we know that from the start,
and the movie becomes an anatomy of things that
go wrong—an anatomy of violence. This story has
a bit of that, too. You have a sense of where it’s
leading, and there’s tremendous suspense in getting
there. I don’t know if I would describe it as a horror
sensibility. I would call it a point-of-view-driven
aesthetic. For me cinema is about empathy, you put
yourself inside another perspective so you can feel
connected to it. (more on page 62)
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 61

COVER STORY
THE RETURN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Producer Peter Chernin on bringing the Planet of the Apes franchise back to the big screen
By Daniel Loria
>> Everyone in the film industry knows the coldest, hardest truth of the business: no matter how
long or how much you work on a project, it’s never guaranteed to get made. Peter Chernin doesn’t
seem to have learned that truism. He has been instrumental in getting multiple high-profile projects
to the screen in recent years, such as Hidden Figures, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and
PRODUCER PETER CHERNIN
The Heat, and 2017 promises to be no different: the producer’s confirmed projects in the pipeline
include Snatched, Red Sparrow, The Greatest Showman, and The Mountain Between Us. Bringing Planet
of the Apes back to cinemas, however, is a special triumph for Chernin, whose involvement with
the franchise dates back more than two decades. Now with War for the Planet of the Apes, the third
installment its most recent iteration, the franchise stands out as a solid critical and financial success.
Chernin spoke with Boxoffice magazine’s Daniel Loria ahead of CinemaCon about the latest entry in
the Planet of the Apes saga.
How long have you been involved in bringing
Planet of the Apes back to the screen?
I always felt that out of all the classic sci-fi franchises,
Apes was the one that lent itself best to an
update because its social message remains extremely
timely. Ironically, I ran Fox some years back, and
it was one of the first films I started to develop at
the studio. Ultimately, the version that eventually
made it on-screen a number of years later was the
one directed by Tim Burton. I came back to the
project around 2009, developing a script with Rick
Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and hired Rupert Wyatt
to direct. We finally came out with the first film of
the series, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in 2011—
so I’ve been involved with the franchise for around
25 years now.
62 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

Was it a premeditated decision to take such a grounded
approach to this science fiction project, or was it something
that developed when preparing the first film?
The original impetus for Rick and Amanda’s first script for
Rise was to lead the franchise with a more timely conceit: be
careful what you do with science. To be fair, there was a lot
of emotionality in that first movie—a lot of it came from the
fundamental conflict of taking a baby away from its parents and
delving into the ethical ramifications of scientific analysis. What
we didn’t know, however, was what an extraordinarily moral hero
Caesar would turn out to be. A moral hero is more appealing
when embarking on this journey over multiple films—a character
with compassion, empathy, and leadership. Andy Serkis
deserves extraordinary credit for the character that he created;
that’s as much of an acting invention as I’ve ever seen in my life.
Matt Reeves came in as director for the second installment,
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. What was it about his take on
the material that convinced you to go with him for the last two
films?
Rupert decided to move on after the first film and we didn’t
yet have a script we had settled on, though we were already
moving toward a story that we liked. We had started developing
a different movie when Matt Reeves came in. We were big fans
of his and had brought him in to talk about the project. He was
extraordinarily insightful about what these movies meant to him.
I think Rupert did an extraordinary job with Rise, and Matt was
able to come in and really move the franchise forward with the
second movie. He began to build a world in Dawn, and there
was nobody else in the world that we could think of to come in
and direct the third movie. I think Matt is among the top filmmakers
working today; he is extraordinarily gifted with a great
attention to detail. He is great on character, emotion, and depth.
What new aspects did you want to explore in the third entry in
the franchise, War for the Planet of the Apes?
We were very interested in challenging Caesar’s morality. We
had a character we felt was very admirable and we wanted to
put him to the test. We wanted to see how he would react under
extreme duress. We wanted to challenge him, and as a result I
believe he comes out much more dimensional from this film.
The other thing we wanted to do was to significantly expand the
story’s arc. The first movie was the origin story in many ways,
and the second movie was able to push us forward to where we
are now. This movie takes place a number of years later and takes
us to completely different locations. We wanted to take the apes
on a journey and expand the canvas of the world the audience
gets to see on-screen. n
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 63

COMING SOON
SYNOPSES COURTESY QUICKLOOKFILMS.COM
LADY MACBETH
JULY 14 (LIMITED)
>> Rural England, 1865. Katherine is stifled by her loveless marriage to a bitter man twice her age, and his
cold, unforgiving family. When she embarks on a passionate affair with a young worker on her husband’s
estate, a force is unleashed inside her so powerful that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
DISTRIBUTOR ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS CAST FLORENCE PUGH, COSMO JARVIS, PAUL HILTON, NAOMI ACKIE,
CHRISTOPHER FAIRBANK DIRECTOR WILLIAM OLDROYD WRITER ALICE BIRCH GENRE DRAMA RATING TBD RUNNING
TIME 89 MIN.
PICTURED: FLORENCE PUGH
64 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
JULY 14 (WIDE)
>> In this third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster
franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict
with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the
apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his
darker instincts and begins his own quest to avenge his kind.
As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the
Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that
will determine the fate of both their species and the future of
the planet.
DISTRIBUTOR FOX CAST ANDY SERKIS, WOODY HARRELSON, STEVE
ZAHN, AMIAH MILLER, KARIN KONOVAL, TERRY NOTARY DIRECTOR
MATT REEVES WRITERS MARK BOMBACK, MATT REEVES GENRE
ACTION, ADVENTURE, DRAMA RATING PG-13 FOR SEQUENCES OF SCI-FI
VIOLENCE AND ACTION, THEMATIC ELEMENTS, AND SOME DISTURBING
IMAGES RUNNING TIME TBD
PICTURED: KARIN KONOVAL AND AMIAH MILLER
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 65

