What do theaters do with films when their done playing?
 

I was looking into getting a used film projector for cheap, something that needs work. But looking further, I can't find anyone selling the actual movies they use in commercial theaters. Do theaters destroy the movies when their done playing them or something like that? WTF?

I remember Evil Robot making this exact thread a while back.

BUT YOU DIDN'T REALLY MAKE IT, DID YOU

Spam is completely taking over. I think permanently banning the entire message board is in order.

As I understood it, it was like they were licensed to show them and then they had to send them back.

yeah that sounds about right :(

I think they get heavy fines too if the films aren't returned on time because theaters basically rent the film strips.

Right after I made this thread I found all these companies that rent and license movies in 35mm, my mistake was searching for "film" instead of "prints". When the hell was there ever spam about this?

he was probably being ironical or somesuchshit

I've always been curious about how much it costs a theater to get old film reels to screen. You know, say an independent theater wants to screen Big Trouble in Little China for a midnight movie... how much does it cost them to get that film reel and screen it to the public for one night? Anybody know?

i haven't been able to find that specifically but i did find a big list of film distributors if you want to try calling one of them :/
http://www.bigscreenbiz.com/Film-Distributors/

edit n/m this link is much more helpful: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/740565

Speaking of that, tonight in NY we get a double feature of Big Trouble in Little China and Army of Darkness starting at 11pm:rock

They put their dicks all over the film then send it to me.

I haven't been able to find Big trouble, but it seems that movies like it generally go for $1-3 dollars per person you intend to have at the event (this is only for non-profit gatherings, not independent theaters). I found some companies that deal with people other than gigantic cinaplexes but their title selection is limited to crap and straight to video stuff. What I want to do is buy a used Christie digital cinema projector and rent one of the vacant lots in Long Beach in NYC, charge for tickets and food, and bring in a few of those guys that have street vendor liquor licenses for a share of the alcohol sales. Just doing this on weekends as an outdoor seasonal thing might actually turn a profit if I can find a movie company that will work with me, but they all seem to intentionally give preference to Lowes and Sony ONLY.

Awesome. I can be there in 6 hours.

What happens is you make a deal with the film company. Like say a brand new movie can only be played in a certain radius. So multiple movie theaters make a bid on the movie along the lines of (I'll give you all the ticket sales for the first 3 weeks and then 75 percent ticket sales for the next 2) and another theater might even give them all the ticket sale for all 5 weeks just so that they have the movie. Cause yes, the only money a movie theaters makes is really of of the concession stands. I know, I was deep in the business.

For an old movie? I suppose they would offer like 25 percent ticket sales or something. One one hand there wouldn't be a bidding war for the movie, but on the other hand there might only be a few prints and they ship it all over the county.