In the war on streaming, Will Smith is doing his part to get butts back in theater seats. The Academy Award-winner surprised fans at a recent screening of his new movie, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installment in the buddy cop franchise. He snuck out of the theater at Cinemark Baldwin Hills Crenshaw
Cinemark
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said Apple and Amazon, two behemoths of the tech world but newcomers to the wide-release movie business, are so far “very pleased” with their results. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss third-quarter results, the major exhibitor boss said Cinemark’s conversations with the two tech firms indicate they
Cinemark, the nation’s third largest theater chain, is letting fans reserve auditoriums for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film, out this fall. “We are excited to offer fans the ultimate Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour concert film VIP experience in their own private Cinemark auditorium,” said the chain’s chief marketing and content officer
National CineMedia said today it’s negotiated a second extension of the grace period on interest payments originally due Feb. 15. A one-month grace period for a payment said to be about $6.6 million ended March 15, when the company announced lenders had agreed to another 17 days. Big ratings agencies Moody’s and S&P Global declared
Amazon’s upcoming wide release of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike movie Air exclusively in theaters in April “could represent the start of a substantive move into theatrical exhibition by streaming companies,” said Sean Gamble, chief executive of nation’s third-largest movie chain. Amazon last month releaves plans to give Air a wide theatrical release April
Cineworld, staggering under heavy debt and facing a dip in box office revenue this quarter, asserted Friday that it’s business as usual for the giant movie chain while it explores options. The statement follows a report today that the U.K parent of Regal Cinemas is preparing to file for bankruptcy. Cineworld presaged a potential Chapter 11
Exhibition ruled the stock market today after a long holiday weekend saw Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II crush it, earning $57 million over four days. That’s not far from the $60 million that the John Krasinski-directed sequel was anticipated to do in its 3-day opening pre-pandemic, according to my colleague Anthony D’Alessandro. Shares of Paramount
Major movie theater circuits AMC, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark have adjusted their policies on face masks, allowing those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to not have to wear them. The change comes as the North American box office heats up this weekend. Paramount’s A Quiet Place, Part II and Disney’s Cruella are battling over
Cinemark, the nation’s third largest movie chain, said revenues for the first quarter ended in March fell to $114 million from $543 million the year before. Admissions revenues stood at $56 million and concession revenues $39 million. Attendance was 7.7 million, average ticket price was $7.25 and concession revenue per patron was $5.10. Shares were
Big movie chain Cinemark announced Friday it’s now reached agreements to theatrically showcase films from all five major studio partners across its U.S. theaters, although it didn’t provide terms or many details. On a conference call with analysts to discuss the exhibitor’s just released first-quarter financials, CEO Mark Zoradi called each of the five deals
With Disney and key exhibitors at loggerheads over the rental terms for the studio’s latest theatrical day and date Disney+ PVOD of Raya and the Last Dragon, leave it to a girl scout to call Disney CEO Bob Chapek to the carpet on why her local theater wasn’t playing the movie. During the Q&A at Disney’s
EXCLUSIVE: The No. 3 U.S. exhibitor Cinemark will not be playing Raya and the Last Dragon this coming weekend as Disney makes the title available both in theaters and as a $30 purchase on Disney+ on March 5. As the major studios experiment widely with theatrical windows during the pandemic, Raya is a clear case that not all
Financially hurting cinema advertising network National CineMedia has inked a deal to run ads with Coinstar, a big operator of supermarket coin-counting kiosks. With the exhibition business on the Covid-19 skids, the agreement helps expand National CineMedia’s digital-out-of-home footprint by extending its movie-centric entertainment content, trivia, and advertising beyond movie theaters to complementary venues. It
Can cinemas play day-and-date releases from Warner Bros after continually refusing to show Netflix films? The big circuits have to be feeling really stupid now: If they had only made a deal with Netflix last year on Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman at a 45-day window instead of emphatically rejecting one, perhaps this looming apocalypse brought on