COMING SOON
WISH UPON
JULY 14 (WIDE)
>> Twelve years after discovering her mother’s
suicide, 17-year-old Clare is bullied in high school,
embarrassed by her manic, hoarder father, and
ignored by her longtime crush. All that changes
when her father comes home with an old music
box whose inscription promises to grant its owner
seven wishes. While Clare is initially skeptical of this
magic box, she can’t help but be seduced by its dark
powers and is thrilled as her life radically improves
with each wish. Clare finally has the life she’s always
wanted and everything seems perfect—until the
people closest to her begin dying in violent and
elaborate ways after each wish. Clare realizes that
she must get rid of the box, but finds herself unable
and unwilling to part with her new-and-improved
life—leading her down a dark and dangerous path.
DISTRIBUTOR BROAD GREEN PICTURES CAST JOEY
KING, RYAN PHILLIPE, KI HONG LEE, MITCHELL SLAGGERT,
SHANNON PURSER DIRECTOR JOHN R. LEONETTI WRITER
BARBARA MARSHALL GENRE FANTASY, HORROR, THRILLER
RATING PG-13 FOR VIOLENT AND DISTURBING IMAGES,
THEMATIC ELEMENTS, AND LANGUAGE RUNNING TIME TBD
GIRLS TRIP
JULY 21 (WIDE)
>> When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the
annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are
rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling,
and romancing to make the Big Easy blush. Director Malcolm D.
Lee is the filmmaker behind the Best Man franchise.
DISTRIBUTOR UNIVERSAL CAST REGINA HALL, JADA PINKETT SMITH,
TIFFANY HADDISH, QUEEN LATIFAH DIRECTOR MALCOLM D. LEE WRITERS
KENYA BARRIS, TRACY OLIVER GENRE COMEDY RATING R FOR CRUDE AND
SEXUAL CONTENT THROUGHOUT, PERVASIVE LANGUAGE, BRIEF GRAPHIC
NUDITY, AND DRUG MATERIAL RUNNING TIME TBD
66 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

VALERIAN AND THE
CITY OF A THOUSAND
PLANETS
JULY 21 (WIDE)
>> In the 28th century, Valerian and Laureline
are a team of special operatives charged
with maintaining order throughout the human
territories. Under assignment from the
minister of defense, the two embark on a
mission to the astonishing city of Alpha—an
ever-expanding metropolis where species
from all over the universe have converged
over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence,
and cultures with each other. There is
a mystery at the center of Alpha, a dark force
that threatens the peaceful existence of the
City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and
Laureline must race to identify the marauding
menace and safeguard not just Alpha,
but the future of the universe.
DISTRIBUTOR STX ENTERTAINMENT/
EUROPACORP CAST DANE DEHAAN, CARA
DELEVINGNE, CLIVE OWEN, RIHANNA, ETHAN
HAWKE, HERBIE HANCOCK, KRIS WU, RUTGER
HAUER DIRECTOR LUC BESSON WRITER LUC
BESSON GENRE ACTION, ADVENTURE, SCI-FI
RATING PG-13 FOR SCI-FI VIOLENCE AND
ACTION, SUGGESTIVE MATERIAL, AND BRIEF
LANGUAGE RUNNING TIME 137 MIN.
PICTURED: RIHANNA (RIGHT),
DANE DEHAAN, LUC BESSON,
AND CARA DELEVINGNE (BELOW)
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 67

COMING SOON
DUNKIRK
JULY 21 (WIDE)
>> In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping
Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground
cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and
methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable
naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this
heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian, and Dutch
soldiers were safely evacuated.
DISTRIBUTOR WARNER BROS. CAST FIONN WHITEHEAD, TOM GLYNN-
CARNEY, JACK LOWDEN, HARRY STYLES, ANEURIN BARNARD, JAMES
D’ARCY, BARRY KEOGHAN, KENNETH BRANAGH, CILLIAN MURPHY,
MARK RYLANCE, TOM HARDY DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
WRITER CHRISTOPHER NOLAN GENRE ACTION, DRAMA, HISTORY
RATING PG-13 FOR INTENSE WAR EXPERIENCE AND SOME LANGUAGE
RUNNING TIME 107 MIN.
68 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

ATOMIC BLONDE
JULY 28 (WIDE)
>> The crown jewel of Her
Majesty’s Secret Intelligence
Service, agent Lorraine
Broughton is equal parts spy
craft, sensuality, and savagery,
willing to deploy any of her skills
to stay alive on her impossible
mission. Sent alone into Berlin
to deliver a priceless dossier
out of the destabilized city, she
partners with embedded station
chief David Percival to navigate
her way through the deadliest
game of spies.
DISTRIBUTOR FOCUS FEATURES
CAST CHARLIZE THERON, JAMES
MCAVOY, JOHN GOODMAN, TIL
SCHWEIGER, EDDIE MARSAN,
SOFIA BOUTELLA, TOBY JONES
DIRECTOR DAVID LEITCH WRITER
KURT JOHNSTAD GENRE ACTION,
MYSTERY, THRILLER RATING R FOR
SEQUENCES OF STRONG VIOLENCE,
LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT,
AND SOME SEXUALITY/NUDITY
RUNNING TIME 115 MIN.
PICTURED: CHARLIZE THERON
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 69

