Odeon cinemas REFUSE to show Universal movies when they reopen – ‘They left us no choice’

AMC Theatres, who own UK cinema chain Odeon, have announced they will no longer show movies produced by Universal Pictures when they reopen. The sudden move comes after a statement made by NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, following the success of Trolls World Tour on video on demand. As cinemas around the world shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, studios began postponing their movies to later in the year.

However, Universal were the first to take one of their upcoming movies, CGI family sequel Trolls World Tour, and put it straight to rental on home release.

The NBCUniversal CEO has revealed that the movie made around $100 million on premium VOD rentals during its first three weeks in the US and Canada.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this means Trolls World Tour is set to make a comfortable profit, being not far behind the $116 million made by the first Trolls movie in the same time frame and region back in 2016.

Shell told The Wall Street Journal: “The results for Trolls World Tour have exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of PVOD.”

odeon and universal

Odeon cinemas REFUSE to show Universal movies when they reopen – ‘They left us no choice’ (Image: GETTY)

trolls world tour

Trolls World Tour went straight to PVOD after it couldn’t be shown in cinemas and proved profitable (Image: UP)

The CEO added: “As soon as theatres reopen, we expect to release movies on both formats.”

Unsurprisingly the business strategy change made by Universal was not taken well by AMC Theatres, who are already struggling financially due to the current closure.

Having movies released at the same time in both cinemas and on VOD could mean less business that usual for the global cinema chain.

In a candid letter, AMC Theatres chair CEO Adam Aron announced that the company, which owns Odeon in the UK, will no longer show movies produced by Universal under these circumstances.

amc cinemas in new york

AMC own the Odeon cinema chain (Image: GETTY)

The AMC Theatres chief wrote: “It is disappointing to us, but Jeff’s comments as to Universal’s unilateral actions and intentions have left us with no choice.

“Therefore, effectively immediately AMC will no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theatres in the United States, Europe or the Middle East.”

With Europe included there, that must mean that AMC’s 120 UK Odeon sites will not screen the latest Universal releases either.

Aron continued: “This policy affects any and all Universal movies per se, goes into effect today and as our theatres reopen, and is not some hollow or ill-considered threat.”

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The AMC boss also made it clear that any other studios who intend to do likewise will not have their movies shown at their cinemas.

He added: “Incidentally, this policy is not aimed solely at Universal out of pique or to be punitive in any way, it also extends to any movie maker who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us, so that they as distributor and we as exhibitor both benefit and neither are hurt from such changes.

“Currently, with the press comment today, Universal is the only studio contemplating a wholesale change to the status quo.

“Hence, this immediate communication in response.”

Universal was swift to release another statement in response to AMC’s letter claiming that Shell’s comments have been misconstrued.

They wrote: “We absolutely believe in the theatrical experience and have made no statement to the contrary. As we stated earlier, going forward, we expect to release future films directly to theatres, as well as on PVOD when that distribution outlet makes sense.

“We look forward to having additional private conversations with our exhibition partners but are disappointed by this seemingly coordinated attempt from AMC and NATO to confuse our position and our actions.

“Our goal in releasing Trolls: World Tour on PVOD was to deliver entertainment to people who are sheltering at home, while movie theatres and other forms of outside entertainment are unavailable. Based on the enthusiastic response to the film, we believe we made the right move.”

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