Paramount Modifies Rental Fees: Paramount Pictures, which...

Paramount Modifies Rental Fees: Paramount Pictures, which last year provoked a congressional investigation after changing the film rental fees it charges to discount movie theaters, said it has modified the fees. Paramount said it will now charge theaters a percentage of a film’s box office gross four months after a movie is released, instead of five months after the release. In the first four months after release, Paramount will continue to charge theaters a minimum per person payment of $1.05 for adults and 75 cents for children, or 35% of the box office gross, whichever is higher. Paramount last May instituted the minimum per-capita payment, prompting an outcry from discount movie theaters, which show second-run films for an admission price as low as $1.