I have stumbled across a couple of interesting articles and wonder if they could have any ramifications for WDW.
With Disney coming to an agreement to distribute Spielberg's Dreamworks movies, I wonder if he would consider a move from Universal to Disney?
I wonder if the theater is sold to new owners if it would open up the possibility of removing the hat from DHS? This would be especially easy if Disney were to buy it (just speculating).
Spielberg in talks over contract with Universal theme park in US Associated Press Newswires - August 10, 2009 ORLANDO, Florida (AP) - Universal Orlando officials are negotiating with Steven Spielberg over whether to renew a consulting contract.
Tracey Stockwell, principal financial officer of Universal's parent company, said in a conference call Friday that the theme park resort is hoping for a quick resolution.
Under the contract, Spielberg gets a flat fee and a percentage of revenues of movie or television-themed attractions in exchange for advising the theme park resort and working on other projects around the world.
Although there is no expiration date for the arrangement, starting in June 2010, Spielberg has the right to end it. He can then can get a single lump sum payment based on his interests in the Orlando parks and other projects around the world.
Universal's regulatory filings Friday did not disclose the amount involved.
With Disney coming to an agreement to distribute Spielberg's Dreamworks movies, I wonder if he would consider a move from Universal to Disney?
Mann Theatres selling historic Grauman's Chinese Reuters News - August 11, 2009 By Carl DiOrio
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Amid seismic shifts in the local movie exhibition business, Warner Bros. and Viacom are stepping up efforts to unload Los Angeles-area movie theaters piecemeal, including the iconic Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood.
Such an exit would conclude an initially profitable but more recently tedious tenure of ownership for the studio companies.
Executives at Cinemerica -- the co-venture of Paramount parent Viacom and Warners that operates Mann Theatres -- believe the timing is right to make a concerted run at selling one or more of its venues. Two are considered especially attractive: the fabled Grauman's on Hollywood Boulevard and the Criterion Theatre on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.
"Grauman's and the Criterion are kind of the diamonds in the circuit," Cinemerica chief Millard Ochs said.
Mann let leases expire for Westwood Village's now-closed National and Festival theaters and will vacate the classic Bruin and Village spaces in March unless late-breaking negotiations result in an extension to those leases.
Ochs, who also is president of Warner Bros. International Cinemas, said a collapse of the exhibition market in Westwood -- once home to many of Los Angeles' leading cinemas -- is tied to several factors.
The refurbishment of AMC and Landmark multiplexes just south of the neighborhood and a couple of new Pacific Theatres openings to the east have drawn moviegoers away from traditional Westwood haunts. As a mere leasee of its Westwood properties, Mann has been unable to implement conversions to stadium seating and other modern amenities. Declining traffic and limited parking in an aging retail district, combined with inherently bad economics for single-screen venues, exacerbated difficulties.
CHANGING ECONOMICS
"You can't make a profit on a single-screen theater," a top industryite said. "It's just not possible."
Indeed, Westwood's independently operated Crest Theater -- another struggling mono-screen -- is also up for sale.
Mann's Beverly Center multiplex in West Hollywood has been closed for months for renovations and soon will reopen under new management. The chain also operates a half-dozen suburban theaters which, at most, might fetch a sale price equal to five or six times theater cash flow.
Grauman's is a special case. Combined with a six-plex in the adjacent -- and finally flourishing -- Hollywood & Highland complex, it could fetch as much as the rest of the circuit combined.
The recent opening of a Madame Tussauds wax museum next door also will benefit Grauman's, perhaps the only theater Cinemerica operates that has appreciated in recent years. Cinemerica owns the buildings but not the land at Grauman's and the Mann Westlake and leases the rest of its theaters.
Opened by Sid Grauman in 1927, the storied Chinese -- whose famous footprints out front are a longtime tourist draw -- was sold in 1973 to the late Ted Mann, originally an exhibitor in Minnesota. For years, the site operated as Mann's Chinese but returned to its Grauman's moniker in 2001.
Ochs said he believes Cinemerica will find appropriate buyers for many of the Mann theaters now that the decision has been made to sell the properties piecemeal.
For the Westwood theaters, fall will bring yet another indignity as time, and local exhibition, march onward -- and eastward. Regal Cinemas expects to open a 14-plex at Anschutz Entertainment's sprawling L.A. Live downtown retail complex in October, and a big push is expected for glitzy movie premieres of the sort once common in Westwood.
Hollywood will have moved its red carpet from one end of Wilshire Boulevard to the other.
I wonder if the theater is sold to new owners if it would open up the possibility of removing the hat from DHS? This would be especially easy if Disney were to buy it (just speculating).
