OT: Victims' Benefit Day at the Movies

September 23, 2001

Go out, have a little fun, and help out while doing it

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

~~~~~~~~~

Movie Theater Chains to Donate Tickets

Updated: Fri, Sep 21 2:17 PM EDT

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - If you want to help victims of last week's terrorist

attacks, go to the movies on Tuesday - and buy some popcorn.

Nearly 80 movie theater chains plan to donate every dollar they earn on

Sept. 25 to charities aiding the terrorist-attack relief operations, the

National Organization for Theatre Owners announced Thursday.

One hundred percent of ticket and concession sales at participating movie

theaters will be distributed equally between the September 11th Fund of the

United Way and the American Red Cross.

" We've had a strong number of calls from theater operators around the

country asking, 'How can we do something to help? " ' said John Fithian,

president of the theater owners association. " Now we have the vast majority

of screens in the country participating. "

About 29,000 screens already are involved in " Victims' Benefit Day at the

Movies, " roughly 80 percent of the nation's 36,000 total.

" While 'the show must go on' for all of us, our thoughts and prayers are

with the victims, " said Peter Brown, chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment

Inc., which has pledged the Tuesday returns from its 2,772 screens.

Typical total theater returns for a Tuesday in September, a notoriously slow

month for movies, is about $5 million.

The only new movie opening this weekend in wide release is " Glitter, "

starring Mariah Carey as a pop singer on the rise.

Although theaters must pay a rental fee to studios to show movies, Fithian

maintained all of the money taken in at the box office on Tuesday would go

to the charities.

If some studios are unwilling to waive their fee for that day, which can be

as much as 50-70 percent of the ticket, theater owners plan to pay it out of

their own pockets.

Disney is among those that have already pledged to forego payments. Other

studios did not immediately return calls for comment.

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