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Is Disney taking greed to a whole new level with Star Wars: The Last Jedi?
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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Thu, 11/02/2017 - 12:20
I saw this piece in the Wall Street Journal today (not my usual source for entertainment news):
Before exhibitors can begin screening "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" this December, they must first commit to a set of top-secret terms that numerous theater owners say are the most onerous they've ever seen. Disney will receive about 65% of ticket-sales revenue from the film, a new benchmark for a Hollywood studio. Disney is also requiring theaters to show the movie in their largest auditorium for at least four weeks.
Ignoring the terms carries an unusual penalty. If a theater violates any condition of the distribution agreement, Disney can charge it an additional 5%, bringing the studio's total haul to 70% of sales on a movie likely to gross more than $500 million at the domestic box office.
The case of "The Last Jedi" highlights a perpetual but growing tension between the business partners who bring movies to the public: studios and theaters. Negotiations between the two parties have grown pitched as Disney has become one of the most powerful studios in Hollywood and theaters have lost leverage as box-office sales fall. Box-office revenue is down 5% so far this year.
That dynamic has exhibitors across the country resigning themselves to a new condition of doing business: If you want to play Disney's blockbuster movies, get used to Disney's rules.
"They're in the most powerful position any studio has ever been in, maybe since MGM in the 1930s," said one film buyer.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Commentary: From what I can find, it looks like studios usually get about 45%-60% of the ticket sales on a movie, though it varies from movie to movie. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS and ROGUE ONE both got 64%, so this sets a new high. I get it, STAR WARS is huge, and I can't wait to see THE LAST JEDI, but this all seems to come down to one company throwing all of their weight around to get their way. Business practices like this make it really hard to continue to support large corporate interests who seem determined to get every last penny in their pockets. And the movie theaters aren't going to have a lot of leverage here. What are they going to do? Not show STAR WARS or future Disney movies? They would be shooting themselves in the foot.
I also think that forcing them to keep STAR WARS in their biggest auditorium for four weeks is a clear attack on other studios, which just seems pointless. While there aren't a lot of real big movies coming out in December, you do have FERDINAND, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, and PITCH PERFECT 3. None of those movies are exactly competition for STAR WARS, nor are they trying to be. My favorite movie theater has only 4 screens. I actually could see them passing on STAR WARS because of these demands. Giving the audience some options and variety is in the best interest for everyone... I used a picture of my hero Scrooge McDuck to head this up...but these practices sound far more in line with Flintheart Glomgold.
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