Titanic 4K UHD (1997)

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by starmike

You can BUY films at a theater? I never heard of that. $14 million? Damn. I know it ran for a long time but that's a hefty pricetag.

Excellent story, though.

I know, I never knew a movie theater could purchase the movie.
And he said, "I think it was $14 million."
In my head, I had no idea that 1) it would cost THAT much, and that 2) the movie was so successful that a price tag that hefty would still give profit to the theater.
But of course, theaters make their money more on concessions than actual ticket sales. I have no idea what the percentage cut for each ticket sold was at the time (probably a lot different now), but it was so frequently viewed that they actual bought the movie lol
If the movie was constantly selling out, and all those viewers bought popcorn, candy and soda at 500% profit per purchase, then maybe it really DID make sense to outright purchase the movie.

[sojrner]

Originally Posted by KcMsterpce

[Show spoiler]I know, I never knew a movie theater could purchase the movie.
And he said, "I think it was $14 million."
In my head, I had no idea that 1) it would cost THAT much, and that 2) the movie was so successful that a price tag that hefty would still give profit to the theater.
But of course, theaters make their money more on concessions than actual ticket sales.

I have no idea was the percentage cut was for each ticket sold was at the time (probably a lot higher now),

[Show spoiler]but it was so frequently viewed that they actual bought the movie lol
If the movie was constantly selling out, and all those viewers bought popcorn, candy and soda at 500% profit per purchase, then maybe it really DID make sense to outright purchase the movie.

The negotiations have trended down for theaters, being tough as studios consolidate into behemoths like Disnee. Over the last 5 years or so, it started heating up if memory serves, with big D moving Star Wars to 65% of the opening take. (it was a big news bit when typical deals were under 60%) Later they started swinging everything from Marvel (as they got so freaking popular) to things like Titanic and moved above 70% for deals with theaters.

That leverage of "you will take this percentage or not have any of our movies" is a big thing. Bigger theater chains can hit back a bit, but the favor is definitely with the studios.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by sojrner

The negotiations have trended down for theaters, being tough as studios consolidate into behemoths like Disnee. Over the last 5 years or so, it started heating up if memory serves, with big D moving Star Wars to 65% of the opening take. (it was a big news bit when typical deals were under 60%) Later they started swinging everything from Marvel (as they got so freaking popular) to things like Titanic and moved above 70% for deals with theaters.

That leverage of "you will take this percentage or not have any of our movies" is a big thing. Bigger theater chains can hit back a bit, but the favor is definitely with the studios.

Yes. I remember Disney was really screwing over theater chains with their percentage take, and holding releases hostage because of it. They had more sway, pull, money, and power so chains had to give in.
Which is pretty darn despicable, and I wish something could be done about it.

[Darev]

Originally Posted by starmike

You can BUY films at a theater? I never heard of that. $14 million? Damn. I know it ran for a long time but that's a hefty pricetag.

Excellent story, though.

It looks like he is in Germany. I've never heard of anyone BUYING a print here in the US.

That being said, I may or may not have forgot to send a copy of Heat back for 6 months after we were done with it.
I may or may not have used that as a training tool for a new projectionist so they could put a movie together, watch it after hours, and then take it back apart.

Sadly, the trainee didn't want to stay after to watch it, couldn't exactly force them to do that, so I stayed after, ran the 3 hour movie and cranked the volume up LOUD, and went to the manager's desk to waste time on AOL.

I had already seen it twice, didn't need to see it a 3rd time.


Generally speaking, if you damaged a reel of film (they come in 20 minute segments) it was a $500 fee to get a replacement reel. You had to send it back, you didn't get to keep it.

But...prints get misplaced, and after awhile people stopped looking.

It happened with Star Wars, until Lucas needed reels to work on the Special Editions. They looked up records and contacted theaters "you don't happen to STILL have that copy of Star Wars that was never sent back from the 70's do you???"

