Boxoffice-August.1989

iniluded eight currently functioning cinemas
and development plans lor many more,
in( luding pro|ects in Ireland and West Germany
UCI starts out with 96 screens in operation,
and its development program should
result in around 330 screens by the end of
1991.
Extra! Extra! Lion Named
in Love Tryst With Lamb!
A survey of VCR owners conducted by
Video Store magazine suggests that the dram
on theatrical boxoffice created by video rentals
doesn't currently amount to much VS
found that 70",. of those who hadn't been in
a theatre in six months also hadn't rented a
tape in that time As much as 16".. of those
who've owned a VCR for four or more years
also go to theatres more than once a month.
Still, another 37") of those longtime VCR
owners had not gone out to the movies in the
past year
Of VCR owners who chose to see a film on
video rather than theatrically, 43"., said they
hadn't had time to see the film on the big
screen, 18% said ticket prices were too high,
17% said they simply decided to "wait for the
video," 4".i said they weren't interested during
the theatncal release, and another 4".:,
complained that the film was available in their
area either briefly or not at all
Cineplex
To Take Itself Over?
A group led by Cineplex Odeon chairman
Garth Drabinsky and vice chairman Myron
Gottlieb still wants to buy 11 million Cineplex
common shares from Seagram's magnate and
longtime ally Charles Bronfman for about
$106.5 million. Conclusion of the share purchase
would put about 38",. of the company's
voting shares in Drabinsky and Gottlieb's
hands at least through April 30, 1991. That's
enough to give the Cineplex executives effective
control of their company for the first
time.
The scheduled purchase would entitle the
duo to elect 11 of Cineplex' 16 directors. The
remaining five directors are elected by MCA,
which holds 26.3 million "subordinate restricted
voting shares," a special class of
stock. While Drabinsky and Gottlieb would
control the votes of the newly purchased
shares, they personally would buy only about
85,000 shares each Myron Gottlieb earned
$1,113,456 during fiscal 1988 with options for
800,000 shares of $9.21 Cineplex stock, while
Drabinsky received $1,376,096 with options
on 900,000 common shares, plus comprehensive
medical and dental coverage
Your Mission, Jim...
MGM/UA plans to test-market a videocassette
that will self-destruct after the movie's
been watched a certain number of times. The
company has decided to test the "disposable"
tapes this summer in an undisclosed city.
The S. Roberts Company is consulting on the
project for Rank Video Services America, a
manufacturing and duplicating company
based in Torrance, California that licensed the
patent on the new product. The cassettes will
erase themselves automatically and cannot
be re-recorded. The idea is to increase supply
for certain titles and thereby assuage frustration
among renters who find hot new releases
unavailable.
Waiting for G'Day
The United Artists subsidiary of MGM/UA
Communications has been acquired by an
Australian concern for over $1 billion. Together
with Rupert Murdoch's 20th Century
Fox, this makes two of Hollywood's seven
major studios now under Aussie auspices.
The buyer is Qintex Group, whose other
interests include real estate, resorts, Australia's
Seven broadcast TV network, and the
small Los Angeles-based Qintex Entertainment.
Pinsker Christened UJA's
Exhibitor of the Year
United Artists Theatre Circuit president and
CEO Allen Pinsker was hailed as Exhibitor of
the Year at a United Jewish Appeal Federation
fundraiser March 21. Under Pinsker's
tenure, UATC has become the largest circuit
in America, with nearly 2700 screens. About
450 exhibitors and distributors from around
the country descended on a ballroom in New
York's Hotel Pierre to honor Pinsker, raising
$350,000 for UjAF programs in the process.
Cinema Corporation in 1972. In 1974, he
became the Boston sales rep for Columbia
Pictures He was promoted to branch manager
of Columbia's Kansas City /St Louis
branch in 1977 Peckos moved over to Warner
Bros in 1979 as branch manager of the
Denver/Salt Lake City territory, and in 1984
became Southern Division Manager for
MGM/UA He was promoted to his current
position in 1986.
Indooroopilly, Others,
Slated for Multiplexes
A joint venture agreement among Warner
Brothers, Village Roadshow, and the Greater
Union Organization has been signed to construct
a circuit of multiplex theatres throughout
Australia With a 10-plex in Melbourne
successfully established, the partnership has
under construction eight more complexes of
eight to ten screens each. These are targeted
to open by Christmas of this year or the early
part of next. The triumvirate has scheduled
additional theatres to begin construction in
1990, bringing the total number of screens
over a three-year period to about 200. The
major sites secured are in Sydney (at Hurstville,
Hornsby and Campbelltown), Melbourne
(at Southland, Dandenong, Airport
West, Frankston and Knox), Brisbane (at Strathpine,
Toombul, Mt. Gravatt, and Indooroopilly)
and in Perth, at Innaloo, birthplace of the
knock-knock |oke.
Pathe Panchali
Pathe Cinema S A of France plans rapid
expansion of its movie theatre operations
Peckos Echoes Pinsker
worldwide, including the Middle East, according
to the annual report of Pathe Communica-
John jay Peckos, senior vice president of
distnbution for MGM/UA, was named Distributor
of the Year July 14 at the Mid-Atlantic tion and distribution concern. Both compations,
the Los Angeles-based movie produc-
NATO Convention, lay Peckos started his distribution
career as a film booker for General carlo Parretti. Pathe is negotiating to acquire
nies are controlled by Italian financier Gian-
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