Very interesting comments, J-Semp, and thanks for sharing.
A quick clarification to your posting when you mentioned my earlier remarks. I was referring to the simultaneous roadshow/general admission engagements of “Funny Lady” in 1975—-not “Funny Girl.” I recall seeing the sequel at the Cheri soon after the opening; the general admission engagement was in the smaller auditorium on the upper level and the roadshow run was in one of the two larger auditoriums on the lower level. I saw the general admission version (no intermission). Also, “How Lucky Can You Get” was in “Funny Lady” and not “Funny Girl.”
Excerpt from the Wednesday edition of Daily Variety:
Paramount and DreamWorks' gamble to kick off bigscreen musical “Dreamgirls” in an unusual “roadshow” format paid off handsomely last weekend. But will such pumped-up numbers continue once the pic expands to 800 screens on Christmas Day?
Roadshow, priced at $25, saw sellouts for all 21 of its unspoolings at theaters in Gotham, Los Angeles and San Francisco last weekend. With the higher ticket prices, formula resulted in a ballooned per-playdate average of $120,000 and a total take of $360,000 for the studio.
Concept proved so popular that Gotham’s Ziegfeld requested additional runs, as the pic was playing only twice daily. But Paramount and DreamWorks refused: The roadshow concept was used to build word of mouth for a national release, not simply to ramp up B.O. numbers.
But even with the roadshow’s success, the partners aren’t expecting such larger-than-life returns when the pic opens on Christmas.
“This was based on a (legit) model,” said DreamWorks marketing guru Terry Press of the roadshow concept, which was inspired in part by similar premium offerings at Hollywood’s El Capitan cinema. “It was organic and meant to drive word of mouth.”
A Par spokeswoman added the markets for the roadshow were “hand-chosen for (auds) that have a special affinity for this movie.”
“You can’t read Cincinnati based on these markets,” she said.
But even if the film’s initial weekend follows the lead of the roadshow’s impressive run, “Dreamgirls” will need to expand beyond its core aud to make any B.O. dreams come true.
Other studio pics with limited releases have posted bank-breaking numbers, only to meet with a largely uninterested general public once they expanded.
Last year, Sony rolled out “Memoirs of a Geisha” on just eight screens to seduce per-playdate returns of $85,313.
But when the film expanded three weeks later to 1,547 engagements, its per-playdate number plunged to $4,364. Pic wound up limping to just over $57 million and a loss for the studio.
So far, “Dreamgirls” is tracking most strongly with women over 25. That can be a tough demo to capture heading into Christmas, when women are prepping for the holiday rather than hitting the multiplexes.
But with Christmas behind them, femmes could be drawn en masse as the musical goes up against more macho fare, from “Rocky Balboa” to “We Are Marshall” and “The Good Shepherd.”
I was at the opening night screening, which started about 15 minutes late. When I arrived at 7:45, the ticketholders line stretched almost to 6th Avenue. Each patron received a program and a limited edition lithograph of the poster art, with a certificate of authenticity. The display of artifacts from the film in the lobby wasn’t much—-a few costumes and sketches in two display cases.
A very excited and knowledgeable sold out crowd—-one of the biggest cheers was for the cameo appearance by Loretta Devine, who originated the role of Lorrell on Broadway. A partial standing ovation for Jennifer Hudson at the conclusion of “And I Am Telling You…” Spike Lee was in the audience.
A representative of Clearview spoke briefly before the film started—-he pointed to Craig O'Connor (who occasionally contributes here), who was standing nearby. BTW, I understand that Bill Condon introduced the first showing of the film at the Cinerama Dome in LA last night.
Kudos to the Ziegfeld staff who were constantly monitoring the audience for usage of electronic devices. I noticed three instances of ushers pointing their flashlights at people who were using cell phones/BlackBerries while the film was in progress.
The latest issue of Weekly Variety has a brief article on the “roadshow,” concluding that “If the technique bears fruit for "Dreamgirls,” perhaps movie musicals won’t be the only retro movie effort back in vogue."
Bill apparently got his wish. The Clearview ticket website indicates that the Tuesday show is now sold out. Seats remain available for the remainder of the “roadshow” run.
