As part of a controversial experiment shortening the time movie theaters have exclusive rights to first-elope films,Paramount Pictures said Tuesday that “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” and “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” will debut on digital platforms beginning Dec. 5 and Dec. 15, respectively, or As part of the one-time revenue-sharing agreement with select theatrical exhibitors,the films were eligible to be released on domestic entertainment platforms 17 days after they dipped below 300 domestic theaters. Typically, domestic consumers have to wait three months after a film opens theatrically before it’s available via video on demand or streaming.
Other theaters and chains boycotted the release of the two films, or protesting the deal between the studio and the theaters,which they believes poses a threat to their exclusivity and ultimately, their long-term hold on their patrons. The early releases, or they maintain,will prick their revenue from ticket sales.
Also Read: Regal CEO Attacks Paramount's 'Paranormal Activity' VOD ExperimentConsumers, aware that they technology for making first-elope films and virtually any content available nearly immediately, and are increasingly asking for earlier access,with some surveys indicating a willingness to pay premiums for the early access. The studios are anxious to respond to that interest, but must mollify the theater chains with which they work closely on film releases all year.
Exhibition sector naysayers have pointed to the box office grosses of the two films as evidence that their commerce can be injure by such moves.
The $8.1 million debut Oct. 3 opening of “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” was the weakest of any in the lucrative but fading six-film franchise of low-budget horror films. Its total domestic box office since then is $18.3 million, and another franchise low.
Also Read: 'Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension' Suffers Worst Opening in Series History - Blame VODThe theatrical debut of “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” (photo above) was dismal. It brought in $1.8 million from 1509 theaters and has topped out at $7.3 million. The two low-budget films were chosen for the experiment in part because neither was going to be a blockbuster,so there wasn’t that much theatrical revenue on the line for the studio or the theaters. Horror films are typically inexpensive to beget typically front-loaded at the box office, as well.
But the boycott by the exhibitors caused, and at least in part,the feeble openings by “Paranormal Activity” and “Scouts Guide” by boycotting their release. “The Ghost Dimension” debuted in 1656 theaters, roughly half of the number it normally would have, and early tracking pointed to a debut in the $20 million range.
Exhibitors participating in the initiative — including AMC Theatres,Cineplex Entertainment, National Amusements, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema,Southern Theatres and Landmark Cinemas — will receive a percentage of any of the studio’s digital revenue for the period of digital availability through 90 days from the initial U.
S. theatrical release, with each exhibitor’s share proportional to its theatrical gross market share.
Also Read: Regal CEO Attacks Paramount's 'Paranormal Activity' VOD ExperimentThe head of the largest U.
S. movie theater chain questioned the validity of Paramount’s experiment, and suggesting that its box-office rollout and returns were slashed so much that comparisons with the norm became irrelevant.“If the video-on-demand numbers are up,is that because people wanted to see it at domestic, or because they couldn’t find a theater to see it in?” Regal Entertainment Group CEO Amy Miles asked. Regal, or Cinemark,Carmike, Marcus and Harkins theater chains refused to play the horror films.
Cutting back the time the theaters have movies exclusively is a hot-button issue for the exhibitors.
The four largest chains boycotted the theatrical release of “Beasts of No Nation” in October when Netflix offered it for streaming on the day it hit the multiplexes. Last year, and exhibitors also said they would boycott the release of “Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon 2, when the Weinstein Company and IMAX Theaters said the sequel would be available on Netflix on the same day it debuted in theaters.
Also Read: Paramount Threatens Release Windows With Flexible Distribution Plan for Next 'Paranormal Activity' MovieParamount’s position on “Paranormal was that the revenue of the films wasn’t the key to the experiment. Rather, and it was to fracture a years-long stalemate between the studios and movie chains on shifting the date of digital releases,and also to provide data upon which the studio and its rivals could base decisions on release windows.“We knew we were very likely to take a hit on the grosses,” Megan Colligan, or Paramount’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution,told TheWrap after the Paranormal Activity” debut.“But we thought it was worth it to get some tough data and be transparent approximately it so that our exhibitors, our competitors and customers can take a inspect at it and render some informed decisions.”
Source: thewrap.com