MENASHE
JULY 28 (LIMITED)
>> Deep in the heart of New York’s ultra-orthodox
Hasidic Jewish community, Menashe—a kind,
hapless grocery-store clerk—struggles to make
ends meet and responsibly parent his young son,
Rieven, following his wife Leah’s death. Tradition
prohibits Menashe from raising his son alone, so
Rieven’s strict uncle adopts him, leaving Menashe
heartbroken. Meanwhile, though Menashe seems
to bungle every challenge in his path, his rabbi
grants him one special week with Rieven before
Leah’s memorial. It’s his chance to prove himself a
suitable man of faith and fatherhood, and restore
respect among his doubters.
DISTRIBUTOR A24 CAST MENASHE LUSTIG, YOEL
FALKOWITZ DIRECTOR JOSHUA Z. WEINSTEIN WRITERS
ALEX LIPSCHULTZ, MUSA SYEED, JOSHUA Z. WEINSTEIN
GENRE DRAMA RATING PG FOR THEMATIC ELEMENTS
RUNNING TIME 82 MIN.
PICTURED: MENASHE LUSTIG
70 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL:
TRUTH TO POWER
JULY 28 (LIMITED, EXPANDS AUG. 4)
>> A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought
climate change into the heart of popular culture
comes the riveting follow-up that shows both the
escalation of the crisis and how close we are to a
real solution.
AL GORE
DISTRIBUTOR PARAMOUNT CAST AL GORE DIRECTORS
BONNI COHEN, JON SHENK GENRE DOCUMENTARY
RATING TBD RUNNING TIME 99 MIN.
BRIGSBY BEAR
JULY 28
>> Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children’s TV show
produced for an audience of one: James. When the
show abruptly ends, James’s life changes forever,
he sets out to finish the story himself and must
learn to cope with the realities of a new world that
he knows nothing about.
DISTRIBUTOR SONY PICTURES CLASSICS CAST KYLE
MOONEY, MARK HAMILL, CLAIRE DANES, ANDY SAMBERG,
MICHAELA WATKINS, MATT WALSH, GREG KINNEAR
DIRECTOR DAVE MCCARY WRITER KEVIN COSTELLO
GENRE COMEDY RATING PG-13 FOR THEMATIC ELEMENTS,
BRIEF SEXUALITY, DRUG MATERIAL AND TEEN PARTYING
RUNNING TIME 100 MIN.
THE EMOJI MOVIE
JUNE 28 (WIDE)
>> Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a
bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to
be selected by the phone’s user. Each emoji has only one
facial expression—except for Gene, an exuberant emoji
who was born without a filter. Determined to become
“normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of
his handy best friend Hi-5 and the famous code-breaker
emoji Jailbreak. Together, they embark on an epic “appventure”
through the apps on the phone, each its own
wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene.
But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate
of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who
must save their world before it’s deleted forever.
DISTRIBUTOR SONY / COLUMBIA VOICE CAST T. J. MILLER,
ANNA FARIS, JAMES CORDEN, PATRICK STEWART, MAYA RUDOLPH
DIRECTOR TONY LEONDIS WRITERS ERIC SIEGEL, TONY LEONDIS,
MIKE WHITE GENRE ANIMATION, ADVENTURE, COMEDY RATING
PG FOR RUDE HUMOR RUNNING TIME TBD
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 71

EVENT CINEMA CALENDAR
FATHOM EVENTS fathomevents.com 855-473-4612
CAROL KING: TAPESTRY - CAPTURED LIVE AT HYDE PARK LONDON Sun, 7/23/17 Bollywood
THE MET: LIVE IN HD – NABUCCO Wed, 7/12/17 Opera
SHARK WEEK 2017 THEATRICAL PREMIERE EVENT Tues, 7/18/17 Premiere
THE MET: LIVE IN HD - CARMEN Wed, 7/19/17 Opera
NT LIVE: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART 1: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES Thurs, 7/20/17 and Thurs, 7/27/17 Theatre
KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE Sun, 7/23/17 and Mon, 7/24/17 Anime
DEVDAS 15TH ANNIVERSARY Sun, 7/23/17 and Mon, 7/24/17 Anime
NT LIVE: ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART 2: PERESTROIKA Thurs, 7/27/17 Theatre
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH 35TH ANNIVERSARY (1982) Sun, 7/30/17 and Wed, 8/2/17 Classic Film
DISNEY’S NEWSIES: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL! Sat, 8/5/17 and Wed, 8/9/17 Musical
DCI BIG, LOUD & LIVE 14 Thurs, 8/10/17 Sports
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: BONNIE AND CLYDE 50TH ANNIVERSARY (1967) Sun, 8/13/17 and Wed, 8/16/17 Classic Film
BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN Mon, 8/14/17 Animation
RIFFTRAX LIVE: DOCTOR WHO- THE FIVE DOCTORS Thurs, 8/17/17 and Thurs, 8/24/17 Comedy
STARSHIP TROOPERS: TRAITOR OF MARS Mon, 8/21/17 Action
CASTLE IN THE SKY Sun, 8/27/17 and Mon, 8/28/17 Anime
EXTRAORDINARY Thurs, 9/7/17 Inspirational
THE HEART OF MAN Thurs, 9/14/17 Inspirational
SPACEPOP: NOT YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESSES Sat, 9/16/17 Family
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 35TH ANNIVERSARY (1982) Sun, 9/17/17 and Wed, 9/20/17 Classic Film
NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND Sun, 9/24/17 and Mon, 9/25/17 Anime
STEVE MCQUEEN: AMERICAN ICON Thurs, 9/28/17 Documentary
MULLY Tues, 10/3/17, Wed, 10/4/17 and Thurs, 10/5/17 Documentary
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: THE PRINCESS BRIDE 30TH ANNIVERSARY (1987) Sun, 10/15/17 and Wed, 10/18/17 Classic Film
BOLSHOI BALLET: LE CORSAIRE Sun, 10/22/17 Ballet
SPIRITED AWAY Sun, 10/29/17 and Mon, 10/30/17 Anime
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: CASABLANCA 75TH ANNIVERSARY (1942) Sun, 11/12/17 and Wed, 11/15/17 Classic Film
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE Sun, 11/26/17 and Mon, 11/27/17 Anime
TCM BIG SCREEN CLASSICS: GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER 50TH ANNIVERSARY (1967) Sun, 12/10/17 and Wed, 12/13/17 Classic Film
BOLSHOI BALLET: THE NUTCRACKER Sun, 12/17/17 Ballet
BOLSHOI BALLET: ROMEO AND JULIET Sun, 1/21/18 Ballet
BOLSHOI BALLET: THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS Sun, 2/4/18 Ballet
BOLSHOI BALLET: THE FLAMES OF PARIS Sun, 3/4/18 Ballet
BOLSHOI BALLET: GISELLE Sun, 4/8/18 Ballet
BOLSHOI BALLET: COPPÉLIA Sun, 6/10/18 Ballet
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE roh.org.uk/cinemas cinema@roh.org.uk
DIE ZAUBERFLOTE Wed, 9/20/17 Opera
LA BOHEME Tue, 10/3/17 Opera
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Mon, 10/23/17 Ballet
THE NUTCRACKER Tue, 12/5/17 Ballet
RIGOLETTO Tue, 1/16/18 Opera
TOSCA Wed, 2/7/18 Opera
THE WINTER'S TALE Wed, 2/28/18 Dance Drama
CARMEN Tue, 3/6/18 Opera
NEW WAYNE MCGREGOR /THE AGE OF ANXIETY / NEW CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON Tue, 3/27/18 Ballet
MACBETH Wed, 4/4/18 Opera
MANON Thu, 5/3/18 Ballet
SWAN LAKE Tue, 6/12/18 Ballet
72 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