The Times ad also states that the Monday performance is sold out. I will be going tonight—-even if the film isn’t perfect, I expect that it will be an exciting evening. The stage version was electrifying—-I saw “Dreamgirls” during its Boston tryout in 1981 and the audience response to a certain number at the end of the first act was something I have never forgotten.
I was surprised that the Times selected A.O. Scott to review “Dreamgirls.” When he slammed “The Producers” last year, he made it very clear that he wasn’t a fan of Broadway musicals in general or film adaptations of same. Dargis or Holden would have been more appropriate given Scott’s bias.
I was at the Sunday 10:00 a.m. screening of “Casino Royale” at the Ziegfeld and was pleasantly surprised to see the auditorium about 30% full. And when the screening let out at around 12:40, there was a line for the 1:00 screening stretching from the theater entrance to close to Sixth Avenue.
I was also confused by the reference to “Digital Presentation” on the marquee—-the projection of “Casino Royale” did not appear to be digital. Another point of digital confusion: the ads running in the Times, which indicate that the Ziegfeld is presenting “Casino Royale” in Dolby stereo and not in a digital stereo format.
It will be showing exclusively at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan, as well as at single theaters in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The $25 ticket buys a reserved seat, a 50-page color souvenir program and a look at a lobby exhibition of costume and set designs.
Moviegoers will also have “the opportunity to purchase exclusive merchandise and the film’s soundtrack in the lobby,” according to the movie’s Web site.
The film will be shown without commercials or coming-attraction trailers. There will be only one showing per evening, with an added matinee on weekends.
Paramount, the film’s distributor, is reaching back into movie history to bring back the “road show” – or reserved-seat engagements at higher-than-usual prices.
The practice was standard for big-budget Hollywood pictures into the 1960s, with blockbusters like “The Ten Commandments,” “Lawrence of Arabia” and “The Sound of Music” running six months or more at a single theater with higher prices.
The last official road show was “Man of La Mancha,” another film based on a Broadway musical, in 1972.
“Dreamgirls” is being treated much like a live theatrical presentation – although $25 is a bargain compared with the $110 and up charged for orchestra tickets to Broadway musicals – to build buzz and the film’s Oscar chances.
“We wanted to bring it to audiences in a special way, and we think this road show does the film justice,” Jim Tharp, Paramount’s president of distribution, told Variety.
There’s one difference – road-show movies generally had an intermission. “Dreamgirls,” which runs 125 minutes, will not. The last movie with an intermission was “Gandhi,” in 1982.
Theater owners and studios have debated for years whether tickets to popular and expensive movies should carry a premium, as well as whether prices should be dropped after a movie is running for a few weeks.
Last year, the Ziegfeld, a 1,131-seat single-screen theater on West 54th Street that is often used for movie premieres, charged $12.50 – instead of the usual $10.75 – for its exclusive run of “The Producers,” a Broadway hit that flopped on the big screen.
“Dreamgirls” will be showing at regular prices – even at the Ziegfeld – when it goes into wide national release on Christmas Day.
Vito, you appear to be referring to an article on the “Dreamgirls” roadshow that used the Variety article as a source (“Variety reports, Variety says…”). In my previous post, I was quoting directly from that same Variety article, which specifically said—-as quoted in the last sentence of that post—-that there would be no intermission.
Speaking of “Heaven’s Gate” —– I purchased tickets for the opening night’s performance at Cinema I via mail (and what a memorable night that turned out to be…). Seating was not assigned, however.
Some of the above posts are assuming that there will be an intermission for the roadshow presentation of “Dreamgirls”: the article in Monday’s edition of Variety stated otherwise. The Variety article is quoted in part below:
“Held in a few select cities, roadshows were designed to make moviegoing an event and more like a live theater experience, complete with intermission. Part of the mystique: higher-priced tickets and reserved seating.
DreamWorks and Paramount are mounting an aggressive awards campaign for “Dreamgirls” and had always planned on a Dec. 15 limited run. Now, they’re taking it a step further.
“Everything old is new again at some point,” said DreamWorks marketing honcho Terry Press.
