Boxoffice - May 2019

CINEMACON RECAP
TRADE SHOW
FLOOR
aires (NAC), revealed that the immediate benefits
of expanded F&B offerings are somewhat limited.
“We realized people aren’t coming to the movies
more because we offer extended or full menus,”
said Larry Etter, an SVP at Malco Theatres and
director of education at NAC, when presenting
the study’s results. “Sure, it’s a nice amenity—but
for me, it was one of those ‘Duh!’ moments: Why
do people go to the movies? They come for the
product on your screens. They’re coming to see
movies.” Rather than viewing expanded concessions
as an evolution of the moviegoing experience,
Etter regards the trend as an example of exhibition
raising the standard of its offering to consumers.
“As operators and exhibitors, once we get them in
the building we need to ask ourselves: How do we
keep them entertained and make that entire package
better than it’s been for the last 10 years?”
Raising that standard is integral for Vue CEO
Tim Richards, who mentioned the decline of
U.K. cinema admissions in the postwar period as
a result of a lack of investment. Vowing to avoid
the same mistakes, Richards has prioritized maintaining
an up-to-date circuit in several key areas.
“For us at Vue, we took things to a back-to-basics
mode: looking at seats, sight, and sound,” said
Richards in a panel discussion. “Our investment
has been focused on trying to enhance that experience
for customers.”
PHOTO: DANIEL LORIA
Other premium amenities, like PLF and
immersive seating, are designed to drive higher
ticket prices. The proliferation of these formats in
the last half-decade has to be considered alongside
the decline of 3-D box office revenue in recent
years. Global box office for 3-D titles has declined
by 20 percent since 2015. On the other hand, IHS
reports the number of PLF auditoriums worldwide
has more than doubled in the last three years.
Simply stating that 3-D’s box office impact is in
decline is only half the story. The rise of PLF and
immersive seating shows that premium pricing at
cinemas isn’t being eradicated—it’s diversifying.
Jed Harmsen, senior director of worldwide cinema
and content solutions at Dolby, has seen that
shift firsthand over the last half-decade. “Five years
ago, [Dolby Cinema] was a technology demonstration
to show people what we were working on,”
said the executive of the launch of Dolby’s branded
PLF solution featuring its Dolby Vision image and
Dolby Atmos audio technology. “Now here we are,
five years later, with 200 locations installed across
11 countries—and we have another 200 that have
already been committed.”
Other tech companies have stepped up to
deliver their own branded PLF solutions to rival
Imax and Dolby Cinema. On the eve of Cinema-
Con 2019, THX announced the opening of its first
branded PLF auditorium, THX Ultimate Cinema,
at Regency’s historic Westwood Village Theatre
in Los Angeles—an iconic movie house originally
opened in 1930 as the Fox Theater. The company
partnered with Cinionic to give its PLF solution
dual-laser projection and immersive audio that
meets THX certification standards.
Sony leveraged its CinemaCon presence to inaugurate
the first Sony Digital Cinema PLF auditorium
at Galaxy Theatres’ new Las Vegas location.
Equipped with Dolby Atmos sound and Sony 4K
laser projection, it offers a glimpse into a new competitive
landscape for branded PLF solutions as it
joins competitors like Imax, Dolby, RealD, and
THX for a share of the premium-theater market.
Rather than opting to self-brand an entire PLF
solution, Samsung is allowing exhibitor clients to
choose how to promote their Onyx LED cinema
screen in their theaters. The company claims to
have 34 LED screens already installed around the
world, with five additional committed in 2019.
Two of those commitments are in the United
States: a 46-foot-wide screen at an upcoming loca-
56 MAY 2019