21st century cinema: Movie theaters move into the future

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Saturday, March 1, 2008

 

Tom Long / Detroit News Film Critic

 

Hannah Montana is onstage, singing and dancing up a storm in front of a crowded house of rapt tweenage girls rocking out in their seats.

 

Except this Hannah Montana is the size of a house and all the tweenage girls are wearing 3-D spectacles, the better to see giant Hannah reach out to them at the Emagine Novi.

 

And in the theater next door, a monster is destroying New York City.

 

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 Welcome to the new world of movie theaters, where seismic shifts in technology and content are helping to keep the threat of home entertainment at bay. The screens can be gigantic, the effects can be startling, cocktails may be served, and anything from a rock concert to a ballet to a video game battle may be showing. Or, of course, a movie.

 

"It's like any other business: To keep people's attention you've got to be cutting edge, you've got to be with the latest," said Jack Schick, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO).

 

"They want stadium seating, they want surround sound, they want more of an experience than they've ever had before, and they want it now," Schick said. "We've got to look to whatever's out there that's going to grab the public's eye."

 

February's eye-grabber was "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," a 3-D flick that set box offices afire. The 74-minute film -- a perfect storm of alternative entertainment, mind-boggling effects and pop hysteria -- has pulled in more than $61 million, even though it only opened in 683 theaters (mainstream films usually open in 3-4 times that many venues).

 

When "Hannah" finally moves on, many of the same theaters will begin showing "U2 in 3-D." What used to be unusual for movie theaters is becoming the norm.

 

"We've long thought of our venues as entertainment venues as opposed to pure movie houses," said Paul Glantz, owner-operator of Emagine Theaters. "That's the vision of the future."

 

And that future is now. Consider some of the changes in Michigan movie theaters:

 

• There are more than 35 movie houses set up for the improved sound and picture quality of digital projection, with theaters in Livonia, Novi, Canton, Waterford, Southgate, Sterling Heights and more having 3-D capabilities. That's more digital movie screens than existed worldwide in 2000; now there are more than 5,000 globally, with some 10,000 expected by 2008.

 

• The once-rare giant IMAX screens are also proliferating, with seven in Michigan and five in the Detroit area.

 

• Conveniences and comforts such as online ticket purchases, valet parking and stadium seating are commonplace. Emagine Theaters in Novi and Canton serve cocktails, and the Novi location features an ultra-comfy upscale theater where a ticket includes popcorn, a drink, enhanced sound and an usher who stays in the theater at all times to deal with any disturbances.

 

The upgrade revolution is everywhere. National Amusement's Showcase Ann Arbor in Ypsilanti includes an IMAX theater and an elaborate videogame arcade, as well as a food court. And the Birmingham Palladium commonly hosts prescreening banquets as well as offering weekend dining in its plush premium theater 8, which features Tempur-Pedic seats.

 

Meanwhile, the offerings on-screen at theaters keep expanding, and not just with 3-D rock concerts.

 

Live broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera, ballets, sporting events, televised specials and even video game tournaments are all playing out on the big screen in the name of capturing wider audiences.

 

Does it work? Well, it did for Jason Nummer, 30, a Warren media advertiser who went to see November's "Beowulf" in 3-D, and then went back again to see it at an IMAX theater.

 

"Certain movies I just have to see on the big screen," said Nummer, who has also made his way to a movie theater for a Phish concert.

 

All the improvements and innovations are in direct response to the threat of other entertainment options. Movie attendance in the U.S. was down about a half-million tickets last year, although higher ticket prices pushed the box office to a record-breaking $9.6 billion.

 

But videogame sales topped $17 billion last year, according to the NDP Group. And DVD sales and rentals were more than $23 billion. Factor in the time spent on the Internet, movies available through On Demand video and hundreds of cable TV channels and theaters have more competition than ever before.

 

In many ways Paul Serilla, 30, an ad man from Harper Woods, is a movie theater owner's worst nightmare. Considering all his options, making it to the movies is just too much trouble most of the time.

 

"I probably (went out and) saw maybe three or four movies all of last year. I used to see a lot more," he said.

 

"It's so much easier to see things at home now. The window of time between a theatrical release and a DVD release is down to a couple of months."

 

Looking back over 2007, Serilla could think of only three movies he left home to see. One was a promotion at a bar and the second was at a dollar discount movie theater. Only one -- last March -- was at a regular movie theater.

 

"In the 21st century (movie theaters) are competing to provide an experience that will get you out of the house rather than just waiting for the red Netflix envelope to show up," said Scott Kirsner, the Boston-based proprietor of the Web site Cinematech, whose book, "Inventing the Movies: The Secret Technological History of Hollywood," is due out in March.

 

But then theater owners are used to doing battle with other forms of entertainment.

 

"The movies have been under assault from new technology really ever since radio," Kirsner said. The advent of television, videotapes, DVDs and the Internet all supposedly spelled doom for movie theaters, but there are more movie screens in America right now -- some 40,000 -- than ever before.

 

That's because movies still offer something audiences can't get at home, according to Wade Holden, a movie analyst with media research firm SNL Kagen.

 

"They've been around this long and they continue to make more money each year, because it's ultimately a shared experience with other people," Holden said. "It's that big screen, and it's a giant dark room, and there's other people around you, and you get to hear them react.

 

"As good as the home technology gets, is it ever really going to be comparable to that theater experience?"

 

You can reach Tom Long at (313) 222-8879 or tlong@detnews.com.