Over 686 screens in 193 small towns across Germany have decided to boycott showing Avengers: Age of Ultron due to Disney’s decision to raise the rental fee for the film.
Deutsche Welle reported that Disney hiked the rental fee for the film from 47.7 percent of ticket sales up to 53 percent. On top of that, Disney’s contributions to helping advertising and their advances for 3D glasses have been pulled. Many, if not all of the theaters that are opting to boycott the film are theaters based in towns with less than 50,000 people.
Karl-Heinz Meier, a spokesperson for advocacy group I.G. Nord, shed some light on why the theaters are boycotting. He said, “We are worried – particularly about eastern Germany. When prices go up, then we have a serious problem that could force movie theaters to close.”
Despite the boycott, Avengers: Age of Ultron opened to big box office success overseas. It still remains to be seen whether or not the boycott will make an impact on the blockbuster’s numbers.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
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