BOOKING GUIDE
TITLE RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE SPECS
A24 646-568-6015
A GHOST STORY Fri, 7/7/17 LTD. Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck David Lowery R Dra/SF/Fan
MENASHE Fri, 7/28/17 LTD. Menashe Lustig Joshua Z Weinstein PG Dra
GOOD TIME
Fri, 8/11/17 LTD.
Robert Pattinson,
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie NR Cri/Dra
WOODSHOCK Fri, 9/15/17 LTD. Kirsten Dunst, Joe Cole
Kate Mulleavy,
Laura Mulleavy
R
Dra/Thr
THE FLORIDA PROJECT Fri, 10/6/17 LTD. Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince Sean Baker NR Dra
THE KILLING OF THE SACRED DEER Fri, 11/3/17 LTD. Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell Yorgos Lanthimos NR Dra
THE DISASTER ARTIST Fri, 12/1/17 LTD. James Franco, Dave Franco James Franco NR Com
DISNEY 818-560-1000 Ask for Distribution
THOR: RAGNAROK
Fri, 11/3/17 WIDE
Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth,
Idris Elba
Taika Waititi NR Act/Adv/Fan 3D/IMAX
COCO Fri, 11/22/17 WIDE Benjamin Bratt Lee Unkrich NR Ani 3D
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Fri, 12/15/17 WIDE
Daisy Ridley, John Boyega,
Oscar Isaac
Rian Johnson NR Act/Adv/SF
3D/IMAX/Dolby
Dig
BLACK PANTHER Fri, 2/16/18 WIDE Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o Ryan Coogler NR Act/Adv/SF 3D/IMAX
A WRINKLE IN TIME Fri, 3/9/18 WIDE Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon Ava DuVernay NR Fan 3D/IMAX
MAGIC CAMP Fri, 4/6/18 WIDE Gillian Jacobs , Adam Devine Mark Waters PG Com/Fam/Fan
DOLPHINS
Fri, 4/20/18 WIDE
Alastair Fothergill,
Keith Scholey
NR
Doc/Fam
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Fri, 5/4/18 WIDE Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans
Anthony Russo &
Joe Russo
NR Act/Adv/SF 3D/IMAX
UNTITLED HAN SOLO STAR WARS ANTHOLOGY FILM Fri, 5/25/18 WIDE Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover Ron Howard NR Act/Adv/SF
3D/IMAX/Dolby
Dig
THE INCREDIBLES 2 Fri, 6/15/18 WIDE Brad Bird NR Ani/Adv/Fam 3D/IMAX
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Fri, 7/6/18 WIDE Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly Peyton Reed NR Act/Adv/SF 3D/IMAX
UNTITLED DISNEY LIVE ACTION FAIRY TALE 1 Fri, 8/3/18 WIDE NR Fan 3D
MULAN Fri, 11/2/18 WIDE Niki Caro NR Act/Adv 3D/IMAX
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2 Fri, 11/21/18 WIDE John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman Phil Johnston, Rich Moore NR Ani/Adv/Fam 3D/IMAX
MARY POPPINS RETURNS Fri, 12/25/18 WIDE Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda Rob Marshall NR Fam/Fan
FOCUS FEATURES 424-214-6360
ATOMIC BLONDE Fri, 7/28/17 LTD. Sofia Boutella, James McAvoy David Leitch NR Thr
VICTORIA AND ABDUL Fri, 9/22/17 LTD. Judi Dench, Ali Fazal Stephen Frears PG-13 Dra
DARKEST HOUR Fri, 11/22/17 WIDE Gary Oldman, Lily James Joe Wright NR Bio
UNTITLED PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON FILM Mon, 12/25/17 LTD. Paul Thomas Anderson NR
UNTITLED ENTEBBE PROJECT Fri, 3/16/18 WIDE NR
TULLY Fri, 4/20/18 WIDE Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis Jason Reitman NR Com
UNTITILED LAIKA FILM Fri, 5/18/18 WIDE NR
CAPTIVE STATE Wed, 8/17/18 WIDE John Goodman, Ashton Sanders Rupert Wyatt NR SF
FOX 310-369-1000 / 212-556-2400
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Fri, 7/14/17 WIDE Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson Matt Reeves PG-13 Act/SF
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE Fri, 9/22/17 WIDE Taron Egerton, Julianne Moore Matthew Vaughn NR Act/Thr
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US Fri, 10/6/17 WIDE Kate Winslet, Idris Elba Hany Abu-Assad NR Dra/Rom
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Fri, 11/10/17 WIDE Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley Kenneth Branagh NR Dra/Mys
FERDINAND Fri, 12/15/17 WIDE John Cena, Kate McKinnon Carlos Saldanha NR Ani/Fam 3D
74 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

