Film Odeon (and Cineworld) Cinema to ban Universal films from their theatres due to home streaming row.

[RedPed]

Odeon are not going to show any films released by Universal Studios for the foreseeable future because of a streaming row after the success of the Trolls 3 release. Universal were happy with the figures when they released Trolls on streaming platforms so plan to do the same with simultaneous streaming/cinema screenings for future films.

Odeon aren't happy to put it mildly. Hope this isn't the end of the cinema experience. That's a step too far for this fecking post-COVID world.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52468881

 

[Rado_N]

See if we can count the number of fecks Universal will give about this.

 

[Sylar]

Trolls was available to rent for more than a price of cinema ticket. For an individual it just wouldnt make sense.Would be better getting an unlimited card than renting at the prices available too.

I guess for families streaming would be better paying 15-20 to watch at home than 13 per person.

 

[Solius]

Bit weird to judge streaming numbers based on a time when the whole world is in lockdown.

 

[SilentWitness]

That sucks. There was a great Odeon in London me and my partner would go to as she got free tickets for it through a voucher app. Had about 20 seats and they were all reclining, probably my favourite theatre as even though it was usually packed you'd still feel far away from others. Went to see 1917 there.

 

[horsechoker]

I think they'll change their mind when universal releases a huge blockbuster and everyone opts to go to different cinemas. I feel bad for the people who only have an odeon in close proximity. They'll either have to get to another cinema, miss out or pirate the film which hurts the industry further.

 

[RedPed]

Trolls was available to rent for more than a price of cinema ticket. For an individual it just wouldnt make sense.Would be better getting an unlimited card than renting at the prices available too.

I guess for families streaming would be better paying 15-20 to watch at home than 13 per person.

I've got an Unlimited card so I'm a little concerned. There's an Odeon in Taunton 7m away and a smaller one in Weston-Super-Mare 20m away. Other options are in Bristol. I go for the big screen experience which cannot be replicated anywhere else. The streaming prices are only justifiable if you have families watching like you say but going to the cinema is a social pastime.

 

[RedPed]

I think they'll change their mind when universal releases a huge blockbuster and everyone opts to go to different cinemas. I feel bad for the people who only have an odeon in close proximity. They'll either have to get to another cinema, miss out or pirate the film which hurts the industry further.

Their upcoming films for 2020:
The King of Staten Island (Jun)
The Purge 5 (Jul)
Candyman (Sep)
Bios (Oct)
Halloween Kills (Oct)
No Time To Die (Nov)
The Croods 2 (Dec)
News of the World (Dec)

They've also got the Fast & Furious, Minions, Jurassic World movies coming up next year.

 

[Man of Leisure]

AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the US, has banned Universal films from their theaters as well.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/media/trolls-world-tour-universal-amc/index.html

 

[RedPed]

AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the US, has banned Universal films from their theaters as well.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/media/trolls-world-tour-universal-amc/index.html

They own Odeon, that's why they're banned here too.

 

[RedSky]

That's 120 cinemas in the uk alone that won't show their films. Out of 775 (number taken from a survey in 2018).

Pretty big i'd say.

 

[RedPed]

Wow, looks like the Cineworld owner has joined in too and is siding with AMC/Odeon.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Skills]

Could be make or break for the cinema industry this.

If Netflix/Amazon or even their own streaming service gets them a bigger cut with potentially an even bigger audience, I don't think the studios will give half a feck. I wonder what the cinemas margins are on each movie - something like Vue is like a fiver for a ticket, but then food and drinks are extortionate.

 

[Sylar]

I've got an Unlimited card so I'm a little concerned. There's an Odeon in Taunton 7m away and a smaller one in Weston-Super-Mare 20m away. Other options are in Bristol. I go for the big screen experience which cannot be replicated anywhere else. The streaming prices are only justifiable if you have families watching like you say but going to the cinema is a social pastime.

I got one with Cineworld so given the news they wont be showing it, its pretty big stuff (Odeon, Cine and Vue the major ones). If Vue do the same, Universal will surely have to weigh up (unless they do make up more from streaming vs cinema - but its hard to tell as @Solius said, cos counting numbers for almost anything during a lockdown / pandemic is a weird strategy)

I enjoy watching blockbusters in the cinema, things like BadBoys, F&F etc.
I got a sweet TV too and sound system, but its not the same, agreed. Plus its a nice change for when gf and I wanna go out, watch movie and then eat out.

 

[RedPed]

I got one with Cineworld so given the news they wont be showing it, its pretty big stuff (Odeon, Cine and Vue the major ones). If Vue do the same, Universal will surely have to weigh up (unless they do make up more from streaming vs cinema - but its hard to tell as @Solius said, cos counting numbers for almost anything during a lockdown / pandemic is a weird strategy)

I enjoy watching blockbusters in the cinema, things like BadBoys, F&F etc.
I got a sweet TV too and sound system, but its not the same, agreed. Plus its a nice change for when gf and I wanna go out, watch movie and then eat out.

