Showcase Cinemas said moviegoers liked every aspect of a film better watching it at the Massachusetts-based chain’s flagship theater than at home, according to a biometric study last August of 80 people who screened Jumani: Welcome to the Jungle.
For picture clarity, 98% preferred the big screen versus 53% home. Ditto for sound quality (93% vs. 33%), screen size (95% vs 25%), seating comfort (88% vs 10%) and atmosphere (85% vs 28%.)
“For years, we have been saying on the film exhibition side that the moviegoing experience was more elevated. We were thinking, after all these years, we should really look at this,” said Mark Malinowski, Showcase’s vice president of global marketing.
New Jersey-based HCD Research, a marketing and consumer science firm, hooked up forty people in the theater — surrounded by 150 more to fill the remaining seats — and another 40 in a simulated home living room.
Neurophysiological sensors were placed on each subject’s hand, wrist and collarbone. Baseline measures were recorded prior to the movie. Researches collected heart rate, which measures attention, and “skin conductance” a measure of neurophysiological excitement, Showcase said..
Viewers in the theater thought Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was actually a better movie than those who viewed the same film in a home setting. “Those in the theater setting more commonly thought the movie was dramatic, intense and high quality.”
The findings reinforce that key word of mouth, or “talkability” is greater for theatrical releases, said Malinowski. “That’s a factor in our business. You want to be in that conversation.”
He said Showcase chose Jumanji as “an exciting but middle-of-the road movie in terms of special effects,” so critics couldn’t say, “‘Of course that plays better in theaters!’”
“People still go to concerts and sporting events. People will go out based on what’s there,” Malinowski said. The 2018 box office set a record, and 2019 is showing signs of strength after a slow start.
Competition from the couch, however, keeps rising. Four new streaming services bulk up on content in preparation for launch this year and next. Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal are jumping into a crowded field led by Netflix, Amazon, Hulu.
Malinowski isn’t rattled. “I think it will really differentiate theatrical, and films that are released that way,” he said.
Showcase Cinemas, owned by National Amusements, is the lower profile child of the Redstone family empire. It has 556 screens globally, including theaters in the U.K. and Brazil.
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