Boxoffice Pro

theater BOXOFFICE BAROMETER
palace. In 1963, the multiplex era began
with a twin, leading up to 14-, 16-, 18-plexes.
Then, in 1995, the megaplex era began
with the 24-, 30-screen complexes. And
now many would say we’re in the dine-in
era or the entertainment center era. So,
what’s next in the evolution of the movie
theater? We feel very strongly that it’s the
minitheater.” A smaller theater, rentable by
a small group, gives Gen Z and millennial
moviegoers in particular the experience
they want, Adamson argues: “They want
to be with their friends. They want to be
with their families. They want to text. They
want to talk.” In other words, they want to
see the movie they want to see, when they
want to see it, and with whom.
The concept has already caught on
in parts of Asia, says Adamson, where
“the introduction of a new media law in
China in April 2017 by media regulator
SAPPRFT kick-started the trend of
private cinemas (aka microcinemas)
in China. The law recognized private
cinemas as second-run theaters with
earnings now included in the national
box office.” GDC’s own GoGoCinema,
which allows moviegoers to create their
own mini-cinema screenings, launched
in Singapore and Shanghai in the final
months of 2019. Says Adamson, “Despite
the pilot test being stopped due to the
pandemic, the response from exhibitors
and customers was very positive. For
“The people that are renting
[cinemas] are the millennials
that are very tech savvy, and
they really don’t have any
interest in dealing with the
sales team.”
example, from October 30, 2019, to
January 5, 2020, Hall 4 (GoGoCinema Hall)
at GV Funan in Singapore averaged over
90 percent seating capacity, while Hall 3
averaged half the seating capacity of the
GoGoCinema Hall.”
With the pandemic, the private cinema
rental hopped overseas. North American
exhibitors experimented to find the price
points and mix of new and older films that
best worked for their audiences. Marcus
Theatres, noted CEO Greg Marcus in a May
2021 call with investors, found particular
success with family films, like Raya and
the Last Dragon, Tom and Jerry, and The
Croods: A New Age—two films (Raya, Tom
and Jerry), notably, that went day-anddate
in theaters and on streaming, and one
(The Croods) that had only three weekends
of theatrical exclusivity. Chris Tickner,
director of marketing and special events
for B&B Theatres, recalls wondering
“[when] all of this would end, as far as how
many people are going to continue to want
to come and … watch something they can
watch at home, which was pretty much
what we were able to show.” Happily, the
rentals kept coming, speaking to patrons’
desire to experience films theatrically
even when they could have watched them
at home from their sofas.
Some chains, like Santikos, broadened
the private cinema rental concept to
include gaming, inviting small groups
to bring in their own gaming consoles
and games and play on a large theater
screen. In March 2021, says Santikos’s
Lehman, “We had 43 private rentals on
just [gaming] alone. It’s been a huge
demand. The kids just love it. We did great
internal marketing from our video team
here, and we played that in front of the
movies that we were showing. Once we
started showing that, we got a spike on
the Xboxes and PlayStations and having
15 kids in an auditorium playing Madden
or Call of Duty.”
As cinemas and audiences alike
adapted to the private cinema rental
concept, tweaks had to be made. On
the opening week of Godzilla vs. Kong,
recalls Lehman, a group came in toting a
PlayStation and dressed in Team Godzilla
and Team Kong T-shirts. “They walk
into the auditorium. They hook up the
PlayStation. We have one of our managers
in there. And all of a sudden, they’re
loading up Godzilla vs. Kong through HBO
Max. They rented the auditorium for $75
46 Q2 2021