AMC Theater’s CEO Adam Aron remains as hard optimistic as ever that brighter days have arrived for his theater chain and cash as a whole. But he thinks they would be even brighter if Hollywood’s studios returned to a longer, industry -wide exclusivity windows.
In AMC Latest revenue call On Thursday, Aron, who he in previous conversations, emphasized that his company does not need the cash office to return to pre-pandemic levels so that it would again be a consistent profit. He pointed to increased per protective expenses despite a steep decline in assumptions such as proof that if Studios significantly increases its theater film production, AMC will be able to withdraw a broader cut by film guests who have shown that they are more willing to spend more on premium screens and concessions When the films they are interested in are on the ground.
But while Aron is convinced that theater production will soon increase, he warns that will be underestimated if studios continue to put his films on premium on request and/or stream faster than they did before the pandemic, undermines the film’s demand.
“It’s not all because of Windows, but if you look at our industry presence, it is still about 38% below pre-pandemic levels. It has emphasized EBITDA, profitability and share price for theaters, ”Aron said.
For several years, theaters defended severely exclusivity window, which in general sat in 75-90 days. But the year-long theater closure caused by Pandemin gave studios the urgency and leverage to break through that resistance, starting with Universal’s historical decision to release the Troll’s World Tour “as a premium-on-demand offer during the early weeks of Pandemic.
In response to that movement, Aron threatened to block all future universal films from appearing on AMC sites, which had discussions between the studio and the chain. The result of these conversations was a landmark agreement that later agreed by other large chains such as Cinemark and Regal that allowed Universal and its specialist sister distributor, focus functions, to release films on PVOD already 17 days after the theater release, or 31 days if the film served a domestic opening weekend larger than $ 50 million.
While Aron did not mention Universal or any other studio by name during the revenue call, he said he thinks it is time for that era with shorter windows to end. He said that conversations around the theatrical window are a “conversation that we have live with studio drivers, which drives the long maintained argument made by exhibitors that longer theater windows lead to larger profits on home platforms.
“In our opinion, 17 days and 31 days are too short, and we want to convince all our studios that we would like to keep their films in theaters longer,” he said. “I have had conversations in recent weeks with a studio manager who said that the 45-day window must be restored as a sacrosanct. We talked to another studio manager who proudly said they hold their films in theaters for 60 days. Look at this space. We will continue to see what we can do to get the industry stuck around this 45-day number. “
In a post-covid landscape that is further destabilized by the latest industry strikes and stock market image for media companies, several large studios have had to balance the need to maintain their Box Office Grosses with the need to support streaming services like Wall Street requires profitability from after several years with free Expenses and production of production. With significant cuts of new streaming programming, it is a way to try to increase and maintain subscriber bills.
But with every major studio in a different financial situation both overall and in the case of their streaming investments, very different approaches for theater windows have seen. The studio that is closest in line with what Aron and other exhibitors want is Disney, who silently implemented at least 100-day windows for all its theater release without advance advertising for their release on Disney+.
On the back are studios such as Warner Bros., who recently released their critically acclaimed but commercially under -performing horror films “Companion” at Premium on request after only three weekends in theaters.
Universal has also maintained great flexibility on the window as an important part of their business model. The studio gave its best picture Oscar-winning hit movie “Oppenheimer” a four-month window as part of an agreement with director Christopher Nolan. It also set a 40-day theater window for its latest Oscar challenger “Wicked” before it is released on Pvod at the end of 2024 and will not make the film available to flow on Peacock until March 21, four months after the release date.
At the same time, Universal has practiced the 17-day window brand on several films that appear modestly or badly at the checkout, and even some who have been binding out like this Dreamworks movie “The Wild Robot”, which met PVOD 18 days after the theater publishing. Despite this, the film gathered an additional $ 56.2 million domestic after the PVOD publishing for a total total of $ 143.9 million, a result that Universal has proclaimed as an example of its business model serving a wide range of film viewing preferences.
“We meet the consumer where they are and with a lot of flexibility, which gives them different ways to engage us in our content,” NBCUNIVERAL chairman Said Donna Langley At UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium last summer.
But the debate about the theatrical window has even permeated Hollywood’s award season, as “Anora” director Sean Baker urged it to be restored to 90 days during its acceptance number at the DGA prices earlier this month.
“Let’s do what we can do for us to play filmmakers to expand that theater window again; require it. Let’s get it back to what it used to be, he said.