Par and DreamWorks will spice up the “Dreamgirls” roadshow with lobby exhibits on the making of the film and the opportunity to buy exclusive merchandise and the soundtrack. Those shelling out their $25 also will get a limited-edition program. (The roadshow for Disney’s “Fantasia” also included a program.) There will be no commercials or trailers before “Dreamgirls” rolls and no intermission."
According to today’s USA Today (see below), a short roadshow of “Dreamgirls” is planned. The Ziegfeld would seem to be a likely venue for the NYC engagement. Note the ticket price.
Set in the 1960s, the story follows the rise of an unknown female Motown group from backup singers to superstardom. Dreamgirls co-stars Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson of American Idol fame."
Understood re: independent/art/foreign exclusives, which I would put in a different category from major studio releases.
A clarification to my earlier post: the “Paint Your Wagon” engagement at the Circle was also a roadshow.
The twinning of the Circle in 1976 was a real shame. In my opinion, by the mid-1970s the only theater in the Boston area that compared to the Circle in terms of the “big screen experience” (i.e., large screen size, 70MM capability and quality sound system) was the main auditorium of the Charles—-and the Charles didn’t have those comfortable rocking chairs. Although the Sack Cinema 57 and Cheri then featured top releases (and sometimes in 70MM), the screens in those complexes couldn’t compare to the Circle or Charles.
Many, but hardly all, of the releases that exclusively played the Circle during its heyday as a single screen house between the late 60s and the 1976 twinning were Paramount films. Among the Paramount releases: “Three Days of the Condor,” “Death Wish,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Chinatown” and most notably the endless run of “Love Story.”
But quite a few non-Paramount films had exclusive runs at the Circle during that period, such as “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (Universal, and a reserved seat engagement roadshow), “Nicholas and Alexandra,” (Columbia; roadshow); “Patton” (Fox; roadshow); “The Way We Were” and “Emmanuelle” (both Columbia) and “At Long Last Love” (Fox). The last film I saw at the Circle prior to twinning was Universal’s “The Hindenburg” (and if memory serves, that engagement was in 70MM).
The holiday season of 1975 probably represented the last exclusive first runs of major studio releases at theaters in Newton/Brookline: the Circle had “The Hindenburg” and the newly opened GC Chestnut Hill had “Lucky Lady.” In later years, Sack/USA would continue to have the occasional first run exclusive (platform runs for no more than a few weeks before expanding to the suburbs) but I don’t recall that the Circle or Chestnut Hill were ever used for that purpose.
Interesting comment about the “folklore.” But if my memory is correct, the Waltham cinema was one of the original tenants in that small shopping center by the Waltham/Weston and Waltham/Lincoln borders that was built in the late 1960s. A bowling alley would have been an unusual choice for that shopping center, particularly since the popular Wall-Lex bowling alley (built in the 1950s and demolished a few years ago) was located a few miles to the east in Waltham, and closer to the much more heavily populated neighborhoods of Waltham and Lexington.
Also, assuming for the sake of discussion that the cinema did in fact replace a bowling alley (and that no portion of the bowling alley space was taken over by other tenants in the shopping center), that would have been one small bowling alley—-those two screens, entrance area/box office and concession area didn’t occupy much space.
I located an article on the Laconia Citizen website (article dated June 2, 2006) that discusses the status of the Colonial and the attempts by the owners to sell the shuttered venue. Here’s an excerpt:
“When it opened in 1914, the Colonial was a live-performing center with 1,400 seats. The space was divided 69 years later into four — and eventually, five â€" separate movie screening rooms. The theater, save for one brief period in 2003 when a New Durham couple attempted to operate it as a cinema, has been largely vacant since August 2002 when it last functioned as a combination movie house and pizzeria."
Regarding “The Devil’s Advocate.” While the scene may take place in the late afternoon in the film, it was shot in the early morning. I was living in the apartment building next door to the Sutton when the film was being shot. The exterior of my old apartment building (225 East 57th) doubled as the exterior of the hospital in the film.
I won’t soon forget walking through the lobby of 225 East 57th at about 7:00 on a Sunday morning, half-asleep and on my way to pick up a copy of the Sunday Times, and nearly walking into Keanu Reeves, who was covered in fake blood. That woke me up fast.