[Darev]

Originally Posted by KcMsterpce

Actually, I made a post about 5 weeks ago talking about my brother-in-law, who had to watch every showing of TITANIC for a year in the theater, because he was the only projectionist at the time. What I didn't know was the following:
He had to fire the other projectionist a couple weeks before TITANIC released, because he was lazy and inefficient, making him the only projectionist. He worked all hours at the theater.
TITANIC was released, and it was a massive hit. They actually ended up buying the movie, which was the only time that was done. I think it was like, $14 million to own it.
It played for several months on 8 screens at once, first showing at 11am, last showing at 10:58pm. Every day. He was the ONLY person who could oversee the process.
The reels were all connected to show from one screen to the next, and it spread over 50 yards from the first theater, to the last. Every 10-15 minutes, he had to run across one projection room to the other, press his finger on the reels to ensure they didn't fall off track and kept playing.
His co-worker said there are few people that could have done what he did. And he did that for almost a YEAR.
Thus, he has literally seen TITANIC more than 2000 times.
His manager submitted a request to Guinness to have it on record that he watched it the most times, but they rejected the request.

I bought the 4k as a joke for him for Christmas. My sister had him open the present when I was on the phone. He was excited at first, being glad that I got him a wrapped present. The letter said "May the memories of the past allow your Heart to Go On". He didn't know the reference.
Then, he unwrapped the present, and his hands started shaking. It was a literal PTSD reaction.
That's when he mentioned the details I wasn't aware of that I posted above.
He had to watch TITANIC at least seven times a day, every day, for over nine months.
It was the most played movie in the history of that theater.

A couple weeks later he asked his wife (my sister), "So when do you want to watch TITANIC?"
She said, "Uhm, never. That movies sucks."
He apparently slumped his shoulders with relief. He was able to return the purchase, and get the blu-ray of PREY, which he wanted, as well as an old low budget Bigfoot movie, because he's a bigfoot fan.
But him telling me his horror story of TITANIC brought back many memories to the past. My sister and I both said that our hope was it would help to also cobble up good memories of his life during that time. It was about the same time he met my sister, and they eventually ended up getting married.

So, it ended up being an awesome present.

That is a crazy story!
The most we could do is 3 auditoriums off of a single print, and it was VERY rare. Once every couple of years rare.

[blakninja]

Titanic felt so big during its theatrical run, felt like it was playing forever, so much legs.

Strange that Spidey No Way Home, which made almost $150M more, didn't feel as big. I guess with inflation adjusted, Titanic is almost twice bigger than No Way Home.

The first 10 weeks were amazing.

titanic-bo.jpg

[Matt89]

Lol that increase of 43% leading up to Valentine's Day 1998.

With that said though, I can't think of any film since that had such a massive theatrical run in terms of how big the movie was worldwide and the dent it made in pop culture at the time. I just can't think of anything since that was such an event. Almost like during Hollywood's golden age. You had this hugely successful epic that really, everyone and their mother went to see in theatres, many multiple times, and its run seemed to go on forever. It also created this renewed interest in the Titanic disaster itself, plus you had the whole heartthrob status of Leo and the film just completely swept the Academy Awards that year. Its eventual home video release was also insane. Everyone was running out to get a copy, I remember my parents had to reserve the VHS in advance and the stores were all sold out on release day. Just absolute madness lol.

And like blackninja said above, No Way Home made more money, but yeah it really had nowhere near the impact that Titanic did. Not even close.

[Resident Evil Labs]

Finally watched my 4K copy with my fiance. Haven't seen it since DVD I think. It definitely hit different this time, I'm older, 40, I'm engaged, I've lost friends who've passed away etc. This time I felt intense sadness after that I never really felt before when i would watch this. The romance was sweeter now to me, the music was beautiful and epic, the acting was great and the craftsmanship was superb on a technical level. The journey from innocence and youth, and being spontaneous with a quick fling, then tragedy hitting, all make this movie so heartbreaking. Idk, really loved it more this time, it's a masterpiece.

[levcore]

This masterpiece never gets old, just superb film making on every level from beginning to end. I think it also marked a shift in terms of James Cameron's movies, after the success of Titanic, there was no going back to more "adult" movies, with the violence and language. The fact that he managed to come back finally 12 years later with a movie that grossed even more is astonishing.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by blakninja

Titanic felt so big during its theatrical run, felt like it was playing forever, so much legs.

Strange that Spidey No Way Home, which made almost $150M more, didn't feel as big. I guess with inflation adjusted, Titanic is almost twice bigger than No Way Home.

The first 10 weeks were amazing.

Attachment 299520

It was number one for about four months straight.

