No-Frills Cinema....

[Pants]

Now THIS would be Great :up:

From IMDb:Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of the European no-frills airline Easyjet, is planning to open Easycinema, the first of what he hopes to be a no-frills theater chain, in Britain (the London suburb of Milton Keynes) on Friday. All ticket buying will be conducted on the Internet (there will be no box office at the theater); tickets must be printed out at home; early buyers can purchase tickets for as little as $.35, while tickets purchased on the day of the screenings will cost $8.00; there will be no concession counter, no trailers, no ads. In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Easycinema claimed that movie distributors representing the majors have balked at providing new releases or even quality second-runs.

[marty888]

As long as they don't try to stick to the "no frills" Dogma-style cinema of Lars Van Trier and his friends, it might work.... then again, probably not - they'll probably have nothing to show except some old public domain titles ...... no ticket seller, no concession stand - any idea if they'll have restrooms?

[Pants]

I guess they would have a projectionist and one or two guys that clean the theaters and bathrooms and they would need at least one guy to actually take the ticket (they can't just leave the front door open).

I'm not sure why movie distributors have balked at the idea (maybe because of the "no trailers" thing).

[Daytrip]

trailers are half the reason to go see a movie..........the ads are getting a little rediculous but................

[marty888]

Originally posted by Pants


I'm not sure why movie distributors have balked at the idea (maybe because of the "no trailers" thing).

Probably because they get a percentage of the take ..... and with admission prices as low as $0.35, there's not much incentive to supply prints.

[Pants]

Obviously the $.35 tickets would be something offered by the theater as a premium to encourage patrons who are willing to order their tickets very far in advance. Most patrons wouldn't do this. The 70+% take by the distributor would be calculated at full ticket price ($8.00 I guess), with EasyCinema paying the difference out of their own pocket.

EasyCinema must see a business advantage to having pre-sold tickets ordered and calculated in advance. So much of an advantage that they're willing to offer them at considerable discount. Face it, offering that kind of discount is what it will take if exhibitors want to force consumers to switch over to 100% pre-order tickets a la Fandango.

[jarsim]

Originally posted by Pants
they would need at least one guy to actually take the ticket (they can't just leave the front door open).



You'd print out a membership card with a barcode. You scan the card to enter the theater. See:

http://www.easycinema.com

[Pants]

Originally posted by jarsim
You'd print out a membership card with a barcode. You scan the card to enter the theater. See:

http://www.easycinema.com What would prevent "turnstyle hoping", like in the subway? I would think you'd need someone there to enforce

[clemente]

So if someone starts yapping on their cellphone there's no ushed to kick them the hell out.

[marty888]

Originally posted by clemente
So if someone starts yapping on their cellphone there's no ushed to kick them the hell out.



Probably just someone calling for a pizza delivery, since there's no concession stand.... -wink-

[Pants]

Originally posted by clemente
So if someone starts yapping on their cellphone there's no ushed to kick them the hell out. The multiplex by me has 20 employees and there's no usher to kick anyone out. There hasn't been an usher in a movie theater in 20 years.

[MrN]

I think the changing ticket price is unworkable - the 'event' films have a fanatic audience that wouldn't mind paying $.35 a year in advance. And this wouldn't help them trying to break box office records.

Heck, I'll pay $.35 each for every single film coming out next year. Even if I don't go to half of them, the other half has more than paid for itself.