At least one theater in a small town in Iowa won't give in to the power of the Dark Side. As previously reported, Disney has some
pretty strict conditions that theaters must agree to if they wish to show
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In negotiating with cinema chains, Disney is reportedly seeking 65% of the film's box office earnings — up from the 64% for
The Force Awakens and
Rogue One — and mandating that
The Last Jedi be shown in the theater's largest auditorium for the first four week's of its run. For larger theaters in more populated cities, that's not a problem. But for Iowa's Elkader Cinema, it's a big enough reason to skip out on showing what will likely be the most popular film of the year.
"The biggest reason that I'm not going to show it is the four-week minimum play time," Elkader Cinema owner Lee Akin told the Des Moines Register. "My little town cannot afford to play any movie for that long of a time."
Elkader Cinema has only one screen, which is usually enough to meet the demands of the small town, which has a population around 1,200. The theater only has one show a night on weekdays and in the afternoon on weekends.
"I can't get the entire town in my auditorium in one week's time let alone four," Akin said.
Should a theater accept Disney's conditions and then violate the terms of the agreement, they would be penalized by having to fork over a whopping 70% of their ticket earnings to Disney.
For larger theaters, giving in to Disney's demands is a no brainer. After all, theaters see very little profit from actual ticket sales, and instead rely mostly on the profits from concession stands. But for smaller theaters like Elkader Cinema, the demands from Disney are proving to be too difficult to deal with.
Do you think Disney is being unreasonable with Star Wars: The Last Jedi?