New theatre aims for upscale rather than suburban crowd
Katherine Monk
Sun
GLENN BAGLO/VANCOUVER SUN The new downtown Vancouver Paramount theatre complex at Burrard and Smythe features an ‘urban forest.’
“Welcome to the urban forest,” says Nuria Bronfman, spokeswoman for Famous Players, as she shows off the lacquered tree stumps and river-rock linoleum that form a minimalist corner in the new Paramount Vancouver.
More than a year under construction, the Paramount is an $8-million nine-screen complex that forms the first few floors of a major downtown condominium development in the heart of Vancouver’s core at Burrard and Smythe streets.
The city has been gurgling with excitement about the opening for months, and as Bronfman lingers at the front door, passers-by crane their neck inside to get a sneak peek. Although it’s really just another theatre with projectors, movie screens and popcorn, it’s still enough to excite the movie-going public, which may explain why Famous Players isn’t worried about the long-term prospects of their new investment despite declining box-office receipts and attendance.
According to industry analysts, the 2004 box office was a banner year, thanks to Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2 and the continuing success of Lord of the Rings. But attendance was actually down anywhere from 1.4 to two per cent. Box-office receipts rose, but largely as a result of increased ticket prices.
The first quarter of 2005 hasn’t looked bright by comparison. Box office is down by nearly 10 per cent from last year, with industry reports calling the market everything from sluggish to dry. Some blame the relatively weak, franchise-lean crop of titles. Others look to the success of home video and sell-through DVDs as one of the contributing factors to the box-office slump.
For exhibitors such as Famous Players, a good product is crucial to success since few people will leave the couch to see a movie that’s been universally panned. Nonetheless, there is also an “if you build it, they will come” philosophy that took hold of the exhibition business about a decade ago, when expansion and capital upgrades were the order of the day across North America and SilverCity complexes sprouted across suburbia.
They were heady days, but they didn’t last.
In the U.S., after winning approval from the Justice Department to purchase the Cineplex Odeon chain in 1998, Sony Pictures Entertainment was looking to become the largest exhibitor in the United States. Combined with their interest in the Loews theatre chain, Sony would have access to more than 2,600 screens across the country.
The company saw it as a huge victory that finally weakened the legal language surrounding “vertical integration” — a potentially monopolizing phenomenon where studios not only make and distribute their product, but are in a position to show it theatrically as well.
The very idea of vertical integration was shot down in 1948. In the so-called Paramount case, the court decided the studios conspired to fix admission prices, theatrical distribution patterns and pushed for “block bookings” (where theatres are forced to take a whole slate of releases just to get the plum) — all of which limited access and competition.
When Sony won approval to buy Cineplex Odeon, it weakened the competition laws, but the lucre of vertical integration never materialized. Three years later, Loews was bankrupt and Sony was facing massive losses.
Yet as Bronfman shows a visitor around the complex, there’s no evidence of economy in the new facility. The Paramount Vancouver is a first-class venue offering the latest in technology and comfort.
“It’s all about the experience of watching a movie,” says Bronfman. “People want to go out and be social. Going to see a movie is one of the few shared experiences available to people these days, and that’s why people still get off the couch. That won’t change, and with this new theatre, they’re getting more than just a movie. They’re getting an experience.”
According to Bronfman, Canada‘s largest movie theatre chain has different philosophies behind each brand. The SilverCity and Colossus brands are aimed at the suburban family and play up the amusement park feel of the venue with bright colours, video arcades and lots and lots of reflective surfaces.
The Paramount is a “premium brand” aimed at the urban, upscale market with more cappuccino frothers than oversized fuzzy animals. The Vancouver venue is the fourth Paramount in Canada, joining other upscale venues in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.
“We’re very excited about the new theatre. We’ve done the suburban theatres and they’ve been very successful, but this is actually a place where you can come and just sit and take it all in.”
The urban forest awaits.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