Movie theater stocks were mixed Friday as the industry absorbed shock waves from Warner Bros.’ window-smashing announcement the day before when the cinema group collectively plunged by double digits. The smaller, publicly-traded U.S. chains have lower debt and are in better financial shape. Third- and fourth-ranked circuits Cinemark and Marcus both rose by more than
EXCLUSIVE: A year ago at this time, a stink was raised by the studios and NATO over Netflix and its audacity to actually crunch the theatrical window with The Irishman. And a deal was on the table with AMC, but in the end, the streamer wanted a more limited time in theaters — far less than
Universal has just inked another multi-year shortened theatrical window/Premium VOD share deal, this time with Canada’s biggest exhibitor Cineplex. The deal comes on the heels of Uni’s recent pact with No. 3 U.S. chain Cinemark. To date, Cineplex becomes the third exhibitor to agree to Uni’s truncated theatrical window terms since AMC first signed on
It should come as no surprise to hear that Cinemark and Universal have hammered out their own truncated theatrical window and PVOD share deal in the wake of the one which AMC inked with the Hollywood major studio at the end of July. Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi, a former President at the Walt Disney Motion
Despite the firm response earlier this month from the National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada to not reopen cinemas in San Francisco county given its concession ban, major circuits like Cinemark and AMC have taken an about face this week. Now opening a movie theater without the means of selling popcorn and soda is
The nation’s third largest cinema chain Cinemark said Monday it will open a San Francisco multiplex and locations in Santa Clara County on Oct. 30 with no concessions in a nod to local restrictions. The move, including of the Century San Francisco Centre 9 and XD, follows plans to open five of its Alameda County
EXCLUSIVE: Chaotic times call for creative measures, and in the midst of a box office that’s been greatly impacted by the pandemic, not to mention the lack of major studio tentpoles, exhibition is thinking outside of the box to restore moviegoer confidence and encourage their return to the cinema. In a few words: Private watch
Exhibition shares took a beating Tuesday as AMC Entertainment announced its cash might be gone by year end and Walt Disney became the latest big content company to restructure operations around streaming. As theaters reopen to limited audiences without key New York and Los Angeles markets and a paucity of new studio fare, heavily indebted
Cinemark, the No. 3 theatrical exhibitor in the U.S, confirmed Monday that it is currently planning to stay open during the pandemic. The news comes in the wake of Cineworld’s plans to close its Regal movie theaters nationwide on Thursday until further notice, in large part due to New York continuing to be shuttered and
In the wake of Cineworld’s decision to shutter its UK venues and Regal U.S. theaters, AMC, the No. 1 exhibitor in the world, will remain open. AMC joins No. 3 exhibitor Cinemark in staying open during the pandemic, despite Cineworld and Regal’s plans to close this Thursday. More than 80% of AMC’s U.S. circuit is
New York City will shutter nonessential businesses again in new COVID clusters in Brooklyn and Queens and restrict restaurants to takeout only as well as shutting schools and clamping down on religious services and mass gatherings, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. The measures, under a newly unveiled ‘Cluster Action Plan,’ are stricter than what Cuomo
The risk of patrons gathering as they come in and out of shows is one reason why New York State is reluctant to open movie theaters, or even publish guidelines ticking off measures that would lead to a reopening as it’s done with other industries, according to a state official. Exhibition players have been confused
San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and county officials finally gave the go-ahead for movie theaters to reopen on Oct. 7, despite the fact that California state health officials said it was OK to do so weeks ago. That might come as good news for Warner Bros.’ Tenet, which has always pegged the city as
Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi said getting theaters open in California and New York is crucial to the health of exhibition as the second largest U.S. chain has 70% of cinemas open but lacks these key markets — keeping it “behind the eight ball.” Some California counties are open or opening but not yet San Francisco
With New Jersey and some markets in California reopening in the lead-up to Warner Bros.’ Tenet launch this week, the third-biggest circuit stateside Cinemark is making sure they’re at the ready. By this Friday, Cinemark will have their Napa and Redding locations open in California, two locations in Oregon — Medford and Springfield — and half a
A federal judge Tuesday upheld New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy’s closure of movie theaters in the state, dismissing a motion for an injunction by the National Association of Theatre Owners and five cinema chains that would have allowed them to open their doors. Judge Brian Martinotti ruled that the state is not infringing on the