I visited the Curzon Soho last week for a screening of the French film “Lemmings.” Interesting film, but what I found most notable was that “Lemmings” was presented (in the largest auditorium of the Curzon Soho) in DLP without any promotion in the local press that the Curzon engagement of “Lemmings” was presented digitally.
A classy arthouse—-far superior to its equivalents in NYC such as the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza.
The fact that the Ziegfeld is closed this week is not an ominous sign. The Ziegfeld has a long history of temporary closures, dating from at least the early 1980s.
Given that some major “tentpole” releases are soon to open, the Ziegfeld might be hosting invitational screenings of “MI3,” “Poseidon,” etc. Clearview would, in most cases, likely earn substantially more revenue from renting out the Ziegfeld for such private screenings than from showing new releases on a non-exclusive basis (non-exclusive runs of the “Star Wars” films did well there, but a film such as “Scary Movie 4” must have been a disaster—-DLP or no DLP). BTW, when I was in the UK last week, the Odeon Leicester Square—-arguably, London’s equivalent to the Ziegfeld—-was closed for two days for private screenings of “MI3.”
I doubt that the Ziegfeld would consider return engagements of “Funny Girl” and “The Way We Were” —– both played the Ziegfeld in recent years, and despite advertising in the NY Times and other publications (not to mention new prints), neither did very well.
“Funny Girl” was playing at the Ziegfeld on 9/11. A friend went to a matinee on the weekend before 9/11, said the print was terrific (including overture and intermission) but that the screening was sparsely attended. “The Way We Were” played the Ziegeld in 2003; I went to a Friday or Saturday night screening and there couldn’t have been more than one hundred people in the audience.
Here’s a suggestion. A new version of “Superman II” is being prepared by Warner Brothers for release on DVD later this year, incorporating a great deal of footage shot by the film’s original director, Richard Donner. If Warners is considering a theatrical run to drum up publicity for the new version, then the Ziegfeld would be a good choice.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ziegfeld is closed to the public on Saturday afternoon for a screening of “Ice Age 2.” Not unheard of for studios to hold special preview screenings for family oriented films during the daytime (to attract celebrities with their kids).
Nice blurb in the Sunday NY Times Arts and Leisure section on the Ziegfeld series (second to last page, in the section titled “The Week Ahead”). The writer comments on the prospect of seeing the “brain boggling triple feature” of “Alien,” “Close Encounters” and “2001” in “Manhattan’s most palatial movie palace.” The writer also notes the “nicely discounted” admission price and as an aside, how Warner Bros. “notoriously botched” the re-release of “2001” in 2001, by “dumping it at Christmastime with next to no publicity” (that would be the 70MM engagement at the Astor Plaza).
Odd news about “Alien” as the film received a wide national re-release in the fall of 2003—-I assume that quite a few new prints were struck at that time.
Prior to the home video era, Disney re-released their classic titles every 7 years or so (and often did blockbuster business during those reissues). Following the advent of home video, the studio experimented with reissues of classics previously released on video—–“Pinocchio” (in the late 80s/early 90s) and more recently, “The Little Mermaid.” My recollection is that neither reissue did well enough to justify the cost of new prints and marketing.
I find it interesting to note that the Ziegfeld series appears to be doing decent business despite minimal advertising—-I haven’t seen a single ad in the Times for the series—-an impressive demonstration that there is an audience in the NYC area eager to see classics on the big screen. Kudos to Clearview for taking this chance.
“The Lion King” is still at the New Amsterdam. Disney announced the move to the Minskoff a few months ago. My recollection is that the move will take place in early summer. “Mary Poppins” opens at the New Amsterdam in November.
Very interesting comments, J-Semp, and thanks for sharing.
A quick clarification to your posting when you mentioned my earlier remarks. I was referring to the simultaneous roadshow/general admission engagements of “Funny Lady” in 1975—-not “Funny Girl.” I recall seeing the sequel at the Cheri soon after the opening; the general admission engagement was in the smaller auditorium on the upper level and the roadshow run was in one of the two larger auditoriums on the lower level. I saw the general admission version (no intermission). Also, “How Lucky Can You Get” was in “Funny Lady” and not “Funny Girl.”
