GLUG - Los Angeles Times
Play all audios:
Have the distribution folks at Universal set “Howard the Duck” adrift? In an unusual move last week for a $37-million movie in only its third week out, they permitted West Coast theater
owners to double-bill “Howard.” (It was running with “Heartburn” in some northern California theaters, with “Friday the 13th: Part VI, Jason Lives” in L.A. environs.) And Universal is
getting only 20% of the receipts from theaters that double up the film and 35% to 40% if it plays on a single screen, bird seed for such a big-budget picture. Ordinarily, a studio would be
getting 60% to 70% in the third or fourth week for a major film. As one film exhibitor told us: “It’s a rarity to split this early in a major film’s release unless it’s a big bomb. You won’t
see ‘Top Gun’ double-billed anywhere unless it’s a drive-in.” At Universal, spokespeople didn’t want to speak about it. MORE TO READ