Cineworld preparing to file for bankruptcy

Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2003
Posts
5,527
Location
Bedfordshire
This isn't anything to do with dropping numbers or blockbuster releases, this is a classic example of a greedy company bullying itself to the top of the market by buying out it's competitors at over inflated prices on finance deals with investors, then struggling to repay the investors. As someone who goes to Cineworld 5-6 times a month it's still just as busy now in my locals as it was pre-lockdown, they stretched themselves too far.

I've got a decent home setup, but I still used the cinema for new releases to get out of the house.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2012
Posts
18,631
i went to see the new thor a month or so back and there was our group (6 adults) and 2 others in the cinema. was awesome and nice and quiet but obviously not a sustainable business model.
Everytime i go its always dead which is a shame as if you shop at Tesco their clubcard deals are brilliant with them.

Vue is always rammed and full of idiots.

Showcase it is for me now.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Jul 2007
Posts
7,913
Location
Stoke/Norfolk
8pm-ish Sunday Night is the best time I've found to go the cinema, about 2-3 weeks after the film comes out for the quietest experience as, for me at least, it's not the cinema itself which leads to a bad experience, but the vast majority of the "it's a creche, young idiots, loud talking/food folks" audiences who do.
 
Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
52,316
Location
Welling, London
Blame the tech companies too. Home AV equipment is so advanced and affordable for many these days that the experience at home can be fantastic. I haven’t been to the cinema for a long time, but is the actual PQ of cinemas better than the UHD and HDR you get in a good TV?
 
Commissario
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
33,023
Location
Panting like a fiend
Turns out that most of the population can wait for movies to be streamed...either thats because of the quality of the movies being produced or the cinema experience.

Or both.
Or a combination of not many "top films" being released for 2 years to the cinema, and people still not going back because they don't want to spend several hours in the presence of dozens/hundreds of others of dubious health/hygiene when there is still a nasty contagious disease going round.

I'd love to go to watch a few films at the cinema, but there hasn't been much selection and i'm still trying to avoid covid:) (partly because I have daily contact with my 80yo father and don't want him to catch it off me).
 
Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
52,316
Location
Welling, London
I never went much on cinema full stop. I feel confined in them, even more when the lights go out.

I like to be in control of my environment. Choice of seating, room temp, volume of the film, better snacks that don’t cost an arm and a leg, better drinks like a beer or wine, no noise from others or phones going off, haven’t got to sit like a lemon for half hour before it even starts, being able to pause or rewind the film if I need a ****, and no journeys home at nigh on midnight freezing my nuts off.

Yeah I’ll pass on that thanks.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2012
Posts
1,921
Location
Liverpool
The last movie I watched in the cinema was Top Gun: Maverick, worth seeing it on the big screen.
Before that it was Dune in Cineworld 4DX which turned out to be the prefect film for that "system", it was a really really experience.

Other than that I can't think of any other films that have made me feel the need to watch them on the big screen.

It's a shame that low quality formulaic media has become the norm.
Big film studios trying to pump out as many films as often to compete with the mostly rubbish stuff that Netflix et al churns out on a weekly basis has been the other major killer of the big screen.

Have people forgot that Quantity is not the same thing as Quality?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Mar 2010
Posts
4,084
This isn't anything to do with dropping numbers or blockbuster releases, this is a classic example of a greedy company bullying itself to the top of the market by buying out it's competitors at over inflated prices on finance deals with investors, then struggling to repay the investors. As someone who goes to Cineworld 5-6 times a month it's still just as busy now in my locals as it was pre-lockdown, they stretched themselves too far.

I've got a decent home setup, but I still used the cinema for new releases to get out of the house.
Agreed.

Hope someone can take on the cinemas without being loaded with so much debt.

I have a lovely TV, but much prefer watching films in the cinema.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
14,818
Location
Barnet, London
I heard from someone who went out with a cinema manager that all their actual profits came from popcorn and soft-drinks.
Yeah, that's not entirely true. (I worked in cinema as my first job, into Management and onto Leicester Sq) I used to say it too, but I think the ticket sales were often split around 50/50 with the distributors, so still decent enough money from the ticket sales. But yes, the mark-up on popcorn and drinks was silly. I remember a big bag of popcorn was about £8. It made 42 small popcorns which sold for about £3 each. You do the maths!

Either way, as fewer people go, fewer people buy popcorn. It doesn't really make a difference where the money comes from, it comes from people going to the cinema.
 

Kyo

Kyo

Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2003
Posts
7,968
I just love the whole experience.

Big screen, big sound.

The joy of people faces when they come out of a good movie.

The reaction of the crowd In certain scenes.

Same watching a good movie at the cinema is a unique experience that's very hard to replicate. There is no distractions like mobile.phone or pad. Your focus and attention is entirely on the movie which takes immersion to another level.

I watched RoboCop for the first time in the big screen a few weeks ago and it was amazing. Must have watched that movie over 100 times as I was too young for the pictures but that viewing was the best by a mile.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,276
Turns out that most of the population can wait for movies to be streamed...either thats because of the quality of the movies being produced or the cinema experience.
or they dont want spend 50+ quid to take a family to a cinema, especially if it's super hero crap
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,347
I'd love to go to watch a few films at the cinema, but there hasn't been much selection

This ones getting my vote.

In fact I've just this second cancelled my odeon unlimited card. It costs £14.99 a month, so is about the cost of a ticket and a half, or equivalent to 3 films every 2 months. But the problem is the last 3/4 months there hasn't been many great films out. Looking at my watched list I've seen 4 films in the last 4 months. 1 of those I wouldn't have paid to go and see, but you take a chance because it's essentially free.

Either way, I've looked at it now and thought I'd rather just pay per visit for the films I really want to see.

I guess we're still seeing a knock on effect from film studios having closed down over lockdown, and that'll probably last another year or so.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2005
Posts
8,651
Location
Southampton
Covid does seem to have killed the cinema, from people being wary of sitting in an enclosed space with a load of strangers, to Hollywood bypassing cinema with blockbuster releases.
 
Back
Top Bottom