Excerpt from the Wednesday edition of Daily Variety:
Paramount and DreamWorks' gamble to kick off bigscreen musical “Dreamgirls” in an unusual “roadshow” format paid off handsomely last weekend. But will such pumped-up numbers continue once the pic expands to 800 screens on Christmas Day?
Roadshow, priced at $25, saw sellouts for all 21 of its unspoolings at theaters in Gotham, Los Angeles and San Francisco last weekend. With the higher ticket prices, formula resulted in a ballooned per-playdate average of $120,000 and a total take of $360,000 for the studio.
Concept proved so popular that Gotham’s Ziegfeld requested additional runs, as the pic was playing only twice daily. But Paramount and DreamWorks refused: The roadshow concept was used to build word of mouth for a national release, not simply to ramp up B.O. numbers.
But even with the roadshow’s success, the partners aren’t expecting such larger-than-life returns when the pic opens on Christmas.
“This was based on a (legit) model,” said DreamWorks marketing guru Terry Press of the roadshow concept, which was inspired in part by similar premium offerings at Hollywood’s El Capitan cinema. “It was organic and meant to drive word of mouth.”
A Par spokeswoman added the markets for the roadshow were “hand-chosen for (auds) that have a special affinity for this movie.”
“You can’t read Cincinnati based on these markets,” she said.
But even if the film’s initial weekend follows the lead of the roadshow’s impressive run, “Dreamgirls” will need to expand beyond its core aud to make any B.O. dreams come true.
Other studio pics with limited releases have posted bank-breaking numbers, only to meet with a largely uninterested general public once they expanded.
Last year, Sony rolled out “Memoirs of a Geisha” on just eight screens to seduce per-playdate returns of $85,313.
But when the film expanded three weeks later to 1,547 engagements, its per-playdate number plunged to $4,364. Pic wound up limping to just over $57 million and a loss for the studio.
So far, “Dreamgirls” is tracking most strongly with women over 25. That can be a tough demo to capture heading into Christmas, when women are prepping for the holiday rather than hitting the multiplexes.
But with Christmas behind them, femmes could be drawn en masse as the musical goes up against more macho fare, from “Rocky Balboa” to “We Are Marshall” and “The Good Shepherd.”
I was at the opening night screening, which started about 15 minutes late. When I arrived at 7:45, the ticketholders line stretched almost to 6th Avenue. Each patron received a program and a limited edition lithograph of the poster art, with a certificate of authenticity. The display of artifacts from the film in the lobby wasn’t much—-a few costumes and sketches in two display cases.
A very excited and knowledgeable sold out crowd—-one of the biggest cheers was for the cameo appearance by Loretta Devine, who originated the role of Lorrell on Broadway. A partial standing ovation for Jennifer Hudson at the conclusion of “And I Am Telling You…” Spike Lee was in the audience.
A representative of Clearview spoke briefly before the film started—-he pointed to Craig O'Connor (who occasionally contributes here), who was standing nearby. BTW, I understand that Bill Condon introduced the first showing of the film at the Cinerama Dome in LA last night.
Kudos to the Ziegfeld staff who were constantly monitoring the audience for usage of electronic devices. I noticed three instances of ushers pointing their flashlights at people who were using cell phones/BlackBerries while the film was in progress.
The latest issue of Weekly Variety has a brief article on the “roadshow,” concluding that “If the technique bears fruit for "Dreamgirls,” perhaps movie musicals won’t be the only retro movie effort back in vogue."
Bill apparently got his wish. The Clearview ticket website indicates that the Tuesday show is now sold out. Seats remain available for the remainder of the “roadshow” run.
The Times ad also states that the Monday performance is sold out. I will be going tonight—-even if the film isn’t perfect, I expect that it will be an exciting evening. The stage version was electrifying—-I saw “Dreamgirls” during its Boston tryout in 1981 and the audience response to a certain number at the end of the first act was something I have never forgotten.
I was surprised that the Times selected A.O. Scott to review “Dreamgirls.” When he slammed “The Producers” last year, he made it very clear that he wasn’t a fan of Broadway musicals in general or film adaptations of same. Dargis or Holden would have been more appropriate given Scott’s bias.
