Post #2
Cineworld - some thoughts
So Cineworld is filing for bankruptcy in the US, weighed down by $5B of debt. Is anyone else getting tired of companies (and management) not standing up and taking ownership for their failures? They are blaming studios for not enough ‘tentpole’ releases, and for audiences not returning to numbers seen before the pandemic.
Well, here is my 3 point plan for how the world’s second largets cinema chain should run its business:
Yes, customer habits and behaviours have changed. Maybe their tastes as well. And maybe their attitude to risk. Most people have now experienced Covid 19. Many will have seen friends and family suffer from it. Many will have lost someone special due to it. Perhaps they don’t want to sit in a vast room with hundreds of other strangers, who are not asked to wear a mask, and might turn up with symptoms, coughing and spluttering everywhere? We’ve all seen these people and thought “why did you drag yourself to this film showing, when you should probably have been a little less selfish and stayed at home?” Frankly, I don’t want to return home with Covid/a cold/flu from a two hour showing. Airlines have gone above and beyond in their air filtering systems - perhaps cinemas could invest and advertise this to customers?
Did anyone notice a cost of living crisis? That thing going on in the background where inflation is running rampant? Even with this, competitors have managed to maintain ticket prices to around half of Cineworld prices in the London cinemas I go to. To all intents and purposes, the product is the same. Same quality screen, sound, annoying people who talk during a film (more of that later), same high prices and low quality of concessions…so why pay double?
This final point is a tough to fix, and I admit I don’t have the answer. I, for one, am fed up with other cinemagoers. I know that sounds entitled but hear me out. The behaviour by other patrons since 2020 has declined, significantly. I’m not the most frequent customer, but I do like to watch films in a cinema that my TV and speakers at home can’t compete with. However, patience is wearing thin. Everytime I have been since cinemas opened up again, people are inconsiderate of others. Plain and simple. I’ve had patrons talking ‘quietly’ behind me for half a film. People scrolling through their phones and lighting up the whole surrounding area. People answering calls on said phone. And, what I had completely forgotten about whilst at home during lockdowns - was the eating and slurping of food. I know I sound like an old man, waving and shaking his fist. But I love the cinema experience where I can escape into a film. Not be distracted by phones, talking and food being gorged. That’s why I don’t have a solution for this point. The cinema business rests on the sale of highly-priced soda, popcorn, candy and nachos. And I know I’m in the minority who simply go to enjoy a film and a bit of escapsim.
Cinemas don’t appeal to customers like me. They don’t care if I go, or don’t go. People like me won’t affect their bottom line. Which is why my partner and I only go if we really want to see a film. We have become more discerning in our choice, considering we have Netflix, Prime and Disney+ at home to choose from. True, I don’t have Dolby Atmos at home. Nor a 50ft wide screen (I only have 49”). Top Gun Maverick was a truly great cinema experience, and one worth a trip to the cinema for. Maybe I should stump up £20 per ticket for a venue where patrons might be impeccably behaved, where floors aren’t sticky, where you don’t have to wait for the couple ahead of you are buying ALL the food and drinks, to buy your tickets (because they have merged the food and ticket sales).
But £20? For a 2 hour film? Maybe I’m tight. What if I don’t enjoy it? That’s money down the drain, in my reasoning. That’s too much to ‘gamble’ on a film for me. So maybe they should have blamed Netflix all along. Without them, studios wouldn’t have their own streaming options, giving us choice. Literally from the comfort of your home. Or maybe blame people staying at home…or blame YouTube. Or Spotify. Or Audible. Or bars and restaurants. Or a thousand other things that are competing for people’s time and money.
Just don’t take the blame yourself, eh Cineworld?