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Posted in: Movies | Tagged: disney, HRL, marvel, star wars, star wars: the last jedi, The Last Jedi
Report: Disney Puts The Squeeze On Theaters In "Secret" Terms For Star Wars: The Last Jedi
It looks like papa Disney has learned a few tricks from their subsidiary, Marvel Comics, and their use of incentive variants, price hikes, and other shrewd capitalist gimmickry to spike single-issue comic book sales revenue (often while decreasing actual readership). According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Disney is forcing theaters to agree to terms that some theater owners have called "the most onerous [they've] ever seen" before they're allowed to show Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Further, the terms are secret, with the contracts individually watermarked to prevent anyone leaking them.
Thankfully, some anonymous theaters have revealed some of the terms.
According to the report, Disney is demanding 65% of ticket sales, compared to a usual 55%-60%, which the WSJ claims is a new benchmark. However, past Star Wars films have given Disney up to 64% of ticket sales. Additionally, the studio demands that theaters show Star Wars: The Last Jedi in their largest auditorium for at least a month, regardless of whether people are still buying enough tickets to fill it.
That move will force theaters who want to show The Last Jedi to relegate any potential competition, like December 20th's Jumanji, into smaller auditoriums on their opening weekends, while The Last Jedi plays in a potentially empty or half-full auditorium. If a theater violates any terms of their agreement, which includes pulling any scheduled Star Wars screening, Disney collects an additional 5% of ticket sales, bringing their total cut up to 70%. That extra 5%, according to the report, is "unusual."
While the box office has been slow in general this year, Disney continues to have a strong track record of producing hits, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi will undoubtedly be a big one. That gives Disney a huge amount of leverage over theaters, who can't afford to miss out on one of the few movies guaranteed to be a big hit. That being said, some smaller independent theaters who have no hopes of selling four weeks of tickets to their largest auditorium are reportedly declining to show the movie.
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