TITLE RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE SPECS
UNTITLED STEVEN SPIELBERG FILM Fri, 12/22/17 PLAT. Steven Spielberg NR
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN Mon, 12/25/17 WIDE Hugh Jackman Michael Gracey NR Mus/Dra
MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE Fri, 2/9/18 WIDE Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario Wes Ball NR SF/Thr IMAX
RED SPARROW Fri, 3/2/18 WIDE Jennifer Lawrence Francis Lawrence NR Thr
UNTITLED GREG BERLANTI FILM Fri, 3/16/18 WIDE NR
ANUBIS Fri, 3/23/18 WIDE Chris Wedge NR Ani 3D
NEW MUTANTS Fri, 4/13/18 WIDE Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams Josh Boone NR Act/Adv/SF
DEADPOOL 2 Fri, 6/1/18 WIDE Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin David Leitch NR Act/Adv/SF
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL Fri, 7/20/18 WIDE Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz Robert Rodriguez NR Act/Adv/Rom
THE PREDATOR Fri, 8/3/18 WIDE Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay Shane Black NR Act/SF/Hor
THE DARKEST MINDS Fri, 9/14/18 WIDE Amandla Stenberg, Mandy Moore Jennifer Yuh Nelson NR SF/Thr
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING Fri, 9/28/18 WIDE Joe Cornish NR
Fan/Fam/Act/
Adv
DARK PHOENIX Fri, 11/2/18 WIDE Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence Simon Kinberg NR Act/Adv/SF
WIDOWS Fri, 11/16/18 WIDE Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis Steve McQueen NR Dra
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Fri, 12/25/18 WIDE Rami Malek Bryan Singer NR Bio/Mus
FOX SEARCHLIGHT 212-556-2400
STEP Fri, 8/4/17 LTD. Blessin Giraldo, Cori Grainger Amanda Lipitz PG Doc
PATTI CAKE$ Fri, 8/18/17 LTD. Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett Geremy Jasper R Dra
BATTLE OF THE SEXES Fri, 9/22/17 LTD. Emma Stone, Steve Carell
Jonathan Dayton and
Valerie Faris
PG-13
Bio/Com
GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN Fri, 10/13/17 LTD. Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie Simon Curtis NR Bio/Fam/His
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Fri, 11/10/17 LTD. Abbie Cornish, Woody Harrelson Martin McDonagh R Dra
THE SHAPE OF WATER Fri, 12/8/17 LTD. Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer Guillermo del Toro R Dra/Fan/Rom
ISLE OF DOGS Fri, 3/23/18 LTD. Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston Wes Anderson NR Ani/Adv/Com
LIONSGATE 310-309-8400
THE GLASS CASTLE Fri, 8/11/17 WIDE Brie Larson, Naomi Watts Destin Daniel Cretton PG-13 Dra/Bio
THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD Fri, 8/18/17 WIDE Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson Patrick Hughes NR Act/Com
UNTITLED PANTELION FILM Fri, 9/1/17 MOD. NR
AMERICAN ASSASSIN Fri, 9/15/17 WIDE Michael Keaton, Dylan O’Brien Michael Cuesta NR Act/Adv
STRONGER Fri, 9/22/17 LTD. Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany David Gordon Green NR Dra
MY LITTLE PONY: THE MOVIE Fri, 10/6/17 WIDE Tara Strong, Emily Blunt Jayson Thiessen NR Ani/Fan/Fam
TYPER PERRY’S BOO 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN Fri, 10/20/17 WIDE Tyler Perry Tyler Perry NR Com
SAW: LEGACY Fri, 10/27/17 WIDE Laura Vandervoort, Tobin Bell
Michael Spierig,
Peter Spierig
R
Hor
WONDER Fri, 11/17/17 WIDE Julia Roberts, Jacob Tremblay Stephen Chbosky PG Dra
THE COMMUTER Fri, 1/12/18 WIDE Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga Jaume Collet-Serra NR Act
EARLY MAN Fri, 2/16/18 WIDE Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston Nick Park NR Ani/Adv/Com
ROBIN HOOD Fri, 3/23/18 WIDE Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx Otto Bathurst NR Adv
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME Fri, 7/6/18 WIDE Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon Susanna Fogel NR Com/Act
OPEN ROAD FILMS 310-696-7504
THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE Fri, 8/11/17 WIDE Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl Cal Brunker NR Ani/Com/Fam 3D
HOME AGAIN Fri, 9/8/17 LTD. Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen Hallie Meyers-Shyer NR Dra/Com/Rom
ALL I SEE IS YOU Fri, 9/15/17 WIDE Blake Lively, Yvonne Strahovski Marc Forster NR Dra/Thr
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 75

