Poor PPG Movie Showtimes: Cinemark's Response

[John Miles]

Recently I sent a brief letter to the support section of Cinemark's site stating how disappointed I was with my local theater's showtimes of the Powerpuff Girls Movie. I figure I would get an automated response and my complaint might be read but would be tossed aside. I never expected to actually get a written response. Here's what it said:

John,

The film studio, Warner Bros., who put out the film, made this decision, not the theater management. As you can see, the same situation happened with "Hey Arnold! The Movie". I'm sure that you have noticed that in past, even though this theater is an 8 screen theater, it can show more than 8 films. For instance, right now they are showing 10 movies. They do this by "doubling up" the movies. This decision is not made by the theater, rather it is made by a collaboration with the different film studios (Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, etc...) Usually movies get "doubled" after they have been at the theater for a while (i.e.: Spider-Man & Star Wars). But there are instances when a film studio puts out a movie and knows that it will not be bringing in enough money to warrant a showtime past 6:30 PM. This not only happened with "The Powerpuff Girls Movie", but it also happened with "Hey Arnold! The Movie". It also depends on the area of the country that you are located in and which movies it is being "doubled" with. For example, in the Katy, TX area, the last showtime for "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" is at 6:30 PM. It is also doubled with "Juwanna Mann", another Warner Bros. movie. Since your local theater is not showing "Juwanna Mann", another movie needed to be chosen. Both Sony (Spider-Man) and 20th Century FOX (Star Wars) allowed their films to be doubled as long as they had the prime evening showtimes around the 7 o'clock hour. Cinemark agreed to double "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" with "Spider-Man" since Sony was okay with starting "Spider-Man" at a later time (7:30 PM) than FOX (FOX wanted a showtime for "Star Wars" right at 7:00 PM). Since "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" is an 1 hour and 40 minutes (with previews), plus at least a 30 minute window for cleaning the auditorium, the latest time that "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" could start, and still be able to meet the stipulations that Sony agreed upon, would be 5:20 PM. The theater opted to give an extra 15 minutes of clean-up time, since children's films tend to need more cleaning time than other films. That is why "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" started at 5:05 PM. This also allowed for people to seat a little earlier for the next showing. Again, Warner Bros., was the one who wanted their film to be doubled in the first place. They felt that with all the big summer movies that have been released close together (Mr. Deeds, Men In Black 2, Like Mike, etc...), that their movie only needed the morning and afternoon showtimes. Luckily, for most families, the cost of the movie ticket price is lower since the showtimes are during the matinee pricing time period. We hope that this information gives you a better understanding of what is entailed in booking a film and why the showtimes are created a certain way.

Thank you for your patronage and have a great day!

Cinemark Site Support

Looks like WB is screwing us again. I still think it's insane that Spiderman and Star Wars are getting better showtimes than PPG, even though they've been out so long. I mean, the PPG Movie didn't do great, but it brought in more money than Spiderman and Star Wars are at this point, so what's the point in keeping them around?

Comments?

[Ajax]

I kind of figured that would happen. When I looked at the movie listing from where I live the PPG only had 3 showtimes and Hey Arnold 1 showtime. You really don't know why Spider-Man and Star Wars are getting better showtimes. Lets see, how can I put it in a way were this does not offend any fans........Spider-Man made more money in three hours then the PPG did in one Weekend (I am just guessing :D ). I believe that due to the success of SW, SP, they are being shown more then the less successful PPG and Hey Arnold. It is time to move on, the PPG movie was good but not good enough to take the Box Office. It happens. Just wait 5 months for the video so the fans can watch all they want. I personally believe that the PPG would of been better off going staright to video. Just look at all the problems it had with listing and showtimes. My opionion of course.

[John Miles]

Originally posted by Comic Book Guy
You really don't know why Spider-Man and Star Wars are getting better showtimes. Lets see, how can I put it in a way were this does not offend any fans........Spider-Man made more money in three hours then the PPG did in one Weekend (I am just guessing :D ). I believe that due to the success of SW, SP, they are being shown more then the less successful PPG and Hey Arnold.

But PPG and Hey Arnold! weren't given as much of a chance Star Wars and Spiderman. They got crappy showtimes right off the bat. And, like I said, PPG is making more money than Star Wars and Spiderman are at this point, so why not drop Spidey and actually give the PPG Movie a freaking chance to do good with better showtimes. Why? Because that would make Sony unhappy.


It is time to move on, the PPG movie was good but not good enough to take the Box Office. It happens. Just wait 5 months for the video so the fans can watch all they want. I personally believe that the PPG would of been better off going staright to video. Just look at all the problems it had with listing and showtimes. My opionion of course.

I have no problem moving on, I just thought this tidbit might be interesting to anyone who was curious as the why the PPG Movie got such bad showtimes.

[kiddiesunshine]

I guess that makes sense. And as much as you like something, you sometimes have to go with the most sensible deal. PPG is a good movie, but it isn't pulling in the big bucks. The movie theater I work for could just remove the movie from the premises, but they are instead showing the movie once at around noon. Some movies just don't get what they deserve. That's showbiz.

[Zechs]

[i]

Looks like WB is screwing us again. I still think it's insane that Spiderman and Star Wars are getting better showtimes than PPG, even though they've been out so long. I mean, the PPG Movie didn't do great, but it brought in more money than Spiderman and Star Wars are at this point, so what's the point in keeping them around?

