Three major multiplex cinema chains in the UK, Vue, Odeon and Cineworld, all planned to boycott the film "Alice in Wonderland" and not show it in their cinema's. This arrangement had been made due to Disney's plans to release the film three months ahead of schedule.
Cineworld soon agreed to make a deal with Disney, and Vue quickly followed, however Odeon wouldn't give in and maintained that they would show the film. Although they were saying to the public they wouldnt were arranging secret deals with Disney until they got an offer that they couldn't refuse. I think that Odeon would have made the right decision taking the film as it was such a popular film and them being the biggest cinema chain in the UK would have made their customers unhappy by not showing the film and many of them would have gone to watch the film in another cinema. The company also would have benifited from holding out against Disney as it meant Disney would have been more desperate to strike a deal with them, because their cinemas are so popular in the UK.Disney claims that flexibility is necessary to combat piracy, whereas cinemas think it will seriously damage their box-office takings. In agreement with Cineworld, Disney agreed to only break the four month waiting period with three films in the nest to years, this included Alice. Odeon apparently have secured a much longer and subtantial agreement with Disney as well as fresh ageement on commercial terms. This means that Odeon will be able to protect their box-office takings against breaking the theatrical window.
Disney also tried to get a shortned theatrical period in many other countries that it was being released in. I assume that Disney wanted to do this to increase their dvd sales around the Christmas period.
