Somebody Tackle These Guys

Let me preface this post by saying, "Allegedly."

It appears that the 50 Cent movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' will not be at any Regal Cinemas when it opens November 9.

Now, many people who read this blog probably haven't got this movie planned on their to-do list, but it's important to point out stupidity when there is clear stupidity. In a year where there is a perception that there is a slump (and you know how I feel about it), this movie chain continues to shoot themselves in the foot.

I'm sure when Paramount saw that 8 Mile took in $51 million in its opening weekend, they got a little greedy when they decided to unleash this similarly-themed movie around the same time as that 2002 release. I have already made my points about that kind of greediness, but in the end, the movie theatres lose a lot of money in concessions on something like this--namely Regal, the only company I have known in the past few years (mainly because they're number one, but not for long if they keep this up) to deny big releases into their theatres for whatever reason. And plus, movies like this have a pretty good life after the opening weekend, where it's more favorable to the chains.

Earlier this year, it appeared that Regal and Dreamworks clashed a whole bunch over The Ring Two and The Island, giving them a limited amount of screens at their sites. Regal probably felt really damn good about themselves when those movies failed to bring in the bank that the studios had hoped. They probably felt, "Yep, mess with us, see what happens." And they forgot that a movie like Rush Hour 2, which they also said "No," to, single-handedly brought rival Carmike back from the grave when it had its opening.

Today, the district manager was walking around at our theatre and an employee asked, "Why are we not getting this?"














The answer? Regal's not playing it because it's too violent.

Are you serious? Are you actually going to say that? It's funny when someone entrenched in a company thinks they can say some bullshit like that to another employee who, like me, has been around the business a long time. His fantastic answer: "You mean it's more violent than Saw II?"

I know one thing, Regal better not be spouting that reason to anyone else. How racist does that sound? The point is that it's not racially motivated, it's dollar-motivated (as almost everything is). And it's a company trying to save face with another company who is asking for too much. My question is, as an employee of said company, "Why should the people not making this decision have to answer the many people coming to the theatre wanting to see this movie?" With this kind of silent treatment, all you have is a bunch of people saying, "Uhh....I dunno. Because it's violent, maybe?" and it starts a whole whirlwind of trouble. I know that the company doesn't want to make its dealings public, but it's better than having people come up with those reasons for themselves.