In some ways, it's heartbreaking at a place like CinemaCon — where no matter how much traffic the motion picture industry has had over the past year (and it's taken a lot), exhibitors from around the world come together tirelessly to show enthusiasm for the cinema experience and optimism for the future of cinema.
Flag Bearers for the Motion Picture Assn., National Association. Theater owners and other top industry players gathered Tuesday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to deliver their annual State of the Business address and officially kick off the event. Movie stars, filmmakers, and studio heads are expected to tease, glorify, and in some cases, showcase their upcoming releases.
There's a lot of reliance on these films in the wake of a box office slump caused in part by the Hollywood writers' and actors' strike, which delayed several films and effectively halted film and television production last year for about six months.
“We cannot shy away from the stark challenges of this moment, and we cannot ignore this time of uncertainty in our industry,” MPA CEO Charles Rifkin said during Tuesday’s presentation. The Washington-based MPA represents Hollywood studios, including Disney and Netflix.
He added: “However, no one should be afraid of this uncertainty, because at the end of the day, we work in a company where unexpected fluctuations can lead to an epic story. … We understand the risks. We recognize the need to do everything possible.” We strive to ensure the lasting health of the cinema.
Global box office receipts are expected to reach $32 billion in 2024, according to movie analytics firm Gower Street, a number that doesn't come close to the pre-Covid-19 highs of more than $40 billion. But since the start of 2024 — when domestic box office receipts were down 20% from the previous year — some glimmers of hope have emerged.
In March, the highly anticipated sequel to the Warner Bros. film will be released. “Dune” opened to $82.5 million in the U.S. and Canada — its first true opening weekend since AMC Theaters’ “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” ($93.2 million).
Following the much-needed success of “Dune: Part Two” — which has now grossed more than $255 million domestically — Universal Pictures' “Kung Fu Panda 4” had a strong $58 million domestic debut, and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” from Sony Pictures. It scored a decent $45 million and Warner Bros. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” grossed an impressive $80 million.
Exhibitors on Tuesday also praised the growing popularity of Japanese cinema in the United States, including anime films distributed by Crunchyroll such as the latest “Demon Slayer” and Toho's Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One.”
The global animation business generated $14 billion a decade ago and is expected to generate $37 billion next year, Mitchell Berger, Crunchyroll's senior vice president of global commerce, said Tuesday.
“Anime is so hot right now,” Berger said.
“Fans have known about it for years, but now everyone is catching up and realizing it is a cultural and economic force to be reckoned with.”
Exhibitors are hoping the momentum continues even though they have also had several recent box office disappointments, such as Universal Pictures' spy thriller “Argylle” and Sony Pictures' superhero disaster “Madame Web.”
When the actors' strike ended in November, theater operators expressed concerns about the validity of the 2024 film slate. The staggered work stoppages prompted studios to postpone at least a dozen films to 2025 from 2024, including the eighth installment. From Paramount Pictures' Mission: Impossible saga and Disney's live-action remake of Snow White.
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble estimated in February that 95 pictures were scheduled to open this year in wide release, versus 110 in 2023. Nothing poses a risk to exhibitors like a poor release schedule. It doesn't help that the average length of the theatrical window shrank dramatically (from 90 days to roughly 35 to 40 days) after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered movie theaters for more than a year.
At the presentation on Tuesday, exhibitors implored distributors to take a leap of faith and commit to releasing films in theaters year-round — not just during times of historically heavy traffic.
“For my friends in the distribution industry, please embrace digital flexibility and deliver your amazing films 52 weeks a year to every exhibitor,” said Chris Johnson, CEO of Classic Cinemas. “Get rid of print runs and trust us to make programming and scheduling decisions that work best for everyone. …If you take a hit, we'll take it.”
Michael O'Leary, CEO of the National Assn. From theater owners, he also called for more small- and mid-budget releases that appeal to cinephiles, citing such prestige titles as A24's “Past Lives” and Amazon MGM Studios' “American Fiction.”
“It's not enough to simply sit back and want more movies,” O'Leary said. “We must work with distribution to get more films of all sizes to market.”
This year, there are still a number of successful films to come.
Universal is preparing 'Twisters,' 'Wicked,' and 'Despicable Me 4'; Warner Bros. is sitting down. In “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”, “Joker: Folie à Deux”, and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”. Paramount distributes “Gladiator 2” and “A Quiet Place: Day One”; Sony releases “Venom: The Last Dance”; Disney is scheduled to release the films “Inside Out 2”, “Moana 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine”; And Amazon Studios MGM is about to drop a “Challengers” movie starring Zendaya.
The past few years at CinemaCon have drawn battle lines between exhibitors and streamers. During the streaming wars of 2021 and 2022, studios spent a significant amount of resources and money on streaming projects in an attempt to compete with Netflix.
At the time, broadcasting was portrayed as the archenemy of theatres. But the big boom in live streaming in the early 2020s has subsided as entertainment companies – struggling with financial losses – tighten their belts and greenlight less content for streaming.
In December, Disney revealed plans to re-release three Pixar titles — “Soul,” “Turning Red” and “Luca” — in theaters this year after initially directing them directly to streaming. Additionally, “Moana 2” — which was originally a TV series streaming on Disney+ — has been recast as a movie coming to the big screen in November.
Although streaming undoubtedly remains a threat to movie theaters, the tides appear to be turning ever so slightly in exhibitors' favor as studios rethink their release strategies and movie fanatics continue to splurge on Imax and other premium large formats.
“You can watch a movie on your TV or on your tablet or on your computer, but you experience it in the theater,” O'Leary said. “And part of what makes the movie so special are the theaters themselves.”
However, CinemaCon exhibitors have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rise of illegal streaming and digital piracy. Rifkin condemned the practice as “insidious forms of theft” that harm production workers, actors, directors, writers, craftsmen and even consumers who risk falling prey to malware viruses when watching movies illegally online.
Rivkin estimated that piracy costs the film industry more than $1 billion annually on average. During his State of the Industry address, he called on Congress to enact site-blocking legislation that would prevent Internet users in the United States from accessing websites that stream movies illegally.
“Hacking operations are becoming smarter, more advanced and more devious every day,” Rifkin said. “These activities are outrageous by any definition. They are harmful to our industry by any measure. They pose a risk to the rights of creators and consumers in every way.”