BOOKING GUIDE
TITLE RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE SPECS
MARSHALL Fri, 10/13/17 WIDE Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad Reginald Hudlin NR Dra/Bio
MIDNIGHT SUN
Fri, 1/26/18 WIDE
Bella Thorne,
Patrick Schwarzenegger
Scott Speer NR Dra/Rom
SHOW DOGS Fri, 2/16/18 WIDE Will Arnett, Natasha Lyonne Raja Gosnell NR Com/Fam
DUCK DUCK GOOSE Fri, 4/20/18 WIDE Jim Gaffigan, Zendaya Christopher Jenkins NR Ani/Com/Fam
PARAMOUNT 323-956-5000
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER Fri, 7/28/17 WIDE Al Gore Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk NR Doc
MOTHER!
Fri, 10/13/17 WIDE
Jennifer Lawrence,
Domhnall Gleeson
Darren Aronofsky NR Dra/Mys
2017 CLOVERFIELD MOVIE Fri, 10/27/17 WIDE NR SF/Thr IMAX
SUBURBICON Fri, 11/3/17 WIDE Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac George Clooney R Com/Cri/Mys
DADDY’S HOME 2 Fri, 11/10/17 WIDE Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg Sean Anders NR Com
DOWNSIZING Fri, 12/22/17 WIDE Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig Alexander Payne NR Com
ACTION POINT Fri, 3/23/18 WIDE Johnny Knoxville, Aidan Whytock Tim Kirkby NR
SHERLOCK GNOMES Fri, 3/23/18 WIDE James McAvoy, Emily Blunt John Stevenson NR Ani/Com/Fam
A QUIET PLACE Fri, 4/6/18 WIDE Emily Blunt, John Krasinski John Krasinski NR Hor/Thr
TRANSFORMERS 6 Fri, 6/8/18 WIDE NR Ani/Com/Adv
MISSION: IMPOSSILBE 6 Fri, 7/27/18 WIDE Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson Christopher McQuarrie NR Act/Adv
AMUSEMENT PARK Fri, 8/10/18 WIDE Mila Kunis, Jennifer Garner Dylan Brown NR Ani/Com/Fam
OVERLORD Fri, 10/26/18 WIDE Wyatt Russell and Jovan Adepo Julius Avery NR War/Thr
UNTITLED PARAMOUNT EVENT FILM Fri, 11/2/18 WIDE NR
SONY 212-833-8500
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Fri, 7/7/17 WIDE Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei Jon Watts NR Act/Adv
3D/IMAX/Dolby
Atmos
THE EMOJI MOVIE Fri, 7/28/17 WIDE James Corden, Ilana Glazer Tony Leondis PG Ani 3D
THE DARK TOWER Fri, 8/4/17 WIDE Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey Nikolaj Arcel NR Wes/Act/Fan
ALL SAINTS Fri, 8/25/17 WIDE Cara Buono, John Corbett Steve Gormer PG Dra
CADAVER Fri, 8/25/17 WIDE Stana Katic, Shay Mitchell Diederik Van Rooijen NR Hor
FLATLINERS Fri, 9/29/17 WIDE Nina Dobrev, Kiefer Sutherland Niels Arden Oplev NR Dra/Hor/SF
GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS Fri, 10/20/17 WIDE Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller Joseph Kosinski NR Dra
THE STAR Fri, 11/10/17 WIDE Steven Yeun, Kelly Clarkson Timothy Reckart NR Ani 3D
HE’S OUT THERE Fri, 12/1/17 WIDE Yvonne Strahovski, Justin Bruening Dennis Iliadis NR Hor
JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE Fri, 12/22/17 WIDE Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black Jake Kasdan NR Adv/Fan/Fam
PROUD MARY Fri, 1/12/18 WIDE Taraji P. Henson Babak Najafi NR Thr
WHITE BOY RICK
Fri, 1/26/18 WIDE
Matthew McConaughey,
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Yann Demange NR Cri/Dra
ALPHA Fri, 3/2/18 WIDE Kodi Smit-McPhee, Leonor Varela Albert Hughes NR Act/Dra/Thr
PETER RABBIT Fri, 3/23/18 WIDE Will Gluck Rose Byrne, James Corden NR Fam/Ani
SLENDER MAN Fri, 5/18/18 WIDE Joey King, Julia Goldani-Telles Sylvain White NR Hor
BARBIE Fri, 6/29/18 WIDE Amy Schumer NR Com
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 Fri, 7/13/18 WIDE Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez Genndy Tartakovsky NR Ani/Com/Fam
THE NIGHTINGALE Fri, 8/10/18 WIDE Michelle MacLaren NR Dra
THE EQUALIZER 2 Thu, 9/14/18 WIDE Denzel Washington Antoine Fuqua NR Act/Thr
GOOSEBUMPS: HORRORLAND Fri, 9/21/18 WIDE Rob Letterman NR Com/Fam/Hor
76 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

TITLE RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE SPECS
VENOM Fri, 10/5/18 WIDE Tom Hardy Ruben Fleischer NR SF/Act
THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB Fri, 10/19/18 WIDE Fede Alvarez NR Dra/Thr
BAD BOYS FOR LIFE Fri, 11/9/18 WIDE Will Smith, Martin Lawrence Joe Carnahan NR Act/Thr
UNTITLED ANIMATED SPIDER-MAN FILM Fri, 12/14/18 WIDE Bob Persichetti NR Ani/Act/Fam
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS Tom Prassis 212-833-4981
BRIGSBY BEAR Fri, 7/28/17 LTD. Kyle Mooney, Beck Bennett Dave McCary PG-13 Dra
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Fri, 11/24/17 NY/LA Elena Bucci, Vanda Capriolo Luca Guadagnino R Dra/Rom
STX ENTERTAINMENT 310-742-2300
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS Fri, 7/21/17 WIDE Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne Luc Besson PG-13 Act/Adv/SF
RENEGADES Fri, 9/1/17 WIDE J.K. Simmons, Sullivan Stapleton Steven Quale PG-13 Act/Thr
THE FOREIGNER Fri, 10/13/17 WIDE Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan Martin Campbell NR Act/Sus
A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS Fri, 11/3/17 WIDE Mila Kunis, Kristin Bell Jon Lucas, Scott Moore NR Com
DEN OF THIEVES Fri, 1/19/18 WIDE Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber Christian Gudegast NR Dra/Cri
GRINGO Fri, 3/9/18 WIDE Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton Nash Edgerton NR Act/Com/Dra
UNIVERSAL 818-777-1000
GIRLS TRIP Fri, 7/21/17 WIDE Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah Malcolm D. Lee R Com
AMERICAN MADE Fri, 9/29/17 WIDE Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson Doug Liman NR Cri/Thr
HAPPY DEATH DAY Fri, 10/13/17 WIDE Jessica Rothe Christopher Landon NR Hor/Thr/Mys
THE SNOWMAN
Fri, 10/20/17 WIDE
Michael Fassbender, Rebecca
Ferguson
Tomas Alfredson NR Cri/Thr
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE Fri, 10/27/17 WIDE Miles Teller, Haley Bennett Jason Hall R Dra/War
LET IT SNOW Fri, 11/22/17 WIDE Luke Snellin NR Rom/Com
PITCH PERFECT 3 Fri, 12/22/17 WIDE Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson Elizabeth Banks NR Com/Mus
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 4 Fri, 1/5/18 WIDE Lin Shaye Adam Robitel NR Hor/Thr
EXTINCTION Fri, 1/26/18 WIDE Michael Peña, Lizzy Caplan Ben Young NR SF/Thr
FIFTY SHADES FREED Fri, 2/9/18 WIDE Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan James Foley NR Dra/Rom
LARRIKINS Fri, 2/16/18 WIDE Margot Robbie, Hugh Jackman NR Ani/Com 3D
PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING Fri, 2/23/18 WIDE Scott Eastwood, John Boyega Steven S. DeKnight NR SF/Act 3D
THE PACT Fri, 4/6/18 WIDE Leslie Mann, John Cena Kay Cannon R Com
UNTITLED 2018 UNIVERSAL MONSTER FRANCISE
FILM
Fri, 4/13/18 WIDE NR Hor
JURRASIC WORLD SEQUEL Fri, 6/22/18 WIDE Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard J.A. Bayona NR Act/Adv
UNTITLED NEXT PURGE CHAPTER Wed, 7/4/18 WIDE NR Hor
SKYSCRAPER Fri, 7/13/18 WIDE Dwayne Johnson Rawson Marshall Thurber NR Act
MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN! Fri, 7/20/18 WIDE Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep Ol Parker NR Mus/Com
SCARFACE Fri, 8/10/18 WIDE Diego Luna David Ayer NR Cri/Dra
NIGHT SCHOOL Fri, 9/28/18 WIDE Kevin Hart NR Com
FIRST MAN Fri, 10/12/18 WIDE Ryan Gosling Damien Chazelle NR Dra/Bio
DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS Fri, 11/9/18 WIDE Benedict Cumberbatch
Peter Candeland,
Yarrow Cheney
UNTITLED ROBERT ZEMECKIS PROJECT Wed, 11/21/18 WIDE Steve Carell Robert Zemeckis NR Dra
MORTAL ENGINES Fri, 12/14/18 WIDE Hugo Weaving, Stephen Lang Christian Rivers NR SF
WARNER BROS. 818-977-1850
NR
Ani/Com/Fam
DUNKIRK Fri, 7/21/17 WIDE Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh Christopher Nolan PG-13 Act/Thr/War IMAX
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 77

