Low-budget horror flick “Terrifier 3” (website screen grab above) cracks open the door wider for unrated films to play mainstream theaters, after grossing a solid $37 million in its first 11 days in cinemas. “It is well on its way to becoming the top-grossing unrated film of all time domestically against a minuscule budget of $2 million and barely any marketing spend,” notes … [Read more...] about ‘Terrifier 3’ Success Boosts Unrated Films
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Striking Actors Angle for Publicity
Hollywood’s actors strike prohibits overt publicity to support movies and TV shows, which hurts boxoffice and TV program launches that would otherwise get a lift from plugs by star talent. The New York Post detects that A-listers, hamstrung by union no-work mandates, are now angling to indirectly “stay in the public eye — and in the minds of Emmy and Oscar voters — through … [Read more...] about Striking Actors Angle for Publicity
Oscars Tighten Campaigning Rules
Rules governing campaigning for Oscar awards were tightened in social media and in other areas this week, but loosened allowing “shortlists” to be promoted. Rules tweaks for the Academy Awards are done annually but this cycle are extensive, particularly after a little-known British actress Andrea Riseborough got nominated last year after waging an aggressive social … [Read more...] about Oscars Tighten Campaigning Rules
Exploring Cinema Ticket Price Cuts
Hollywood and movie theater owners spontaneously embraced the benefits of permanent cuts in cinema-ticket prices industry-wide, despite worries about antitrust issues, at a CinemaCon panel discussion. Whether the industry later pursues shaving ticket prices, which averaged $10.53 in the U.S. last year (see accompanying data table), remains to be seen. Anecdotal information … [Read more...] about Exploring Cinema Ticket Price Cuts
Oscars Endured Rough Road to Fame
The Hollywood organization that confers the Oscars was founded in 1927 with strikingly different ambitions than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) that the world knows today. “The Academy and the Awards” book by Bruce Davis details Oscar’s little-known history going back nearly a century. The Academy Awards — Oscar honors — were not a high priority and … [Read more...] about Oscars Endured Rough Road to Fame
Will Crowd-Pleasers Rule the Oscars?
“Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” can win Oscar Best Picture, say awards pundits, instead of the low-grossing, high-brow movies that usually scoop up Hollywood’s most prestigious award. The National Board of Review (NBR), which is composed of up-market film buffs, actually voted Paramount Pictures’ “Maverick” its Best Picture earlier this month. That’s not … [Read more...] about Will Crowd-Pleasers Rule the Oscars?
Cinema Rises From the Dead
After pundits emphatically proclaimed cinema-is-dead/won’t ever come back during the 2020-21 pandemic lockdown, exhibition enjoys a surprisingly swift comeback in 2022. That bounce-back is well deserved. The reasons? Competition from video streaming suddenly diminished when downbeat Netflix earnings April 19 lowered the perceived sky-is-the-limit upside of video … [Read more...] about Cinema Rises From the Dead
Cinemas Show Comeback Grit
Though battered, the domestic movie theater industry showed surprising confidence at annual industry gathering CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Aug 23-26. Pundits can scoff, but I spent three days at the cinema trade show with nearly 2,000 executives who rolled up their sleeves to do business. Reflecting the devastation of the Covid pandemic, that headcount is down from 3,000-3,500 … [Read more...] about Cinemas Show Comeback Grit
Watchdog Revamps Kids Guidelines
A watchdog organization monitoring marketing aimed at children is overhauling its guidelines, which will impact movie marketers considering that some landed on its hot seat in years past. The guidelines from a week ago come from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), which is an industry self-regulation nonprofit organization. The guideline revamp, which goes into … [Read more...] about Watchdog Revamps Kids Guidelines
Cinema Stirs Amid Oscars Debacle
Pundits may praise watching movies on streaming, but the Hollywood establishment gave a full-throated endorsement to pandemic-battered cinema in Sunday’s poorly received Oscars telecast. ABC Television’s audience plunged 56%, which is a crisis for the Academy Awards organizer that depends on Oscar TV-rights income. But the event will remain a moneymaker because TV … [Read more...] about Cinema Stirs Amid Oscars Debacle