As for box office success, it might be better to look at "adjusted for inflation" numbers. It's not 100% accurate, but it certainly gives a new perspective on a lot of movies, and how much money they made.
Movie tickets were WAY cheaper back then. And matinee showings (cheaper price, usually about 40-60% off of full price) were any time before 5pm on weekdays, and before 1pm on weekends at most theaters in my area. Meaning more tickets were sold to make up the cost of today, where matinees are getting less and less available. Many tickets have a premium now for Gold Standard; IMAX; IMAX Experience; 3d; 4d, and so on... fluctuating the average cost for a ticket by massive margins. But in 1997, there were basically two prices: Matinee price, or full price. The end.

[Darth Marcus]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Nah, if I'm gonna spend hours and hours dissecting something I might as well get paid for it, so I'll reserve my nit-picking days for actual QC work.

I'll miss your reviews, but...



And sorry for your family's loss. Time is short, I'm nowhere near "old", but creeping towards 40 has made me realize how precious everything really is, and who, where, and what really matters in life, and to be more appreciative of the good things.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

I'll miss your reviews, but...

[Show spoiler]

Exactly. I offered my 4K screen captures for the reviews here since many don't have them, but it fell on deaf ears.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

I'll miss your reviews, but...



And sorry for your family's loss. Time is short, I'm nowhere near "old", but creeping towards 40 has made me realize how precious everything really is, and who, where, and what really matters in life, and to be more appreciative of the good things.

That quote has gone through my mind more than once recently

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

That quote has gone through my mind more than once recently

You, too?

[ImBlu_DaBaDee]

Some great discussion going on in this thread the last couple of pages! Love hearing the stories about Titanic’s run in theaters because I was too young to appreciate it at the time. And I also want to add to the list of people here that are saying how much they appreciate all the knowledge that Geoff has passed on during his years here. I feel like I have a more trained eye when watching UHD as a result.

And yes, Titanic really is a masterpiece. My last rewatch finally upgraded it into my list of 10 out of 10 films.

[blakninja]

This was pretty crazy too for Leo. Has it ever happened again?

leobo.jpg

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Lol that increase of 43% leading up to Valentine's Day 1998.

With that said though, I can't think of any film since that had such a massive theatrical run in terms of how big the movie was worldwide and the dent it made in pop culture at the time. I just can't think of anything since that was such an event. Almost like during Hollywood's golden age. You had this hugely successful epic that really, everyone and their mother went to see in theatres, many multiple times, and its run seemed to go on forever. It also created this renewed interest in the Titanic disaster itself, plus you had the whole heartthrob status of Leo and the film just completely swept the Academy Awards that year. Its eventual home video release was also insane. Everyone was running out to get a copy, I remember my parents had to reserve the VHS in advance and the stores were all sold out on release day. Just absolute madness lol.

And like blackninja said above, No Way Home made more money, but yeah it really had nowhere near the impact that Titanic did. Not even close.

Yeah, by the time Titanic came out, home video put an end to those lengthy theatrical runs that films used to have in the good old days, and I can't remember any examples since then of a film playing that long, particularly at the top of the box office.

I saw it twice on the big screen during that run which in those days was something I didn't typically do (for context, the last time I saw a film more than once at the theatre during its initial run was Casino Royale in '06).

While it was a great film, I didn't think it was that great but it was almost like mass hysteria and now I look back on it like a drunk with a hangover saying to myself "What were we thinking?"

[blakninja]

Titanic is probably the most known movie world wide.

[KcMsterpce]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

I saw it twice on the big screen during that run which in those days was something I didn't typically do (for context, the last time I saw a film more than once at the theatre during its initial run was Casino Royale in '06).

The first movie I saw in theater three times was ALIENS.
The first movie I saw FOUR times in the theater was T2.
I thought, "OK let's make the first movie I see five times in theater be the next James Cameron movie." - But, once was enough (too much) for me.
Turns out the only two movies I saw five times in theater were CROUCHING TIGER, and SERENITY.

Originally Posted by blakninja

Titanic is probably the most known movie world wide.

In SE Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, or Cambodia, at least) when someone says they like to sing, they will choose to give a sample of themselves singing "My Heart Will Go On". Even these days. A good 70% of the time. I hate that song lol

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by blakninja

Titanic is probably the most known movie world wide.

Really? Proof?