Hearne: Star Wars Movie War Between AMC, Cinetopia Goes Galactic

Mystery solved…

What movie theater in its right mind would pass on showing the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens? That’s a rhetorical question, btw. No theater would be dumb enough to not show Star Wars, let alone cede the exclusive screening rights to its closest rival.

Yet that’s exactly what KC based AMC Theatres did at it’s recently redesigned Town Center 20 in lofty Leawood, Kansas. Worse yet, it took a pass on the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and did not screen the Tina Fey, Amy Poehler comedy “Sisters.”

Put another way, AMC’s flagship movieplex – the closest to its world headquarters – did not screen the top three grossing new releases for the pre Christmas holiday weekend.

All because of a questionable policy decision implemented by its former CEO to not play what in the movie biz is called “day and date” with nearby rival theaters. Questionable, in that AMC has been accused of (and is being sued for) unfair business practices by some of its rivals.

In this case, the ritzy, new Cinetopia Overland Park 18 was the benefactor of AMC’s “largess” by playing all three of the top, new movies, lead by the record shattering, $248 million grossing new Star Wars.

“What’s interesting about all this is that now two movie companies – Disney and Fox – have decided to no longer allocate the films between AMC and Cinetopia,” says a movie insider. “In other words, they’re making all the movies available to both theaters. So with Cinetopia playing Star Wars, AMC Town Center took a pass on it.

“And Cinetopia really cleaned up, because AMC didn’t have “Sisters,” Alvin and the Chipmunks or Star Wars. I heard Cinetopia grossed $190,000 over the weekend. And since Town Center didn’t have any of the new pictures they basically shot themselves in the wallet.”

The bottom line:

“Seriously, it would have been huge if Town Center had played those three films,” says the source. “And Star Wars is playing at every other movie complex in the market except AMC Town Center.”