Ranger REG
Explorer
Have you lost your mind? 
Don't really care to revisit that old animated film.
Don't really care to revisit that old animated film.
Sign the Petition for a 4 hour TTT!
Tyler Do'Urden
Soap Maker
orbitalfreak said:
Either way, I'm not gonna miss this movie. Still kicking myself for missing LotR in theaters...
YOU DID WHAT?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jasper
Rotten DM
Some of us fan boys may go to a 4 hour movie. But Joe public won't.
The movie company and theatre (two different companies here in the usa) need to make money off the run.
So the long the film runs the lower the profits. No profits no more movies.
Remember Costner got rip for his long movies and I don't think they all made money. Especially his comedy Waterworld.
True story. A lady who works in the same office as I asked me last week did the wizard live? Buying the dvd was the first time she heard of LOTR. I finally told her two days after she asked me when she made it clear that this was her first time hearing about rings.
Hey instead of signing a internet petition which every fan boy can sign three or 4 times. Try writing a letter and signing your real name.
If this rumor is even true.
The movie company and theatre (two different companies here in the usa) need to make money off the run.
So the long the film runs the lower the profits. No profits no more movies.
Remember Costner got rip for his long movies and I don't think they all made money. Especially his comedy Waterworld.
True story. A lady who works in the same office as I asked me last week did the wizard live? Buying the dvd was the first time she heard of LOTR. I finally told her two days after she asked me when she made it clear that this was her first time hearing about rings.
Hey instead of signing a internet petition which every fan boy can sign three or 4 times. Try writing a letter and signing your real name.
If this rumor is even true.
Edena,
I signed the petition, but I have to join the chorus of people here saying that it would probably be a financially bad idea to have a 4-hour run time for the movie. For home viewing, that’s great, but not for the theaters. The people talking about showing times and the film not fitting on platters are absolutely correct (I did a 2 year stint as a manager overseeing three multiplexes). Movies that are over 2 1/2 hours in length are just a pain. Especially if they are popular.
The only way to handle it would be to show it on multiple screens for the majority of its run. That is something you generally don’t want to do.
A four-hour movie I can only realistically show 3 times a day. Now make the movie 3 hours long, I can show it 4 times a day and sell more popcorn (because, in the States at least, it is all about the popcorn). Sure, I would probably run it on multiple screens for the first week, maybe two, but even if I am selling out every show, I will be forced to make screen space (or due to contracts, I will want to but can’t). It’s the holidays after all; big movie release time and screen space is at a premium (at least it was when I was doing it).
Now, if you run a 16+ screen megaplex, maybe you can get away with it. However, smaller plexs are not going to be very profitable showing it only 3, maybe 6 times a day (on two screens). After the initial hype dies down, you will be really showing it only 2 or 4 times a day, because the number of people who are going to sit in a theater until 2:00 am is going drop off pretty darn fast.
For better or for worse (and I can make strong arguments for both points of view) the movie industry is much different than when most of the movies that are listed on your petition site came out. If Peter Jackson can tell the story in four hours, then he can probably tell it in three, he could certainly tell it in three and a half. Both of those options are better than four hours, from an exhibiter’s point of view, and their opinion does count for a lot.
I signed the petition, but I have to join the chorus of people here saying that it would probably be a financially bad idea to have a 4-hour run time for the movie. For home viewing, that’s great, but not for the theaters. The people talking about showing times and the film not fitting on platters are absolutely correct (I did a 2 year stint as a manager overseeing three multiplexes). Movies that are over 2 1/2 hours in length are just a pain. Especially if they are popular.
The only way to handle it would be to show it on multiple screens for the majority of its run. That is something you generally don’t want to do.
A four-hour movie I can only realistically show 3 times a day. Now make the movie 3 hours long, I can show it 4 times a day and sell more popcorn (because, in the States at least, it is all about the popcorn). Sure, I would probably run it on multiple screens for the first week, maybe two, but even if I am selling out every show, I will be forced to make screen space (or due to contracts, I will want to but can’t). It’s the holidays after all; big movie release time and screen space is at a premium (at least it was when I was doing it).
Now, if you run a 16+ screen megaplex, maybe you can get away with it. However, smaller plexs are not going to be very profitable showing it only 3, maybe 6 times a day (on two screens). After the initial hype dies down, you will be really showing it only 2 or 4 times a day, because the number of people who are going to sit in a theater until 2:00 am is going drop off pretty darn fast.
For better or for worse (and I can make strong arguments for both points of view) the movie industry is much different than when most of the movies that are listed on your petition site came out. If Peter Jackson can tell the story in four hours, then he can probably tell it in three, he could certainly tell it in three and a half. Both of those options are better than four hours, from an exhibiter’s point of view, and their opinion does count for a lot.
Edena_of_Neith
First Post
Did you know that thi thread, urging folk to sign the petition, went over much better here than the equivalent thread I posted on the Tolkien message board The White Council?
I can only speculate why this is so.
Gamers are a patient lot, I am thinking.
You have to be patient to survive a Convention.
You have to wait patiently for next week's home game.
You have to patiently wait for your turn to come up in battle, and for the DM to call on you.
You have to deal with other players, which requires patience.
And being a DM requires more patience yet.
Perhaps the idea of sitting in a theater for 4 hours is not such an aggravating idea for Gamers, because they are a patient lot.
Yet, on the White Council are the Tolkien Purists, and one would think them devoted enough to sit any amount of time required for the best rendition of a Tolkien Film.
So, who knows?
I can only speculate why this is so.
Gamers are a patient lot, I am thinking.
You have to be patient to survive a Convention.
You have to wait patiently for next week's home game.
You have to patiently wait for your turn to come up in battle, and for the DM to call on you.
You have to deal with other players, which requires patience.
And being a DM requires more patience yet.
Perhaps the idea of sitting in a theater for 4 hours is not such an aggravating idea for Gamers, because they are a patient lot.
Yet, on the White Council are the Tolkien Purists, and one would think them devoted enough to sit any amount of time required for the best rendition of a Tolkien Film.
So, who knows?
Psychotic Dreamer
First Post
While I did sign the petition I honestly doubt it will happen. I was suprised that the public went and saw a 3 hour movie. In general people are just not that patient. Oh well only time will tell.
Ranger REG
Explorer
To be brutally honest, Edena, I don't think Peter Jackson is making the movies just for gamers' eyes only. He has to think of the mainstream audience and how to hold their attention.
If by your logic that is the case, I doubt New Line Cinema is going to invest such a large film project for a few selective audience. So it's more than just the gamers and the literary fans of Tolkien (albeit not the Tolkien Purists). It's the audience of another media they want to capture.
That and the fact it is not financially great for the theater business, unless they're willing to impose intermissions for bathroom breaks and refill at the concession stands.
If by your logic that is the case, I doubt New Line Cinema is going to invest such a large film project for a few selective audience. So it's more than just the gamers and the literary fans of Tolkien (albeit not the Tolkien Purists). It's the audience of another media they want to capture.
That and the fact it is not financially great for the theater business, unless they're willing to impose intermissions for bathroom breaks and refill at the concession stands.
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