It just happened. We had placed a call to Warner Brothers to inquire about booking some of their upcoming films, and somehow missed the message that someone from Warner Brothers had actually already called us earlier that same morning. The reason: They wanted to know if we’d book “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” in 3D. Regal’s Pioneer Place location has recently added a single 3D screen, but had already committed to opening Disney’s “Step Up 3D” the week following the open of “Cats & Dogs”. This left Warner Brothers in the tough situation of only getting single week play in 3D at Pioneer Place. So they called us. Done deal – we’re opening the film on July 30th in 3D.
A "spy" dog in action.
This is definitely a departure for us in terms of the types of movies we’ve been playing, and no we’re not “selling out” or changing our focus or commitment from quality independent and foreign titles. Most people are surprised to learn that in the process of booking films there is a somewhat pre-determined pecking order as to what locations can actually book what films. Just because we wanted to play Inception (also from Warner Brothers) didn’t mean we could. Regal got it. They get to open most movies because they are a giant corporation with near monopoly position here in Portland (and lots of other cities). It is a very competitive and tough business – one where the big corporations (including the studios) hardly ever want to play fair.
We are trying to strike a balance between having a mainstream movie or two and the rest of the more “art” or “indie” movies that everyone has come to appreciate watching on our screens. This necessitates us establishing a track record with the major studios any way we can, and “Cats & Dogs” was an opportunity for us to further that goal with Warner Brothers. There’s a certain boy-wizard series finale opening in November that we’d like to get a shot at in 3D on our screens.
Who's got their paw on the button
Having said all that, there is definitely an audience out there for “Cats and Dogs”. My mom was excited to hear we’d be playing it, and my 9-year old nephew will appreciate seeing it in what he thinks is the most comfortable theater in all of Portland. We need your help in supporting the “little guy” – the local business (that would be us) – by telling your friends and family that there’s another family oriented movie opening at Living Room. Take advantage of one of the lowest priced 3D tickets with the best 3D system in all of Portland and help us show the big corporations that there is something to be said for a small movie theater with class, comfort, and real food.
As always, we value feedback from our customers. In order to continue to be a viable theater that is able to show the small indie, art, and foreign movies, we need an occasional mainstream hit to help us balance out the books, and keep the lights on. What do you think of the few family oriented films we’ve managed to “steal” away from Regal like “Shrek” and “Toy Story”?
i get it. the economic imperative as well as the need to nab the wizard movie in november. i love going to LR b/c of the movies you show – arthouse, foreign, indie – that i could not see anywhere else in portland. if you’re able to pay the bills w/ this so you can show actual cinema, and continue to do so, then so be it. provided of course that this isn’t the start of some slow decline into showing bad movies. that i wouldn’t like
Awesome!
Great. Just what we need another “kid friendly” play pen movie house in Portland. Keep this theater independent and let Regal show the Hollywood mainstream films. Last I checked your brand and audience are independent and foreign films. Why does everything here have to be family friendly? You have something unique and special don’t “tweak” it and ruin it. Stick with what you do best. Here’s suggestion, how about some additional LGBT films.
BTW, I love the Cats and Dogs series, just don’t want to see it here.
Ijusttook my granddaughter to see Toy Story 3D. She is 12. She thought your theater was “awesome” since she could eat realfood delivered by a waitress. She made me promise to make you a stop next time she is in town. She is your future client when she comes toPDX for college! Ireally appreciate that children are not allowed for later films. Thank you for being a great venue for art films.
Yay Living Room Theaters! I don’t spend money at Regal Corp. Thank you for whatever you do to stay in business.
Well, I have bragged about LR because it is everything I love about Portland (my hm)showing what we appreciate in film and still providing a hip, cozy environment. In concurrence with ‘bp’: if you need to pull in a few dollars to keep providing us with such a groovy theatre then do it! But PLEASE don’t lose your dedication to “REAL” films that wouldn’t otherwise have a place to be appreciated. Good luck with keeping up with the finances:(
Sad to see this type of fare getting a foot in the door at the Living Room. What’s next, screenings of “Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2″?
Even having to sit through the preview was painful enough—shoehorned in as it was before “Babies” played.
Please, no more of this dumbed-down pablum!
We value all of your feedback about our programming choices, and I wanted to take a moment to reply to your comments.
bp: We are still always on the lookout for the best independent and foreign films that we can book. We have a really good slate of films coming, and this is still our primary focus/goal. There’s a great locally made (shot in Southern Oregon) indie movie called “Calvin Marshall” that we’re opening August 28th.
Mark: As stated above, we are not moving away from the goal of showing great independent and foreign films. I personally love movies of all types and an occasional “mainstream” film coming through our theater only helps us expand our offerings to a wider customer base (thereby keeping us in business to continue our support of indie/foreign films). We have been trying to consistently program LGBT films whenever possible. They don’t do as well as I would have thought given our location. Currently we are playing “La Mission” which has a gay theme in it. Do you have any suggestions on how we might reach this audience better here in Portland?
Leslie: We’re glad you come to see Toy Story 3 with us. It’s a great film no matter the Hollywood origin.
Bobbee: We can’t tell you how much we appreciate you (and all of our customers)!
Tara: Word of mouth about us is super important to us. We strive to deliver the best experience we can for Portlanders in a unique environment.
J: It’s unfortunate that Regal’s Fox Tower was able to hold onto Babies for so long (preventing us from playing it until now). To give you an example of how the booking process works… we were pursuing “Wall Street 2″ from 20th Century Fox which opens Sept 24th. Fox informed us that it was being allocated to Regal’s Pioneer Place but that they’d make a teen spoof film called “Vampires Suck” available to us. I’d never heard of it. There’s a trade screening of “Vampires Suck” taking place next Friday. We’ll see how it goes. No, we’re not trying to play bad movies, but keep in mind there is an audience who wants to see a movie like “Cats and Dogs”. Living Room is still a great environment for them to see it in – our goal is not to upset or annoy our audience for the more art oriented fare. I’m hoping you can bear with us as we program the occasional Hollywood movie.
Overall, this is a very tough business, and Regal does everything in their power to hold and strengthen their monopoly position in Portland for first-run movies of all types (Hollywood mainstream at Pioneer Place and the Broadway Metro 4 and arthouse/indie movies at the Fox Tower). We have offered on many occasions to play “day-and-date” (giving customers a choice of which theater they’d rather see the movie at) with Regal’s locations in downtown and Regal has always refused.
Thank you all for your comments!