George Lucas: Movie theaters are a dying form of entertainment

http://www.variety.com/VR1117951284.html

Lucas says that people don't want to go to theaters much anymore because of the increase in broadband and smaller stuff being distributed. Not to mention that for the same $200 mil he spends on a movie could be spent making 50-60 2 hour tv films.

While I do understand where he's coming from, I think the reason why people dont' want to go to theaters is because a lot of the movies coming out just plain suck. It seems like the filmmakers (or the people who finance them, and therefore get final say in what happens in the film) have lost touch with what people want.

Sure, online videos will have some future, but I doubt I'd want to give up going to the big screen to watch that new movie coming out (assuming it doesn't suck that is).

The fact that Lucas hasn't made many films either (although I will admit the ones he does make usually rake in tons of cash) doesn't really add much to this credibility (and this coming from the guy who opposed the colorization of the Three Stooges as tampering with classics, yet repeatedly butchered his own films and pissed a lot of people off that Han didn't shoot first lol). If Steven Spielberg said this, on the other hand, then I'd bet it'd have a lot more legitimacy (cause Spielberg constantly cranks out movies, and the majority of them are good and entertaining).

Do you think Lucas is wrong, or is he right? What do you think is the future of the film industry?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, he's sort of right, but only to the point where he says that people don't want to go to the movie theatres much anymore. I generally think that movie theatre experiences aren't so special anymore, unless it's the occasional big event film like Star Wars. I just don't get that old 'feeling' like I used to. Not to mention, the costs for one showing where I can't even enjoy the movie all the way through without obnoxious people yelling and being noisy is part of the inconvenience I find.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't blame technology. I blame sucky films. I'm looking at you, Mister Lucas. I'll go to theaters if more good flicks come out. Flags of Our Fathers is a definite movie I'm going to see. Clint Eastwood flicks are always fun to watch.

Pixar movies are the only other real consistent things I watch in theaters, since they never disappoint. Sure, technology has a pull on it but in my opinion, the bottom line is talent. They keep chugging out sucky PG-13 horror movies and Uwe Boll keeps making more shitfests along with some other lame directors (Anderson). And lets not forget SEQUELS SEQUELS SEQUELS!

And they wonder why nobody goes to the movies... Put some effort into your work, you slobs.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Although Lucas points out one of the reasons why the cinemas are dying, I believe that until every citizen on the Earth owns a cinema sized room, people will still go to the movie theatres. Sure, internet, online distribution etc. are killing potential profits, but there are still many out there, as well as I, who believe that nothing can beat the experience of watching it at the theatres. You can get that big widescreen tv if you want but there's no other way to fully immerse yourself in a movie unless it's at the cinema.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The reason I don't go to movies much is because I can't afford to. It's expensive as hell to go to a movie. The last time my husband and I took our son and our nephew, it cost us $60.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It's all about quality. I download and pass on a shitload of movies, but I will watch the good ones in theaters and buy the occasional really good movie on DVD. Crap like the Grudge 2 and Saw 3 I don't even bother downloading. Enough with the sequels and trilogies.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I don't have money and time right now to go to movies. Plus there really aren't many I want to see, Prestige, Babel, and The Fountain excluded. If there were more movies I'd want to see, then I'd go. Otherwise my money will go to other things, like video games.

FELIPE NO

The films cost too much too watch at the cinemas. It would cost me between £5.50 and £6 (around $10-11) depending on the time that I would decide to go.
And, there is nothing that interests me at the cinema at the moment. The last film that I wanted to see at the cinema was Pirates 2, but due to the times they were showing it I couldn't get to see it because of work)

If they reduce the cost it would draw more people into the cinemas, which would mean that they would make more money. And it's all about the money these days isn't it.

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It comes down to money and quality, both of the film and the theater. The theater I go to back home has great stadium seating, but it's populated with the biggest bunch of dipshits you could ever meet. It also costs me 9.50 per ticket, so, it becomes a question of do I want to spend a bunch of money to see a movie that could potentially be ruined because of the audience, or wait a few months for the DVD to come out?

I only go to the movies if the movie is fantastic and one of those films that HAS to be seen in the theater to get the full experience (Superman Returns, Snakes on a Plane, The Departed this saturday). I see Lucas's point, but I don't think cinema is going anywhere for a while.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The influx of crappy movies coming out lately is one reason. The biggest reason for not watching movies at theaters for ME is definitely the audience. I cannot STAND people bringing fussy, crying infants and children, annoying, loud and desperate-for-attention teenagers, cell phones going off AND people TALKING on their cell phones during a movie, people KICKING my chair during a movie, and the newest and worst one on my list - people SMOKING during a movie! (what's worse is that the person sitting in front of me took out a bottle of GNASTY cologne [why the hell was he carrying this??] and SPRAYED it everywhere in an attempt to get rid of the smoke smell! I'M NOT LYING.) I have encountered at least TWO of these annoyances in each of the past five or so movies I went to a movie theater to see. No joke. I've made a vow to myself never to watch a movie when it first comes out, so as to 'wait' out the opening box office crowd/audience, but unfortunately after a week or so of waiting, I usually forget about the movie entirely and instead wait til it comes out to DVD. :\