I was at the Sunday 10:00 a.m. screening of “Casino Royale” at the Ziegfeld and was pleasantly surprised to see the auditorium about 30% full. And when the screening let out at around 12:40, there was a line for the 1:00 screening stretching from the theater entrance to close to Sixth Avenue.
I was also confused by the reference to “Digital Presentation” on the marquee—-the projection of “Casino Royale” did not appear to be digital. Another point of digital confusion: the ads running in the Times, which indicate that the Ziegfeld is presenting “Casino Royale” in Dolby stereo and not in a digital stereo format.
From today’s NY Post:
November 16, 2006 — First, the $6 cup of coffee – now brace yourself for the $25 movie ticket.
That’s the record sum that will be charged to see “Dreamgirls” for the first 10 days of its theatrical run, beginning on Dec. 15.
The highly anticipated film version of the 1981 Broadway musical about a singing group resembling the Supremes stars Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy.
It will be showing exclusively at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan, as well as at single theaters in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The $25 ticket buys a reserved seat, a 50-page color souvenir program and a look at a lobby exhibition of costume and set designs.
Moviegoers will also have “the opportunity to purchase exclusive merchandise and the film’s soundtrack in the lobby,” according to the movie’s Web site.
The film will be shown without commercials or coming-attraction trailers. There will be only one showing per evening, with an added matinee on weekends.
Paramount, the film’s distributor, is reaching back into movie history to bring back the “road show” – or reserved-seat engagements at higher-than-usual prices.
The practice was standard for big-budget Hollywood pictures into the 1960s, with blockbusters like “The Ten Commandments,” “Lawrence of Arabia” and “The Sound of Music” running six months or more at a single theater with higher prices.
The last official road show was “Man of La Mancha,” another film based on a Broadway musical, in 1972.
“Dreamgirls” is being treated much like a live theatrical presentation – although $25 is a bargain compared with the $110 and up charged for orchestra tickets to Broadway musicals – to build buzz and the film’s Oscar chances.
“We wanted to bring it to audiences in a special way, and we think this road show does the film justice,” Jim Tharp, Paramount’s president of distribution, told Variety.
There’s one difference – road-show movies generally had an intermission. “Dreamgirls,” which runs 125 minutes, will not. The last movie with an intermission was “Gandhi,” in 1982.
Theater owners and studios have debated for years whether tickets to popular and expensive movies should carry a premium, as well as whether prices should be dropped after a movie is running for a few weeks.
Last year, the Ziegfeld, a 1,131-seat single-screen theater on West 54th Street that is often used for movie premieres, charged $12.50 – instead of the usual $10.75 – for its exclusive run of “The Producers,” a Broadway hit that flopped on the big screen.
“Dreamgirls” will be showing at regular prices – even at the Ziegfeld – when it goes into wide national release on Christmas Day.
Vito, you appear to be referring to an article on the “Dreamgirls” roadshow that used the Variety article as a source (“Variety reports, Variety says…”). In my previous post, I was quoting directly from that same Variety article, which specifically said—-as quoted in the last sentence of that post—-that there would be no intermission.
Speaking of “Heaven’s Gate” —– I purchased tickets for the opening night’s performance at Cinema I via mail (and what a memorable night that turned out to be…). Seating was not assigned, however.
Some of the above posts are assuming that there will be an intermission for the roadshow presentation of “Dreamgirls”: the article in Monday’s edition of Variety stated otherwise. The Variety article is quoted in part below:
“Held in a few select cities, roadshows were designed to make moviegoing an event and more like a live theater experience, complete with intermission. Part of the mystique: higher-priced tickets and reserved seating.
DreamWorks and Paramount are mounting an aggressive awards campaign for “Dreamgirls” and had always planned on a Dec. 15 limited run. Now, they’re taking it a step further.
“Everything old is new again at some point,” said DreamWorks marketing honcho Terry Press.
Par and DreamWorks will spice up the “Dreamgirls” roadshow with lobby exhibits on the making of the film and the opportunity to buy exclusive merchandise and the soundtrack. Those shelling out their $25 also will get a limited-edition program. (The roadshow for Disney’s “Fantasia” also included a program.) There will be no commercials or trailers before “Dreamgirls” rolls and no intermission."
