Distributors in HK are quite different from many territories around the world. What makes HK somewhat unique is that the distributors here own the theater chain and will schedule films accordingly depending on type of film and size of release. 6 out of the 7 theater chains are owned by a parent company who distributes and markets films. In this part, we'll cover both theater owned distributors and non-theater owned distributors.
Non-theater owned distributors
The majority of non-theater owned distributors are comprised of 4 of the big 6 studios/distributors and a few individual local distributors.
Sony, FOX, Warner Bros. and Disney all do not own any theaters and independently distribute their own films.
Independent local distributors such as Sundream/Cable, Golden Scene, Gala, Media Asia and First also have no theaters to their credit.
Theater owned distributors
EDKO - Broadway/AMC chains (owns 13 theaters) - Universal movies are distributed by EDKO in HK since the collapse of UIP/UPI. EDKO usually distributes a mix of Hollywood and Chinese movies.
Lark - UA (owns 11 theaters) - Same thing as EDKO. A mix of both Hollywood and local.
Panasia - Golden Harvest (owns 5 theaters) - They distribute mainly Chinese films although Hollywood/foreign films will get picked up.
Intercontinental - MCL (owns 6 theaters): Paramount is represented by Intercontinental distributor in HK. They also distribute films from independent studios such as Relativity Media. Chinese language films will also be distributed through here.
Newport - Newport (owns 4 theaters): They distribute Chinese language films.
Theater owned vs. Non-theater owned: Which one is better?
It would seem that being on a theater owned distributor is better but the results speak for themselves. Being on a huge studio is much more profitable than even getting distributed by the likes of EDKO. Not all films made by the big 6, however, get distributed in HK. A handful are unable to get a distributor due to lack of interest and/or competition. Pitch Perfect, a Universal film, did not get picked up by EDKO or by any other distributor in fall/winter 2012. These scenarios, however, are very rare and we usually see most big 6 films get a release. While it would be most advantageous if movies were marketed under the big 6 banner, even getting a theater owned distributor has huge benefits as well.
Although theater owned distributors work on a smaller scale than the big studios, movies that get a release will get some sort of promotion and good scheduling in the distributing theater. Take A Simple Life for example. It got released in March 2012 but held public special screenings in late 2011 at iSQUARE. It played for a few weeks before leaving but it built on the early buzz from there and others before its release. There was a huge marketing blitz in HK and it went on to become a big hit.
Smaller independent non-theater owning distributors are the least desirable. Not only do they not have any pull at the box office but promotion is usually smaller and not as big scale unlike the more established distributors.
Battle between theater distributors (Scheduling)
This is a common occurrence in HK. Don't be surprised if you look at theater schedules and go "Why is there only 1 showing of _________ on Thursday?" That happens because the theater chain is promoting one of their own movies and they will be extremely cutthroat and sacrifice other movies to make room for that movie.
The first two weeks of A Simple Life is a good example of how distributors will use their theaters to prop their movies. On March 8, 2012, 3 openers were set to debut in the top 3. John Carter and The Iron Lady were released on Thursday while A Simple Life opened on Friday. John Carter was a Disney release while The Iron Lady got the coveted EDKO distributor. A Simple Life, meanwhile, had Lark as its distributor. When Friday schedules came out, it worked out to be like this.
Broadway/AMC:
The Iron Lady - biggest screen/2nd largest
A Simple Life - biggest or 2nd screen/4th screen
John Carter - 3rd screen
UA:
A Simple Life - 2 screens (biggest + 1 other [usually 2nd or 3rd biggest])
John Carter - 2nd or 3rd biggest depending on demand for A Simple Life
The Iron Lady - smallest screen
GH/MCL
A Simple Life - biggest screen + any additional smaller screen
John Carter - 2nd biggest
The Iron Lady - 3rd biggest
The big discrepancy between Broadway/AMC and UA on March 8 wasn't that bad as most seem to agree that A Simple Life would win and all theater chains want to support a local movie. The next weekend, however, saw Nightfall unleashed. Nightfall was another local film and would be distributed by EDKO so another fight between EDKO and Lark was brewing. From my archives on Nightfall,
With Nightfall being an EDKO film, Broadway and AMC are putting this on 2 screens at most locations. A Simple Life gets regulated to the 2nd biggest screen while John Carter and The Iron Lady round it out with the smallest screens.That combined with this over at UA,
UA is promoting A Simple Life over Nightfall. A Simple Life is either getting the biggest screens or 2 screens at night while Nightfall gets the 2nd biggest. John Carter didn't survive as well at UA as it did at Broadway. The Iron Lady is still getting full day showtimes at most UA/Broadway theaters.
set the stage for a huge fray.
A Simple Life is doing great judging from pre-sales so far. It is beating Nightfall at most Broadway locations at night and in the morning. It is way out in front at UA theaters and outselling Nightfall 2:1 with night shows. Nightfall will probably have better walk-ins than A Simple Life but I think it will be slightly frontloaded on Thursday. A Simple Life will take advantage of Saturday/Sunday and fill its showtimes to capacity. It should take another victory lap this weekend.It was a fight to the death that ultimately saw EDKO take down Lark but scheduling at both theaters was laughable.
[EDKO is] scheduling Nightfall in the biggest screens and [is] putting Nightfall on 2-3 screens this weekend, taking the 2 biggest screens at almost every theater.UA was pretty much the same with A Simple Life taking up 2 screens including the biggest screen although they weren't as deliberate with their scheduling unlike Broadway/AMC.
Box Office
The top 10 of 2012 was composed of movies from the big 6 and 2 from EDKO. Top 10 of 2011 had 8 films from the big 6 including 4 from Intercontinental [3 from Paramount] and the top 10 of 2010 also had 8 films from the big 6. 2 films not under the big 6 distribution brand that made the top 10 in 2010 and 2011 were both distributed by Newport. 2 others fell under Intercontinental distribution but were not Paramount movies.
In 2013, the top 10 so far have been spread out with 4 movies coming from different theater owned distributors and 5 that are of local origin or distributed independently of the big 6. The divergence in box office sales has a lot to do with the recent market for local films as they have seen a surge in gross since 2009. Some of it is due to inflation with increasing prices but there has been more demand in recent years for local flavor. It's going to be another good for local films with Ip Man 3, SDU: Sex Duties Unit, Sex & Zen 2: Sexecution (in 4D), Inferno 3D, Cold War 2 and Overheard 3 still to be released. Overall, local distributors seem to be doing healthily with no signs of slowing down.
Series:
Inner workings of box office - Theaters (Part 1)
No comments:
Post a Comment