BOOKING GUIDE
TITLE RELEASE DATE STARS DIRECTOR(S) RATING GENRE SPECS
ANNABELLE: CREATION
Fri, 8/11/17 WIDE
Stephanie Sigman,
Alicia Vela-Bailey
David F. Sandberg R Hor/Thr
IT Fri, 9/8/17 WIDE Finn Wolfhard, Bill Skarsgård Andrés Muschietti NR Hor/Thr
THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE Fri, 9/22/17 WIDE Dave Franco, Michael Peña Charlie Bean NR Ani/Adv/Fam 3D/IMAX
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Fri, 10/6/17 WIDE Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford Denis Villeneuve NR SF/Thr IMAX
GEOSTORM Fri, 10/20/17 WIDE Gerard Butler, Abbie Cornish Dean Devlin PG-13 Act/Thr/SF 3D/IMAX
JUSTICE LEAGUE Fri, 11/17/17 WIDE Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot Zack Snyder NR Act/Adv 3D/IMAX
BASTARDS Fri, 12/22/17 WIDE Owen Wilson, Ed Helms Lawrence Sher R Com
HORSE SOLDIERS Fri, 1/19/18 WIDE Chris Hemsworth, Elsa Pataky Nicolai Fuglsig NR Dra/His/War IMAX
GAME NIGHT Wed, 2/14/18 WIDE Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams
John Francis Daley,
Jonathan Goldstein
TOMB RAIDER Fri, 3/16/18 WIDE Alicia Vikander Roar Uthaug NR Act/Adv 3D
READY PLAYER ONE Fri, 3/30/18 WIDE Simon Pegg, T.J. Miller Steven Spielburg NR Act/SF/Thr
RAMPAGE Fri, 4/20/18 WIDE Dwayne Johnson Brad Peyton NR Adv/Fan
LIFE OF THE PARTY Fri, 5/11/18 WIDE Melissa McCarthy, Julie Bowen Ben Falcone NR Com
OCEAN’S 8 Fri, 6/8/18 WIDE Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett Gary Ross NR Cri
TAG Fri, 6/29/18 WIDE Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms Jeff Tomsic NR Com
THE NUN Fri, 7/13/18 WIDE Taissa Farmiga, Bonnie Aarons Corin Hardy NR Hor
UNTITLED 2018 DC FILM 2 Fri, 7/27/18 WIDE NR Act/Adv/SF
MEG Fri, 8/10/18 WIDE Jason Statham, Bingbing Fan Jon Turteltaub NR Act/Hor/SF
UNTITLED WB COMEDY Fri, 8/17/18 WIDE NR Com
UNTITLED NEW LINE HORROR FILM Fri, 9/7/18 WIDE NR Hor
SMALLFOOT Fri, 9/14/18 WIDE Zendaya, Channing Tatum
SCOOBY
Fri, 9/21/18 WIDE
Glenn Ficarra,Ryan
O’Loughlin, John Requa
Tony Cervone, Dax
Shepard
NR
NR
NR
Com
Ani/Com/Fam
Ani/Com/Fam
A STAR IS BORN Fri, 9/28/18 WIDE Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga Bradley Cooper NR Dra/Mus/Rom
JUNGLE BOOK Fri, 10/19/18 WIDE Rohan Chand, Andy Serkis Andy Serkis NR Adv/Dra
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM 2 Fri, 11/16/18 WIDE Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp David Yates NR Act/Adv/Fan
AQUAMAN Fri, 12/21/18 WIDE Jason Momoa, Amber Heard James Wan NR Act/Adv/SF 3D/IMAX
WEINSTEIN CO./DIMENSION 646-862-3400
WIND RIVER Fri, 8/4/17 LTD. Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen Taylor Sheridan R Dra
POLAROID Fri, 8/25/17 WIDE Madelaine Petsch, Javier Botet Lars Klevberg NR Hor/Sus
TULIP FEVER Fri, 8/25/17 MOD Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan Justin Chadwick R Dra/Rom
LEAP! Fri, 8/30/17 WIDE Elle Fanning, Maggie Ziegler
Eric Summer and
Eric Warin
PG
Ani
WAR WITH GRANDPA Fri, 10/20/17 WIDE Robert De Niro Tim Hill NR Fam/Com
MARY MAGDALENE Fri, 11/24/17 LTD. Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix Garth Davis NR Dra
THE CURRENT WAR
Fri, 12/22/17 LTD.
Benedict Cumberbatch,
Michael Shannon
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon NR Dra
THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN Fri, 12/22/17 WIDE Mark Wahlberg
Peter Berg,
Damián Szifrón
NR
Act/SF
PADDINGTON 2 Fri, 1/12/18 WIDE Ben Wishaw, Hugh Grant Paul King NR Fam/Com
UNTITLED KEVIN HART/ BRYAN CRANSTON Fri, 3/9/18 WIDE Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston Neil Burger NR Com/Dra
78 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