According to today’s USA Today (see below), a short roadshow of “Dreamgirls” is planned. The Ziegfeld would seem to be a likely venue for the NYC engagement. Note the ticket price.
“The musical Dreamgirls is throwing some glitz on the usual "limited release.” On Dec. 15, 10 days before it opens nationwide, the film starring Beyoncé Knowles and based on the Broadway musical inspired by the story of The Supremes will be shown at special previews in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco â€" billed as a “road show” by distributors Paramount and DreamWorks. Preview screenings will be accompanied by a gallery display of costumes and design art. Souvenirs and soundtrack CDs will be on display, and each guest will get a glossy program booklet. Tickets will cost $25, and each seat will be assigned.
Set in the 1960s, the story follows the rise of an unknown female Motown group from backup singers to superstardom. Dreamgirls co-stars Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson of American Idol fame."
Understood re: independent/art/foreign exclusives, which I would put in a different category from major studio releases.
A clarification to my earlier post: the “Paint Your Wagon” engagement at the Circle was also a roadshow.
The twinning of the Circle in 1976 was a real shame. In my opinion, by the mid-1970s the only theater in the Boston area that compared to the Circle in terms of the “big screen experience” (i.e., large screen size, 70MM capability and quality sound system) was the main auditorium of the Charles—-and the Charles didn’t have those comfortable rocking chairs. Although the Sack Cinema 57 and Cheri then featured top releases (and sometimes in 70MM), the screens in those complexes couldn’t compare to the Circle or Charles.
Many, but hardly all, of the releases that exclusively played the Circle during its heyday as a single screen house between the late 60s and the 1976 twinning were Paramount films. Among the Paramount releases: “Three Days of the Condor,” “Death Wish,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Chinatown” and most notably the endless run of “Love Story.”
But quite a few non-Paramount films had exclusive runs at the Circle during that period, such as “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (Universal, and a reserved seat engagement roadshow), “Nicholas and Alexandra,” (Columbia; roadshow); “Patton” (Fox; roadshow); “The Way We Were” and “Emmanuelle” (both Columbia) and “At Long Last Love” (Fox). The last film I saw at the Circle prior to twinning was Universal’s “The Hindenburg” (and if memory serves, that engagement was in 70MM).
The holiday season of 1975 probably represented the last exclusive first runs of major studio releases at theaters in Newton/Brookline: the Circle had “The Hindenburg” and the newly opened GC Chestnut Hill had “Lucky Lady.” In later years, Sack/USA would continue to have the occasional first run exclusive (platform runs for no more than a few weeks before expanding to the suburbs) but I don’t recall that the Circle or Chestnut Hill were ever used for that purpose.
Interesting comment about the “folklore.” But if my memory is correct, the Waltham cinema was one of the original tenants in that small shopping center by the Waltham/Weston and Waltham/Lincoln borders that was built in the late 1960s. A bowling alley would have been an unusual choice for that shopping center, particularly since the popular Wall-Lex bowling alley (built in the 1950s and demolished a few years ago) was located a few miles to the east in Waltham, and closer to the much more heavily populated neighborhoods of Waltham and Lexington.
Also, assuming for the sake of discussion that the cinema did in fact replace a bowling alley (and that no portion of the bowling alley space was taken over by other tenants in the shopping center), that would have been one small bowling alley—-those two screens, entrance area/box office and concession area didn’t occupy much space.
I located an article on the Laconia Citizen website (article dated June 2, 2006) that discusses the status of the Colonial and the attempts by the owners to sell the shuttered venue. Here’s an excerpt:
“When it opened in 1914, the Colonial was a live-performing center with 1,400 seats. The space was divided 69 years later into four — and eventually, five â€" separate movie screening rooms. The theater, save for one brief period in 2003 when a New Durham couple attempted to operate it as a cinema, has been largely vacant since August 2002 when it last functioned as a combination movie house and pizzeria."
The film with Streep and DeNiro is “Falling in Love.” One of the scenes was filmed at the Rizzoli book store.
