They have built membership programs that offer discounts for repeated visits. To sell more tickets, theaters are marketing themselves much more aggressively. ![]() Gelfond’s point: Auditoriums with extra-large screens, including IMAX venues, can sell out on big weekends between 6 and 9 p.m.) 23, Robert Fishman, a senior analyst at MoffettNathanson, a research firm, described the movie exhibition business as “in dire need of restructuring,” noting that many theaters are “connected to zombie malls.”Īs successful as theater companies view the summer, they sold only 17 percent of the available seats in the United States, according to EntTelligence, a research firm. Over that same time, the number of movie screens has increased 14 percent, as multiplexes have popped up in the far suburbs and theaters built during a boom in the 1990s have limped along on life support. “Except in unique cases, nobody needs a 20-plex anymore. Gelfond, the chief executive of IMAX, which licenses its technology to theaters. “About 20 percent of screens - increasingly, experiences like IMAX that make it special and worthwhile - generate 80 percent of the business,” said Richard L. A Chapter 11 reorganization would allow Cineworld to break some of its leases. The company, which is based in London, has reported $8.9 billion in net debt, including $4 billion in lease liabilities. 2 circuit in the United States behind AMC, is preparing to file for bankruptcy. More closures are expected this fall: Cineworld, which operates Regal Cinemas, the No. A few think 25,000 is a healthier target.Ībout 500 screens have closed since the pandemic began, according to the National Association of Theater Owners, a trade organization. There are 40,700 screens in the United States and Canada, and even some theater executives concede that there should be no more than 35,000. One obvious if drastic step, analysts say, is for the biggest theater companies to close thousands of underperforming screens. But hardly anybody agrees on precisely the best way forward. Some studios continue to release films on streaming services and in theaters at the same time, or bypass theaters altogether, and the cost of running a theater keeps climbing.Īlmost everyone agrees that the 117-year-old movie exhibition business cannot keep going like this. Summer ticket sales still lagged significantly behind prepandemic levels. ![]() “Let the good times roll,” Adam Aron, the chief executive of AMC Entertainment, said during an earnings call last month.Īnd yet, behind that rosy view, instability lurked. The “Top Gun” sequel has taken in an astounding $1.5 billion worldwide, and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” outperformed its 2016 franchise predecessor by 41 percent. Theaters were feeling newly optimistic, largely because “ Top Gun: Maverick” and several other blockbusters showed that people still want to go to the movies. In recent months, the situation didn’t look so dire. Now, staggering debt and a severe shortage of big movies to show in the months ahead imperil multiplex chains once again. ![]() Unwelcome forces - Netflix, 50-inch TVs, the coronavirus pandemic - have buffeted cinemas for years.
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