Yeah exactly. Well Odeon and Cineworld are the big two and that just leaves Showcase, Vue and the independents. That would be a big blow to Universal surely. It's a bit reckless going down this route during a pandemic.

 

[One Night Only]

Cinemas are overrated now anyway, overpriced shit food and drinks. Usually in a pretty poor state overall. Nobody can hold their piss in for 2 hours so you get heads bobbing all over the place.

I prefer watching at home these days, far cheaper. Plus feck buying movies, I just wait till they come out on sky anyway

 

[Sweet Square]

Cinemas are overrated now anyway, overpriced shit food and drinks. Usually in a pretty poor state overall. Nobody can hold their piss in for 2 hours so you get heads bobbing all over the place.

I prefer watching at home these days, far cheaper. Plus feck buying movies, I just wait till they come out on sky anyway

You've made the mistake of going to a cinema which is full of people.

 

[ThierryHenry]

I love the cinema.

 

[GiddyUp]

Odeon are not going to show any films released by Universal Studios for the foreseeable future because of a streaming row after the success of the Trolls 3 release. Universal were happy with the figures when they released Trolls on streaming platforms so plan to do the same with simultaneous streaming/cinema screenings for future films.

Odeon aren't happy to put it mildly. Hope this isn't the end of the cinema experience. That's a step too far for this fecking post-COVID world.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52468881

That's for a kids movie though. I doubt that will happen when you don't have kid quarantined. Doesn't bother me though. I don't go to the cinema to see sequels that are exact same as the 1st movie.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Only ever go to the cinema to watch the latest Bond movie with subtitles cause i cannot hear jack shit.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Be interesting to see if the other Cinema chains follow suit. My initial reaction was that Universal won't give a feck about this, but if all Cinemas go the same route then it could be a big problem for them. I know streaming is big and people have been asking for a simultaneous release of films on streaming platforms and in Cinemas, but this could be huge. For me, it's 50/50 who comes out on top here IF other chains follow suit.

As for going to the Cinema, I used to love it. But over the past few years, I've been going less and less. The main problem simply being people. Going to watch a blockbuster is not a great experience. The talking, the eating, the constant up and down - and people just generally being cnuts (on their phones, etc) - has made is a bit of a miserable experience. There's no denying the convenience of watching a movie at home. It's a little different with smaller films, though; I still enjoy going to watch them as they obviously don't bring in the same crowd.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Cinemas are overrated now anyway, overpriced shit food and drinks. Usually in a pretty poor state overall. Nobody can hold their piss in for 2 hours so you get heads bobbing all over the place.

I prefer watching at home these days, far cheaper. Plus feck buying movies, I just wait till they come out on sky anyway

While I like watching stuff at home, watching most films is miles better on a big screen (imo). Local Cineworld is excellent ... especially as I use my employers colleague offers site meaning prices are about £7 even for big films.

Great seats, rarely even half full and I never buy stuff there (take it in with me from nearest supermarket).

Never had SKY in my life - cinema/DVDs for films, Netflix for TV, pub for sport (those were the days eh?)

#TeamCinemas

(Edit. Now if UK can get out of paying BBC licence for sh!t TV, that'd be great)

 

[Oggmonster]

Could be make or break for the cinema industry this.

If Netflix/Amazon or even their own streaming service gets them a bigger cut with potentially an even bigger audience, I don't think the studios will give half a feck. I wonder what the cinemas margins are on each movie - something like Vue is like a fiver for a ticket, but then food and drinks are extortionate.

My work do a lot of work with cinemas and before this happened they were getting pretty big numbers and were planning on a lot of refurbishments (they still are now.) I think their view is that once this blows over people will by dying to go out and a lot of people do enjoy certain films there... I'm not that fussed personally.

I think the cinemas will stick together in it and get their own way they usually do and there's plenty of films that are ready to be released as soon as the pandemic is over

 

[JPRouve]

I'm not a cinema guy but they should all boycott Universal, Universal is forgetting that these cinemas have been key partners for more than half a century, they made billions through their platforms, and at the first opportunity they backstabbed them.

 

[sullydnl]

A long standing business model exists between the studios and cinemas. If a studio wants to unilaterally break that model (which is what the complaint here seems to be) then cinemas are of course entitled to stop showing their films. It's no surprise that Cineworld have joined AMC on this issue.

It's not like Universal have all the leverage here either. Cinemas are so important to a film's gross returns that multiple blockbusters that are already made and ready to go are being delayed for a full year. Cinemas not showing their blockbusters would be a huge problem for any studio.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Don't care if it costs a little more to watch it at home. Saving money on driving to the nearest cinema, plus saving time, plus not having to deal with arseholes smacking their fat cheeks together as they shovel in nachos or chat to their mates about mundane tosh. Plus I don't have to spend 8 quid getting a watery drink and dry popcorn, and presumably I can pause it so I won't miss anything when I go for a wicked shit.

