This Holiday Season North Korea Assassinated the American Movie Theater Chain
By Josh Frank
This holiday season will not be remembered for a major winter storm, for its shopping season, for the heart-warming stories of people doing good deeds to guarantee their place on Santa’s “Nice List,” or even for big blockbuster movies that usually are the main stars of the holiday season (in fact, there really weren’t any this year.) It will be remembered for how North Korea unintentionally assassinated the major movie chain and the firm grip they have long held on the major movie studios and new movie releases. It might take a while for it to sink in. It might take a year or two for it to all come into clear view, but the major movie chains made the biggest mistake of their long and over-confident reign as the gatekeepers of whether a movie succeeds or doesn't.
The five major movie chains all simultaneously refused to show a movie (Sony's "The Interview") because a a foreign country told them not to air it. And threatened them with terrorist tactics. The major chains pulled the film from it’s release date, canceling it completely. Within hours a petition was signed by over 300 independent movie theaters across this land of the free. Within 24 hours, SONY was in talks with these independent theaters, as well as plotting out a possible online distribution plan.
But while the major chains all caved, who stood up to the terrorist threats? The independent movie theaters, the sleeper cells of celluloid. The underground and independent operators who show the movies no one else will show, not just in times of trouble, but ALL THE TIME!
Suddenly a silly (and arguably “in bad taste”) comedy about two bumbling fools being trained to assassinate a non-fictional dictator had become a very very important film. And a major turning point in new release distribution.
If Seth Rogen and James Franco hadn’t had the Hollywood clout to get this movie made, if North Korea hadn’t threatened American lives, if the movie chains hadn’t refused to show the film, if Sony hadn’t pulled the film, this movie release probably would have played out like all the others of its ilk. It would have run for 5 to 8 weeks, garnered mediocre reviews on Rotten Tomato and Metacritic and the world would still be the same without a second thought. But that's not what happened.
The major movie chains underestimated the power of independent art house theaters. That, combined with the power of the internet and online distribution finally maturing to a place where it could hold its own, has birthed something truly game-changing. A major motion picture can be released in 300 independent movie theaters and simultaneously released online and both the online and brick and mortar theaters can make serious money, while the studio still makes a competitive profit - - all without a single major movie chain involved. That is a huge change from the old model of distribution.
The numbers are starting to come in. “The Interview” made $1 million dollars over Christmas. That might not seem like a lot at first given it’s typical hollywood budget. but that's $1 million from just a handful of art houses across the US over a few days and a limited online distribution. In the coming months, as more theaters join in, and more online sites distribute the film, I expect that “The Interview” will easily make back it’s costs, and more. Besides, you can’t put a price tag on freedom, and that is truly “The Interviews” greatest success and legacy. It has started a little revolution, and that is truly priceless.
I’m proud to be a part of this new movement. I am the owner and creator of the independent movie theater the Blue Starlite Mini-Urban Drive-in in Austin, Texas and Miami, Florida. I spend my days thinking about how to make the movie experience new and exciting for viewers who think they have seen it all. This holiday is a great reminder that we really haven't seen it all. It’s a reminder that independent movie theaters are just as important and powerful as the multiplex, and now it should be becoming clear that - - unlike North Korea - - you don’t want to mess with independent movie theaters.
This Christmas, movie history was made. A silly stoner comedy that no theater chain would touch became an art house hit, and independent movie theater operators made a lot of people realize that not only are they important, but they are a serious force to be reckoned with.
God Bless America, and long live the independent movie theater: this years biggest christmas miracle.
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Josh Frank is the owner of the Blue Starlite Mini-Urban Drive-In Movie Theatre and Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida. He is the author the "Fool the World, An Oral History of a Band Called Pixies," and other works, including, most recently, "The Good Inn," a graphic novel co-authored with Black Francis. He resides in Miami, Florida.