Comments? [/B]I don'tthink so the fact is PPG is considred a girls movie so not many people are willing to see it. Spiderman and Star Wars have been around longer and appeals to all ages most being men who make up so much of their non movie profits and have a much larger fan base than PPG because they have been around for so much longer and it appeals to men and boys who are the most likely to buy comics and action figures. I mean come on how many girls tweens to adults read comics and watch cartoons not nearly as many as guys of the same age group.

[Sharklady]

> I personally believe that the PPG would of been better off going staright to video. <

No way! If it had, we'd never have gotten a chance to see all those terrific action sequences on the big screen.
To say nothing of that intrigueing CN logo.

And I don't believe for a moment, that the movie had a low box-office take because it wasn't good enough. I believe it could have done *much* better, with proper handling (for one thing, it shouldn't have been released the same day as MIB2- that was guaranteed to draw the crowds.)

[Ajax]

Originally posted by Sharklady
And I don't believe for a moment, that the movie had a low box-office take because it wasn't good enough. I believe it could have done *much* better, with proper handling (for one thing, it shouldn't have been released the same day as MIB2- that was guaranteed to draw the crowds.)

See, thats my point. It wasn't good enough for the Box Office, If it had been then it would been able to keep up with MIBII. Remember critics gave MIBII a average rating. Yes PPG was a good movie, but only in the eyes of the fans. My opionion of course.

[Sharklady]

> It wasn't good enough for the Box Office, If it had been then it would been able to keep up with MIBII.<

As MIBII has a huge fan base, only a similarly endowed movie, like 'Attack of the Clones', could've hoped to compete with it. But that doesn't prove movies with solid fan bases are higher-quality ones; just tougher competitors.

[KingKoopa]

Don't even mention bad showtimes. My local theater isn't even showing it. The closest movie that shows it shows it really early. REALLY early. So early it's gotta go in a spoiler box.

10:30 AM

That's the only showing. Can anyone's theater beat that in crappiness?

[bartman454]

Yeah it especially ticks me off when they do this kind of thing at a 20 theater place.

[Psychoprog]

Remember critics gave MIBII a average rating. Yes PPG was a good movie, but only in the eyes of the fans. My opionion of course.

http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/reportcard/
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/powerpuffgirlsmovie

Most critics I've seen have scored the PPG movie higher than MIIB. It was definitely good enough for the box office, it just wasn't given a fair chance. Honestly, any movie given so little attention, regardless of how good it is, stands absolutely no chance against a movie so hyped as MIIB.

[A. Piett]

Originally posted by Comic Book Guy


See, thats my point. It wasn't good enough for the Box Office, If it had been then it would been able to keep up with MIBII. Remember critics gave MIBII a average rating. Yes PPG was a good movie, but only in the eyes of the fans. My opionion of course.

Well, some bad movies go on to make big bucks at the box office (see Scooby Doo). So it's not really fair to say Powerpuff movie wasn't good enough for the big screen. Some good movies do well at the box office, some good movies do badly. Some bad movies make big bucks, some bad movies flop.

From that Cinemark letter about the showtimes, it looks like the Powerpuff movie wasn't given a fair chance.

Now judging by the numbers that it did, esp the $ take per theater when it they did show it during the day, it looks like Powerpuff movie didn't have much of an appeal to the general moviegoing public. But the limiting of showtimes to 5 or 6pm didn't help things. I'm sure it could've pulled in like $15 million by now instead of $10 million if all theaters showed the movie at night.

BTW Comicbookguy, I do agree with you that the Powerpuff movie wasn't all that great. I thought it was somewhat disappointing. But I can also see how devoted fans will love it, since I've seen the exact same thing with Star Wars Clones. I thought Clones was a really bad movie but fans everywhere loved it.

[William C. Maune]

[indent]First of all I must commend Cinemark for being so upfront in their response. It is nice to see a company take the time not only to answer a customer's question, but to answer it so completely.
[indent]That being said, this news literally makes me sick to my stomach. Without those evening showings the Powerpuff Girls movie never had a chance to break out at the box office. Warner Bros. effectively gutted the box office by limiting the films accessibility. Afternoons may be when a lot of families go, but 7 and 9 PM are still the prime showings for any movie. I see a lot of movies and I have to deal with extremely annoying little kids at those later showings all the time. Besides the kids, they prevented anyone with a normal day job from seeing the movie during the week. Finally, most of the older kids, adults, etc. generally don't go see movies early on the weekends. They go out at night. A time when the PPG movie wasn't playing. Except for people specifically seeking out a way to see this movie no one who was casually interested in seeing the movie ever really had a chance to consider it.

[Xevo]

I don't believe the first word of their reply to you. It's a classic case of passing the buck. I've RUN a movie theatre before, yes RUN it as in I paid for all the movies and kept all the money.

I can tell you, as a previous exhibitor, that the studios do NOT tell you when you can and can't show your movie. If you want a 4:30 am showing, then hey, more power to you!

The issue here is likely how WB advertised the movie to exhibitors -- I'm sure the theatre owners who NEVER heard of the PPG before read WB's flyer, saw "Girlie movie, for elementary school students" and said, "Well, damn, they're basically telling us that about half of the kids will be interested in this, and no 18-35 year olds are going to come on their own... rather than make night showings, we'll shown an extra screen of Spider-Man or Scooby Doo instead."

It's really sad they're blaming WB for this.