The Retail Apocalypse (Incorporating Casual Dining Closures)

Drumstick wrote:It's always a shame to see cinemas close though it doesn't surprise me. The costs are insane unless you are willing to invest in one of those unlimited style cards where you can bring the average cost per showing down.

True, but with all the closures, who would risk buying one of those cards now?!

My fear is that Everyman will go bust. It’s the only cinema I’ll go to now.

Drumstick wrote:It's always a shame to see cinemas close though it doesn't surprise me. The costs are insane unless you are willing to invest in one of those unlimited style cards where you can bring the average cost per showing down.

Our nearest cinema (an Odeon Luxe) is only reasonable if you go meerkat movies on Tuesday/Wednesday (241) or get saver tickets on a Monday (£7), otherwise its £18 a ticket

I love going and it's a nice cinema but it's hard to justify going outside of Monday to Wednesday at those prices.

£18?! It's £6.99 here with free parking.

Yeah cinema prices seem to vary massively by location, can still get £5 tickets here if you book online and even our "premium" cinema is only £15 per ticket

Ever since our nearest Vue put the tickets down to £5 per person, the quality of the actual cinema has plummeted. It's a strawberry floating dive and the screenings are appalling. Vowed never to go again after they ruined Endgame by putting us in one of the smaller rooms where there was a constant loud crackling from one of the speakers. Really ruined the entire experience.

Then I went a couple of months ago as a friend wanted to see Evil Dead Rise and I didn't mind going for a fiver. Bad move, audio was unnecessarily loud to the point where it was physically uncomfortable to be amidst the noise. And, I kid you not, half of the screen was shrouded in what looked like a yellow burn mark. Not sure if it was a fault with the screen or the projector but I was absolutely disgusted that the cinema thought that was okay to give to customers. Didn't complain because it was only a fiver but it's just reaffirmed in my mind to never bother with it ever again. My friends made out that they couldn't see it but I think they were in denial, either that or their standards are below nothing.

Only time I go cinema now is if it's something I'm really desperate to see and then I'll make it a big treat by going to the up market cinema in town and I'll pay extra for the "director's suite" to avoid the rabble and sit in comfort.

Victor Mildew wrote:£18?! It's £6.99 here with free parking.

There is free parking to be fair....

SEP wrote:

Godzilla wrote:I guess the Boldon one counts? Just on the outskirts of Sunderland

I forgot about Boldon. Which is understandable.

Yeah, looked pretty easy to get to from Sunderland by car and too bad via public transport. I've never been to Sunderland (though I'd like to) so if it's not in the metro commuter area I can stand corrected.

I have a disability Cinema card which helps a lot as it's constant two for one at like 95percent of cinemas even when you have deals like half price events, kids clubs and other things that lower the price you still get two tickets for the price of one.


I go to a small local cinema called the Savoy, it's about £7 a ticket old fashioned but well kept

Then a place called Arc Cinema there's two near me in different towns about £8 a ticket, decent but one has a lift that's a death trap, it squeeled and went nuts when I went down in it after Evil Dead Rise which is kind of funny if you've seen the film

Then occasionally Cineworld that's £10 a ticket its probably the best quality of seats and screen but you expect it for the money.

I've not been to a cinema since 2011.

Vermilion wrote:I've not been to a cinema since 2011.

The Smurfs?

Moggy wrote:

Vermilion wrote:I've not been to a cinema since 2011.

The Smurfs?

I liked that film, but no, it was The Inbetweeners.

The costs involved aren’t as clear cut I think as it seems.

Take Mission Impossible - Paramount take 60% for week 1-2 of ticket sales, 55% the following week plus guarantees/Film rental.

Take VAT off and a ticket that costs £5-7 leaves the Cinema with around £1.50-£2.50 which is why snacks and drinks cost so much.

Of course some cinemas will charge much higher for all things - location is dependent and with the rising cost of energy, rates, rent and wages it’s a mess to be honest. With the interrupted 2 years from 2020-2022, a slate that isn’t full (there’s less films this year than last year) and audience behaviour changes
it’s very difficult.

When you add in the more ‘premium’ route that cinemas are heading in seating and such, catching up with this and having the funding to invest at the moment is going to be rare.

You’ll see a lot of new Cinemas (particularly Everyman/Cineworld builds) lately are arriving. Councils basically foot the bill for these fit outs and then give cheaper rent to the Cinema for a while to ensure they will operate it.

It’s also 2023 and 2019 was the biggest box office year on record for the U.K. The average person goes to the cinema less than once a year and for many this year may be the first time they’ve been since 2019 or even 2021.

As inflation has driven up, supplier pricing has and so has costs to the consumer. From my experience it seems many think cinema should be cheap as chips and it’s just not sustainable to be that way. It’s a leisurely treat really. The same as grabbing a pint at a pub.

Meerkat movies and such are a god send really - they just never seem to have taken off as much as Orange Wednesdays did

Yeah, many years ago my brother worked for Cineworld and they barely made any money off the film tickets as the bulk of it went to the film distributor; they got money through the food and drink.

