When it came to the final ruling on texting in theaters, I thought the Alamo Drafthouse had the last word– apparently not.
At CinemaCon, there was a panel about “industry issues”. The discussion began with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Jeff Blake saying that 20 years ago kids would come to the movies every week. He was concerned that “the movie going experience just isn’t the same for baby boomers”. Then Regal Entertainment CEO Amy Miles got into the texting issue stating that the chain doesn’t currently allow texting “but if we had a movie that appealed to a younger demographic, we could test some of these concepts.”
Then this was dropped: the theater had thought of actually being more flexible about cell phone use during showings of 21 JUMP STREET. “You’re trying to figure out if there’s something you can offer in the theater that I would not find appealing but my 18 year old son,” said Miles. IMAX’s Greg Foster was quite open to this idea saying that his 17- year old son “constantly has his phone with him”. Foster continued, “We want them to pay $12 to $14 to come into an auditorium and watch a movie. But they’ve become accustomed to controlling their own existence.” He then went on to add that banning cell phones would make people, “feel a little handcuffed.”
Tim League, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse shot back, “Over my dead body will I introduce texting into the movie theater. I love the idea of playing around with a new concept. But that is the scourge of our industry….It’s our job to understand that this is a sacred space and we have to teach manners.” League said that it should be magical when someone comes to the movies. Miles then quipped that, “one person’s opinion of magical isn’t the other’s.”
I hands down agree with League. Every time I see some f*cking kid open their phone, I want to throw something at them. This is definitely not a concept to try nor should it be open for discussion. If you cannot detach from your cell phone for more than an hour, then stay home.
What do you guys think?