AMC main man Gerry Lopez
The stage is set…
Just over four months ago Oregon-based movie exhibitor Cinetopia plighted its troth in Kansas City with its opulent Overland Park 18 theater and restaurant in the upscale Prairie Fire shopping and residential development.
The sky was the limit for Cinetopia’s grand, new multiplex with four-story tall screens and state-of-the-art Meyer Sound Systems with Dolby Atmos multidimensional surround technology. Factor in its gourmet concession offerings, plush, spacious seating and trendy luxe interior and Cinetopia appeared poised to take the South Johnson County movie market by storm.
Just one problem…
Kansas City-based movie exhibitor AMC Theatres wasn’t about to lay down and merely watch as the brash, new upstart encroached on the turf of its nearby AMC Town Center 20 in Leawood.
Net result: a movie war with the two theaters splitting blockbuster releases instead of playing all the movies in what the industry calls “day and date.”
Thus each theater has been handicapped by getting only half of the new movies.
It’s Cinetopia though that’s been getting the short end of the stick.
Cinetopia honcho Rudyard Coltman
For two reasons…
As a brand new movie theater with every imaginable amenity in an ultra upscale new development, Cinetopia’s overhead likely dwarfs that of the 18 year-old AMC Town Center which was recently remodeled.
And with two additional AMC multiplexes nearby – the AMC Studio 30 less than 10 miles west on 119th Street and AMC’s Ward Parkway 14 just 6.5 miles to the east – AMC is in a far better position to weather a movie drought than Cinetopia with but a single entry in the marketplace.
Something had to give and it appears that that something is now about to.
“Cinetopia is about to go public with what it believes to be AMCs unfair trade practices, violations of the federal Anti Trust Act and tortious interference with its contractual relationships with the major movie studios,” Cinetopia owner and CEO Rudyard Coleman said in an unsolicited Facebook message.
You may recall that KCC reported earlier this year that Alabama-based movie theater chain Cobb Theaters filed an antitrust lawsuit against AMC in January alleging similarly that AMC “used its worldwide market power to coerce film distributors to deprive competitors of access to studio films” and according to the Hollywood Reporter, “Cobb says major film studios complied with the demand, and as a result, they’ve been shortchanged on the bigger movies.”
Cinetopia Style
Hey, anybody can file a lawsuit, quips AMC CEO Gerry Lopez.
“However there are well-established industry practices,” Lopez says. “Why would AMC play by anything but the well-established, industry market-to-market practices? The industry standard rule is three miles away. And for (Cinetopia) not to understand that or to expect people to play by different rules. People need to know the rules of the industry that they’re in.”
AMC Town Center
So is AMC’s position that the marketplace isn’t big enough to support both the Cinetopia Overland Park 18 and the AMC Town Center 20?
“That’s for the market to decide,” Lopez says. “Let the market decide. I’m playing by the industry rules.”
Lopez take on the prospect of Coltman taking legal action: “You know, bring it.”
Stay tuned…
Jr.,
Is the 3-mile rule for real? When Cinetopia “plighted” (“ploughed” maybe?) its trough, were they aware of the rule? Dig deeper on your reporting, dude.
Easy, tiad…
Glad to see you back, but at this stage of the game, I’m the first one to get both exhibitors on the record and it was not the time to quarrel.
My personal take on the “rule” is that there is no such rule. There may be and/or have been practices from time to time – agreements even – but I think AMC is just playing hardball.
And what makes you think that the movie studios are anxious to weigh in against a worldwide industry titan and say on the record what my movie sources think they’d like to say? Which is, lets let everybody have all the product and let the chips fall where they may.
Come to think of it, wasn’t that kind of what Lopez seemed to be saying?
It’s “plight one’s troth,” not “trough,” Hearne. Jeez. I repeat my offer to proofread these posts for you for a modest fee.
I remember how modest your fee was Rick, and while I appreciate your offer, modesty dictates that I must again decline.
Thanks, Rick. I thought he might have been ploughing (or plowing) a trough.
Robert Butler is working for the Star again as a freelance gig.
My 2 cents. Cinetopia should die off. It is not all it is cracked up to be. Picture was faded and not as “vibrant” as my TV at home. Sound was nothing spctacular. Seats were noisy as hell(can they not figure out a reclining pleather seat will be noisy)! Food was pricey compared to portion size. Fold out tables are way to small.
I get what they are trying to do, but it is just not worth it. I would rather go out to eat at a real restaurant and then head over to Ward Parkway where their seats are much more comfortable. Maybe I am just too picky, but with the other options I have I will nto be going to Prairiefire again. Not even for Bocce.
Yeah, the whole development left me with a big MEH.
Bocce on astroturf is a dealbreaker for me.
The owner of Cinetopia calling AMC a bully is like the old cliche of the pot calling the kettle black. He’ll gouge, dismember, destroy whatever gets in his way of making money. He is the king bully! Territory rules exist in many industries. He doesn’t care much for the details which is why the concept is attractive, yet the execution part shows a lack of experience. Overrated and untrained staff makes for a disappointing experience. Much rather spend money elsewhere.