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'd rather watch a film at home, to be honest. Too many pricks in a cinema for my liking. Why people'll spend £5-6 to talk through a movie I'll never know.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

If I see the preview and think it will be worthwhile, I will go to that show in the theatres (making sure I have money. ). Sequels to movies that were really good such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Ice Age, Spider-Man, etc., I usually go to the threatres for.

I usually don't download movies, so if I don't see them in theatres then I buy the movie on DVD.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Gecko3

http://www.variety.com/VR1117951284.html

Lucas says that people don't want to go to theaters much anymore because of the increase in broadband and smaller stuff being distributed. Not to mention that for the same $200 mil he spends on a movie could be spent making 50-60 2 hour tv films...

Ehh, what's the difference between a 'movie', '2 hour tv film', and 'multi-part episode' (the last assuming episodes lengths typical of, say, '24').
How about... nothing, aside from packaging in the last case.

That said, count me as another person who is turned off by the high costs and irritations which seem part of the 'cinema experience' these days... not to mention the paucity of movies I have any real desire to watch.
For things I do want to watch, I can wait until they come to DVD, and enjoy them in the comfort of my own home (midsized TV connected to stereo - others, of course, have more elaborate home theater setups), maybe with my brother or a couple of friends. In that scenario, the US$30 or so that would otherwise be sunk into admission alone would go towards proper food and drink, and we wouldn't have to deal with the irritations icarus points out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Lucas is the last person I'd listen to when it comes to "cinema dying." Maybe when he gets his shit together and stops releasing 500-versions of his movies, I might listen to his opinion.

But, otherwise, yeah, I'd have to agree with most all of the posts above me. There's no movies worth watching anymore. It's almost better to just look back on the classic movies than to even try to watch the crap they throw at us today. It's hardly worth going straight to DVD now-a-days.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I agree completely with everyone who's complained about other people interrupting their movie experience. That, above all others, is the reason why I very very rarely see a movie in theaters. A lot of kids these days don't have any courtesy at all, and even a lot of younger adults think they're so funny that the entire theater needs to hear their witticisms.

If people were thrown out for making noise, and I don't mean yelling constantly, I mean talking more than once, movie theaters would be a million times better than they are now.

FELIPE NO

I can see how this can be true, not only are people downloading the movies that are currently in theater for free, but the home movie viewing experiance is getting more advanced, with the large screen LCD TVs with the surround sound system.

However I still love to go to the theater, I love stitting in a dark room watching a movie on a huge screen! It's worth the 10 bucks for me.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I am a theater manager, and I can tell you that most Theater chains make a considerable effort to throw out patrons that are disturbing others. That being said, when one is running a medium to large multiplex the problem of payroll and budgeted security becomes an issue. Simply put: we do not have enough staff to post someone in every auditorium during the show. We do our best to patrol auditoriums and spot people causing problems. This can be difficult at times, because kids are looking out for security and people in suits.

This is what I recomend if you are watching a movie and people are acting like jackasses: Tell a theater manager. Yes, I know that this takes time away from the movie, but it better than having the entire movie ruined for you. Be specific as to what these people are doing, and where they are sitting. 9 times out of 10 the people causing the most trouble are the ones who snuck in. Why? Because they didn't fork over $10 like you did. If you see people coming in the exit door, tell a manager. Believe it or not, we do care that you enjoy the movie because for the most part we love movies as well (and understand how annoying it is when it is disturbed).

On the other side of the coin, watching movies with a crowd gives you a whole communal experience. Sitting in a full theater laughing with the audience at a funny scene for example can be an awesome experience. Ancient peoples didn't have "home viewing" when getting together to watch a play (or witness Christians getting thrown to the lions).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't know if this statement by George Lucas can be taken seriously after he made Attack Of The Clones.

Thats like punching us to show us all how nonviolent he is.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by LeHah

I don't know if this statement by George Lucas can be taken seriously after he made Attack Of The Clones.

Thats like punching us to show us all how nonviolent he is.

He also likes Diet Coke. I know this because I've served him drinks. While we are on the subject of George Lucas, he most likely came to this conclusion (that going to the movies will die, not that he likes diet coke) while viewing movies in Marin County. In Marin County, the rich white kids are so bored, they'll spend the $9.75 for a movie then spend the entire time walking in and out of the auditoriums and talk the whole time. I'd be bitter about the movie going experience too.

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