Pacific Rim was on 1 Screen Per Cinema in my Location, Anyone else?

[TemperHoof]

This is not the first time I've seen an awesome movie, only to have placed one small - single screen and only 4 run-times on OPENING WEEKEND. Overshadowed by other movies like Lone Ranger, which had been out and was terrible, which dominated a whopping 5 Screens in the theater. Something is amiss here. Anyone else get the feeling that there is some sort of conspiracy to make sure good movies don't... well... do good?

I checked the listening Today and Grown Ups has 10 Showtimes, Lone Ranger has 9 Showtimes, and Pacific has FOUR... FOUR!!!!!!! http://goo.gl/UEGYq

The reason why Pacific Rim's opening weekend sucked is because Cinemas didn't PLAY the movie!!! How can a great movie get a good box office from just a handful of showtimes on opening weekend, bowing down to terrible movies that had an absolute ton of showtimes in comparison. What the hell is going on around here?

Here are more Showtime Listings from another big Theater in my area which gets packed on weekends: Lone Ranger has 16 Showtimes, Grown Ups has 10, Pacific Rim has 8. http://goo.gl/XQKmN

Don't tell me my area just doesn't favor those things, when Transformers came out it was on like every bloody screen in the theater on opening weekend.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Maybe it was run less because there was less demand for it? I mean on websites like this people are raving about it, but in general life, as far as I've noticed, no-one really gives a shit about it. Monsters University, Man of Steel, Despicable Me 2, (to an extent) World War Z. That's what people are talking about, at least where I live in the various groups I socialise. Pacific Rim has a more... narrow demographic.

 

[FrankatronX]

This happened to me too. I was stuck in some cramped underground room with a screen no bigger than my TV. I started to give out (not to anyone specifically) in my loud and carrying voice. A few minutes later we were moved to a bigger screen.

Did my comments on the sheer foolishness of watching a giant monster/robot movie on the smallest screen in the county have something to do with it?
I'd like to think yes.
I went to go see it again the next day and it was in an even bigger screen.

Satisfied I went home and fell into sensory overload coma.

 

[ItouKaiji]

There's no conspiracy here the marketing for this movie in the US sucked pretty hard, because they always planned for this to be better overseas. They pretty much gambled most of their marketing budget on getting people in Asia to watch this movie. In the US this was always going to be a niche movie with most people looking at it and seeing Transformers without any recognizable actors or characters. They spent 200 million to make a very niche movie banking on sales out of the US to actually help them break even or turn a profit. And sadly the movie probably never will.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

There's no conspiracy here the marketing for this movie in the US sucked pretty hard, because they always planned for this to be better overseas. They pretty much gambled most of their marketing budget on getting people in Asia to watch this movie. In the US this was always going to be a niche movie with most people looking at it and seeing Transformers without any recognizable actors or characters. They spent 200 million to make a very niche movie banking on sales out of the US to actually help them break even or turn a profit. And sadly the movie probably never will.

That depends. The Adventures of Tintin focused on the overseas market as well, and it did much better in countries where the character was more recognized and celebrated. Pacific Rim doesn't have near the influence that Tintin does, but Japan loves watching EVA ripoffs or inspired pieces, so they'll go watch it, if only so the Otaku culture can ***** about how it isn't EVA.

 

[Legion]

In the UK it doesn't have many times (about 5 per day even in a large cinema), but I think that's because it is in 3D, 2D and 2D Impact (similar to Imax), so with three different versions that's still around 15 showings.

 

[Balvale]

Toronto, Canada: multiple theatres and multiple showings here. That being said, it's impossible to get a regular ticket. Everything is 3D or Ultra AVX. That kind of cash grab really repels me from going to see movies when they release.

 

[wooty]

My cinema has it on 2 screens, one for 3D, one for standard. Showings are about 5-6 times per day. We're only a small seaside town too.....with an 8 screen cinema and 3 McDonalds.

 

[Greg White]

Local theater won't have it until Friday. Having only 1 screen showing 2-3 movies a days kinda sucks sometimes, especially when one of those is Lone Ranger.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I went to see it at a fairly small movie theater in Derry, New Hampshire this past Saturday. It's only on one screen, and it only had four showtimes. That's compared to, say, Lone Ranger which had two screens and a combined fourteen showtimes.

Notably, the showtime of Pacific Rim that I went to was completely full. Practically every single seat filled, even those crappy front row ones. One of the Lone Ranger shows got out the same time as ours, and I only saw maybe twenty people leave from that screen.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Mine had it on one screen, as well, and one of the smaller ones, too. Both 2D and 3D showings, and the earliest screenings of the day were all in 3D, while the 2D screenings started later at night, so when I went to go see it there wasn't a whole lot of people.

On the plus side, our theater never shown Grown Ups 2.

 

[Mozza444]

Most likely because not many people give a shit about the film...
I've only just noticed the sheer amount of threads about it and have no idea why, it looks an average film at best. Can't fucking wait to see monsters university though.

 

[nexus]

Conspiracy? Not necessarily. Heavy-handedness? Sure.

As usual in the United States, there is a small group of people tasked with deciding what the people should be able to see. It involves everything from music, games, books, movies, political ideologies, you name it. Small group of influential aristocrats invest in something, they in turn expect (no, demand) that the "people" fawn over it and nothing else.

Like the classic Carlin stand-up: "Aren't you tired of people telling you who your heroes ought to be?"

So I mean, it's technically a conspiracy, but only because it remains unchecked because no one can challenge it. The only time it gets challenged is when something universally bombs, ala Lone Ranger.. then the marketers and investors complain about their failure like it's a national tragedy.

 

[Jacco]

I think it's a mixture of it being a fucking terrible movie and, as someone else said, a focus on overseas revenue instead of American.

I saw it last night and I hated it. Worst movie I've seen this year hands down and I knew it was going to be going in because the trailers were shit. The only reason I went to see it was because of my friend (who likes Gundam/anime stuff). Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered seeing it.

So they were probably right to focus their marketing budget on areas of the world that appreciate that kind of thing more than Americans-- Japan and south Asia mainly that would like it for the subject matter over the plot/acting/effects/etc.

 

[Lunar Templar]

it was the forth movie in a three screen theater in my area :/ yes, its an old theater.

I was kinda expecting it to be at the newer one at the edge of town though

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I think there were maybe 3 showings between the 2 cinemas in my town on the day it came out. To say it was criminally under-marketed would be a tad dishonest as that would imply there was any marketing to speak of. The only reason anyone I know knows about it is because I won't stop gushing about it. I have no clue what they're thinking. It's all well and good having the 'If we build it, they will come' mentality, but for that to happen people need to know it's being built in the first place.

 

[Abomination]

There were about 2 projectors per cinema running Pacific Rim back to back, 4-5 screenings a day in New Zealand, Auckland.

I do hope this sells incredibly well in Japan, Korea and South-East Asia. I imagine Australia is in a similar situation to New Zealand considering how great a presence they have in the movie.

 

[sanquin]

Over here it's shown 3 times a day, which is pretty standard in the Netherlands as far as I know. I plan to go watch it on opening night for sure. (It comes out on the 18th here.)

I think the main problem is focus groups. Focus group studies might show that pacific rim won't do good, while the lone ranger will do good. Problem is that focus groups are actually a pretty poor way of determining what is or isn't a good movie.

 

[WolfCross]

Why are people acting like it's a miscarriage of justice that this didn't obliterate box office records and wasnt showing at least 18 times an hour. Just another brainless summer blockbuster with above average combat scenes.

As long as you had access to a cinema that was showing it at a time accessible to you then what's the problem? Why take it personally?