OUR SPONSORS
20th Century Fox 43
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Back cover
Cardinal Sound 79
Christie
Inside front cover
D-BOX 21
Dolphin Seating 35
Enpar Audio 63
GenerationNext Brands 2–3
Geneva Convention 13
Gold Medal Products 19
Goldberg Brothers 37
Great Western 17
Harkness Screens 9, 11
Kernel Season’s 49
Lightspeed/Depth Q 79
Marquee Cinemas 79
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locations worldwide.
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MOC Insurance 5
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Proctor Companies 39
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QSC Audio Products 7
www.depthq3d.com
Ready Theater Systems 41
RealD 56–57
Retriever Systems 42
Sensible Cinema 87
Sonic Equipment 15
Spotlight Cinema Networks 33
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 73
Venture Foods 23
VIP Cinema Seating 1
White Castle 29
Will Rogers
Inside back cover
JULY 2017 BOXOFFICE ® 79

MARKETPLACE
BUYING & SELLING
MARQUEE LETTERS. Buying and selling. New
and Used marquee letters all types. We buy
old. We sell new. All styles. Trade in your old
letters and get new letters. Turn those old
letters into cash. Your source for new Pronto,
Zip-Change, Snap Lok, Slotted. mike@pilut.
com 800-545-8956
LOOKING TO PURCHASE 3-8 screen venue
in California or south western United States.
Contact: Atul Desai 949-291-5700
DRIVE-IN CONSTRUCTION
DRIVE-IN SCREEN TOWERS since 1945. Selby
Products Inc., P.O. Box 267, Richfield, OH
44286. Phone: 330-659-6631.
EQUIPMENT WANTED
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 888-409-1414.
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.
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 and 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.
FOR SALE
FOUR SCREEN, south central Wisconsin theater
for sale. Digital, newer seating, college
town. 651-492-9832.
CLASSIC CINEMAS is looking to sell 616
slightly used electric 1st edition Bliss
Loungers to replace with the new Bliss Zero
Lounger. They are selling 22” wide electric
reclining loveseats in excellent condition
with lit aisle and seat tags. If interested,
please call Jeremy Chupp at 770-823-1330.
USED DIGITAL PROJECTORS, (5) complete
booths including sound equipment.
Three years old. Contact seller at moviescope1000@gmail.com.
2 BRAND NEW 3000 watts Christie Xenon
lamps for 35mm projectors. Contact: Atul
Desai 949-291-5700.
BARCO 3D/DIGITAL EQUIPMENT FOR SALE:
Purchase for $55K. Equipment list provided
upon request. Contact seller at mschwartz@
pennprolaw.com.
PREFERRED SEATING COMPANY, your
source for new, used and refurbished theater
and stadium seating. Buying and
selling used seating is our specialty. Call
toll-free 866-922-0226 or visit our website
www.‐preferred-seating.com.
USED DIGITAL PROJECTORS Two NEC
NC1200 with two-year warranty $23,000.
Six new NEC NC900 with lens $18,000. Warranty
starts when installed. Used servers
and USL hearing-impaired equipment. Call
Stetson Snell 505-615-2913. Email stetsonsnell@enparaudio.com.
18 SETS OF USED 35MM AUTOMATED
PROJECTION SYSTEM (comes with Projector,
Console, Automation Unit and Platter)
comprising of 10 sets of Christie and 8 sets
of Strong 35mm system available on ‘as is
where is’ basis in Singapore. Contact seller
at engthye_lim@cathay.com.sg
APPROXIMATELY 2,000 SEATS FOR SALE.
MOBILIARIO high-back rockers with cup
holders. Located in Connecticut. Contact
(203)758-2148.
6 PLEX EQUIPMENT PACKAGE. 6 complete
booths digital projectors/sound, 72
speakers, seats, screens/frames, concession
equipment, computers, led signs/marquees,
safe/misc equipment. Serious inquiries
only. For equipment list email contact@
digitalequipmenttechnologies.com or call
801-548-0108 or fax 801-281-0482.
HELP WANTED
TRI STATE THEATRE SUPPLY in Memphis,
TN has openings for experienced Digital
Cinema Techs nationwide. Please send your
resume to include qualifications, certifications
and salary requirements to fred@tristatetheatre.com
THEATRE MANAGEMENT POSITIONS
AVAILABLE Pacific Northwest Theatre Company.
Previous management experience
required. Work weekends, evenings and
holidays. Send resume and salary history to
movietheatrejobs@gmail.com
POSITIONS AVAILABLE
Paragon Theaters has THEATER MANAGE-
MENT POSITIONS available at multiple locations.
If you have previous management
experience, please send your resume to
robert.fronckoski@paragontheaters.com.
The three-screen Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Parkway Film Center in Baltimore
is seeking an OPERATIONS DIRECTOR to
oversee all aspects of running the theater
and concessions. The Film Center, a partnership
among the Maryland Film Festival,
Johns Hopkins University and MICA will
open in spring of 2017 and offer a broad
range of the world’s best art-house, independent,
documentary, and classic cinema.
The full job description and application
instructions are found at mdfilmfest.com/
about-the-festival/jobs.php.
SERVICES
DULL FLAT PICTURE? RESTORE YOUR XE-
NON REFLECTORS! 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.
THEATER SPACE FOR LEASE
AN 8,400 SQ. FT. SPACE containing two
movie theaters is available for lease in
Frankfort, KY, at a very reasonable lease rate.
It would be perfect for the new concept of
eating in the theater. The theaters are located
in the middle of a major shopping center.
The center owners would prefer an operating
movie theater rather than convert
the space into retail use. Contact Alexa at
859-221-9921 or email her at alexarkelley@
gmail.com for more information.
80 BOXOFFICE ® JULY 2017

IT’S TIME TO GO
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