 

[horsechoker]

Don't care if it costs a little more to watch it at home. Saving money on driving to the nearest cinema, plus saving time, plus not having to deal with arseholes smacking their fat cheeks together as they shovel in nachos or chat to their mates about mundane tosh. Plus I don't have to spend 8 quid getting a watery drink and dry popcorn, and presumably I can pause it so I won't miss anything when I go for a wicked shit.

Plus, on Netflix you can keep watching on your phone while taking a shit.

 

[Sweet Square]

Don't care if it costs a little more to watch it at home. Saving money on driving to the nearest cinema, plus saving time, plus not having to deal with arseholes smacking their fat cheeks together as they shovel in nachos or chat to their mates about mundane tosh. Plus I don't have to spend 8 quid getting a watery drink and dry popcorn, and presumably I can pause it so I won't miss anything when I go for a wicked shit.

You've upset Mr Lynch

'

 

[Drawfull]

I'm not surprised that consumers turned to streaming considering what's going on and the fact it's a film aimed at kids, but Trolls was released only in HD, not mastered sound and only as rental.

Surely a market still exists for those that prefer a big screen, properly-presented experience, instead of watching it on a 500 quid LCD with a shitty soundbar? Seems a bit crackers from Odeon (edit, duh) if you ask me, but I assume they have done the numbers.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

You've upset Mr Lynch

'

Yeah but I've got a 70 incher with Dolby Atmos so..... Plus my missus won't give me a quickie in the cinema.

I mean, she won't give me a quickie in the house either but at least we have wine here.

 

[Sweet Square]

Yeah but I've got a 70 incher with Dolby Atmos so..... Plus my missus won't give me a quickie in the cinema.

I mean, she won't give me a quickie in the house either but at least we have wine here.

 

[Ramshock]

Bit weird to judge streaming numbers based on a time when the whole world is in lockdown.

bingo

 

[One Night Only]

I'm not surprised that consumers turned to streaming considering what's going on and the fact it's a film aimed at kids, but Trolls was released only in HD, not mastered sound and only as rental.

Surely a market still exists for those that prefer a big screen, properly-presented experience, instead of watching it on a 500 quid LCD with a shitty soundbar? Seems a bit crackers from Odeon (edit, duh) if you ask me, but I assume they have done the numbers.

You can get a 1080p projector for less than £500 these days, haven't checked recently but 4k won't be too far behind in price now I'd expect. Surround sound should really be standard in every house this day and age too imo, the way TV shows utilise these things these days means the experience is for all TV and not just for movies anymore.

 

[FrankDrebin]

You've upset Mr Lynch

'

Never piss off the Lynch.
Watching The Lost Highway in cinema was one of my favourite film experiences and I hate for those experiences to go for me and future audiences.
Nothing will beat the big screen.

 

[Dumbstar]

Yeah but I've got a 70 incher with Dolby Atmos so..... Plus my missus won't give me a quickie in the cinema.

I mean, she won't give me a quickie in the house either but at least we have wine here.

 

[SirAF]

Cinemas are overrated now anyway, overpriced shit food and drinks. Usually in a pretty poor state overall. Nobody can hold their piss in for 2 hours so you get heads bobbing all over the place.

I prefer watching at home these days, far cheaper. Plus feck buying movies, I just wait till they come out on sky anyway

This. The only reason to go to the cinema is if it’s a movie you’re absolutely dying to see ASAP.

 

[Sweet Square]

Never piss off the Lynch.
Watching The Lost Highway in cinema was one of my favourite film experiences and I hate for those experiences to go for me and future audiences.
Nothing will beat the big screen.

A couple of years back I got to see Terminator 2 on a giant Imax screen and while like everyone else I've seen the film millions times, it still was a great experience and clearly the way Cameron wanted audiences to see his film.

Although it's a weird one for me because while I love going to watch films on the big screen, I would happily get rid of the 3 big cinemas around where I live for one independent. The lack of variety of films has to add to why so many have an awful experience at the big mega cinema chains. I'm less annoyed after someone over charged me for a bag of minstrels, if I'm going to spend the 90 odd mins watching something that isn't Ant Man part 3000 - This time it's personal.

 

[Ish]

Yeah but I've got a 70 incher with Dolby Atmos so..... Plus my missus won't give me a quickie in the cinema.

I mean, she won't give me a quickie in the house either but at least we have wine here.

you’re always good for a laugh Mr P. Gracias.

 

[elmo]

Could be make or break for the cinema industry this.

If Netflix/Amazon or even their own streaming service gets them a bigger cut with potentially an even bigger audience, I don't think the studios will give half a feck. I wonder what the cinemas margins are on each movie - something like Vue is like a fiver for a ticket, but then food and drinks are extortionate.

Directors like James Cameron loves to show off their latest and coolest toys that streaming just won't be able to replicate the cinematic experience.

 

[RedPed]

Directors like James Cameron loves to show off their latest and coolest toys that streaming just won't be able to replicate the cinematic experience.

Agreed. The advancements in movie technology are geared towards the big screen.