Back in the 90s I went to the cinema at least once - and often twice - a week, every week. Right now I haven't seen a film at the cinema since before the 2020 lockdown and, even before that, I only went maybe once a year. Primarily due to the cost but also because I hate others being noisy and using their phones in the cinema.

Does the cinema get revenue from the 10-20 minutes of ads that play before the trailers? Or is that going to distributors as well?

Lagamorph wrote:Does the cinema get revenue from the 10-20 minutes of ads that play before the trailers? Or is that going to distributors as well?

You get revenue dependent on how many seats are occupied/tickets sold for the show.

Can vary from a thousand to a few thousand per month. Again depends on the screens, ad company and such. Bigger sites and companies will have better deals than smaller ones or indies.

Lagamorph wrote:Does the cinema get revenue from the 10-20 minutes of ads that play before the trailers? Or is that going to distributors as well?

I went to one screening years back, and there were 45 mins of ads, following by 15 mins of a blank screen.

I think the staff forgot to start the film.

Everything about going to the cinema screams 'rip-off' and as though they're trying to rinse you at every opportunity. What used to be something that was cheap enough that you could do on a whim is now something that isn't worth the money. Add in a steady stream of shitty films and very few films actually worth seeing in a cinema compared to at home, as well as an environment full of noise and distractions, and it makes me (and plenty of others I'd imagine) wonder what the appeal in going is. I've just looked up my local cinema and the tickets for an adult are £17.95

Lyme Regis used to have a cinema at the top of the hill, i went to see The Matrix there in 1999.

I can't say i enjoyed it much though, the place had no air con, so while it was 28c outside, inside it must have been above 40c

I passed out around the time when Morpheus was captured.

kerr9000 wrote:I have a disability Cinema card which helps a lot as it's constant two for one at like 95percent of cinemas even when you have deals like half price events, kids clubs and other things that lower the price you still get two tickets for the price of one.


I go to a small local cinema called the Savoy, it's about £7 a ticket old fashioned but well kept

Then a place called Arc Cinema there's two near me in different towns about £8 a ticket, decent but one has a lift that's a death trap, it squeeled and went nuts when I went down in it after Evil Dead Rise which is kind of funny if you've seen the film

Then occasionally Cineworld that's £10 a ticket its probably the best quality of seats and screen but you expect it for the money.

I just got a CEA card too. I laugh at one of the conditions which is that they can reasonably refuse a 2nd ticket if the person you are saying is there for your support or safety is unlikely to be able to support you (in your opinion) e.g. your children.

Yes here is my little helper, totally not my child and at 4 years of age is very mature for his age. Just the idea of that and the fussiness they had over the evidence was kind of amusing but yes it is encouraging because I probably wouldn't want to go to a cinema on my own. Last time and most times there is some banana split kicking my chair and I really want to have a go but obviously won't.

Last time saw Mario movie for £18 yes (crazy price), but was in the small theatre. They did the thing where they shrunk the display for the trailers and then pullied the curtains to reveal more screen lol. Our small theatre is decent and there's a huge Odeon. We just bring in our own drinks and snacks, I don't think they care. I couldn't go regularly, it's far too expensive, even for two that's still £9 each.

Green Gecko wrote:

kerr9000 wrote:I have a disability Cinema card which helps a lot as it's constant two for one at like 95percent of cinemas even when you have deals like half price events, kids clubs and other things that lower the price you still get two tickets for the price of one.


I go to a small local cinema called the Savoy, it's about £7 a ticket old fashioned but well kept

Then a place called Arc Cinema there's two near me in different towns about £8 a ticket, decent but one has a lift that's a death trap, it squeeled and went nuts when I went down in it after Evil Dead Rise which is kind of funny if you've seen the film

Then occasionally Cineworld that's £10 a ticket its probably the best quality of seats and screen but you expect it for the money.

I just got a CEA card too. I laugh at one of the conditions which is that they can reasonably refuse a 2nd ticket if the person you are saying is there for your support or safety is unlikely to be able to support you (in your opinion) e.g. your children.

Yes here is my little helper, totally not my child and at 4 years of age is very mature for his age. Just the idea of that and the fussiness they had over the evidence was kind of amusing but yes it is encouraging because I probably wouldn't want to go to a cinema on my own. Last time and most times there is some banana split kicking my chair and I really want to have a go but obviously won't.

Last time saw Mario movie for £18 yes (crazy price), but was in the small theatre. They did the thing where they shrunk the display for the trailers and then pullied the curtains to reveal more screen lol. Our small theatre is decent and there's a huge Odeon. We just bring in our own drinks and snacks, I don't think they care. I couldn't go regularly, it's far too expensive, even for two that's still £9 each.

I had issues with Cineworld a few times using my CEA card and having my daughter as my career when she was 12...basically she's seen me have lots of fits and knows how to make sure I am ok.... Odeon was always ok with it so were independents but Cineworld was funny a few times, always let me after a bit of moaning, strangely enough one time was the night after one of the news channels had done a big bit on how many young careers there are in the UK, so I quoted a lot of that back when saying why she should be allowed in as my career.