Regarding “The Devil’s Advocate.” While the scene may take place in the late afternoon in the film, it was shot in the early morning. I was living in the apartment building next door to the Sutton when the film was being shot. The exterior of my old apartment building (225 East 57th) doubled as the exterior of the hospital in the film.
I won’t soon forget walking through the lobby of 225 East 57th at about 7:00 on a Sunday morning, half-asleep and on my way to pick up a copy of the Sunday Times, and nearly walking into Keanu Reeves, who was covered in fake blood. That woke me up fast.
I visited the Curzon Soho last week for a screening of the French film “Lemmings.” Interesting film, but what I found most notable was that “Lemmings” was presented (in the largest auditorium of the Curzon Soho) in DLP without any promotion in the local press that the Curzon engagement of “Lemmings” was presented digitally.
A classy arthouse—-far superior to its equivalents in NYC such as the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza.
The fact that the Ziegfeld is closed this week is not an ominous sign. The Ziegfeld has a long history of temporary closures, dating from at least the early 1980s.
Given that some major “tentpole” releases are soon to open, the Ziegfeld might be hosting invitational screenings of “MI3,” “Poseidon,” etc. Clearview would, in most cases, likely earn substantially more revenue from renting out the Ziegfeld for such private screenings than from showing new releases on a non-exclusive basis (non-exclusive runs of the “Star Wars” films did well there, but a film such as “Scary Movie 4” must have been a disaster—-DLP or no DLP). BTW, when I was in the UK last week, the Odeon Leicester Square—-arguably, London’s equivalent to the Ziegfeld—-was closed for two days for private screenings of “MI3.”
I doubt that the Ziegfeld would consider return engagements of “Funny Girl” and “The Way We Were” —– both played the Ziegfeld in recent years, and despite advertising in the NY Times and other publications (not to mention new prints), neither did very well.
“Funny Girl” was playing at the Ziegfeld on 9/11. A friend went to a matinee on the weekend before 9/11, said the print was terrific (including overture and intermission) but that the screening was sparsely attended. “The Way We Were” played the Ziegeld in 2003; I went to a Friday or Saturday night screening and there couldn’t have been more than one hundred people in the audience.
Here’s a suggestion. A new version of “Superman II” is being prepared by Warner Brothers for release on DVD later this year, incorporating a great deal of footage shot by the film’s original director, Richard Donner. If Warners is considering a theatrical run to drum up publicity for the new version, then the Ziegfeld would be a good choice.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ziegfeld is closed to the public on Saturday afternoon for a screening of “Ice Age 2.” Not unheard of for studios to hold special preview screenings for family oriented films during the daytime (to attract celebrities with their kids).
Nice blurb in the Sunday NY Times Arts and Leisure section on the Ziegfeld series (second to last page, in the section titled “The Week Ahead”). The writer comments on the prospect of seeing the “brain boggling triple feature” of “Alien,” “Close Encounters” and “2001” in “Manhattan’s most palatial movie palace.” The writer also notes the “nicely discounted” admission price and as an aside, how Warner Bros. “notoriously botched” the re-release of “2001” in 2001, by “dumping it at Christmastime with next to no publicity” (that would be the 70MM engagement at the Astor Plaza).
Odd news about “Alien” as the film received a wide national re-release in the fall of 2003—-I assume that quite a few new prints were struck at that time.
Prior to the home video era, Disney re-released their classic titles every 7 years or so (and often did blockbuster business during those reissues). Following the advent of home video, the studio experimented with reissues of classics previously released on video—–“Pinocchio” (in the late 80s/early 90s) and more recently, “The Little Mermaid.” My recollection is that neither reissue did well enough to justify the cost of new prints and marketing.
I find it interesting to note that the Ziegfeld series appears to be doing decent business despite minimal advertising—-I haven’t seen a single ad in the Times for the series—-an impressive demonstration that there is an audience in the NYC area eager to see classics on the big screen. Kudos to Clearview for taking this chance.
“The Lion King” is still at the New Amsterdam. Disney announced the move to the Minskoff a few months ago. My recollection is that the move will take place in early summer. “Mary Poppins” opens at the New Amsterdam in November.