AMC Theatres Is Having Regrets About Caving to Studios

by

On March 2nd, Sean Baker made history by winning four Oscars for the film Anora, including the prestigious Best Picture award – a record for the most awards won by a filmmaker for a single movie. This night may also be remembered as the end of a long-standing truce regarding the release windows for movies in theaters and at home. In his acceptance speech for Best Director, Baker urged action on the sensitive issue of how long a film should play exclusively in theaters before being made available for home viewing.

Distributors, prioritize the initial cinema screenings of your movies as much as possible,” he urged, aiming for a 90-day window restoration. “Let’s make an effort to revert things to how they were before.

Approximately a week prior to the Oscars, AMC Entertainment’s CEO Adam Aron – known for his bold and contentious leadership at the helm of the world’s largest cinema chain – expressed to investors during a February 25th earnings call that the current theatrical window policies should be re-evaluated in the post-COVID period, as attendance numbers have noticeably deviated from normal patterns.

Aron expressed his hope for expanding the timeframes, as he believes the ongoing industry trial has not been successful,” he said, recalling that prior to the pandemic, American films typically weren’t accessible at home until at least 74 to 90 days following their initial cinema premiere.

As a passionate movie enthusiast, I should clarify that Aron didn’t bring up the fact that it was actually AMC who made history by striking an unprecedented deal with Universal in the summer of 2020. This groundbreaking agreement reduced the window for a movie opening to $50 million or less to just 17 days, and 31 days for titles opening to more. Universal, owned by Comcast, had been eager to explore a new premium video-on-demand window, whereby a title could be rented for $20 or more. This agreement set a trend, although most studios typically hold out for more than 40 days, depending on the film’s performance.

Essentially, Disney, with some exceptions, has consistently upheld a 60-day exclusive release period. During an earnings call, Aron emphasized the importance of maintaining a 45-day window and suggested that shorter periods such as 17 days or 30 days are insufficient. He further expressed his intention to explore windows lasting 60 days or longer in the future.

According to various sources, it’s been reported that the head of AMC has held discussions with at least three out of the five major film studios. However, these studios are hesitant about going back to old ways of doing things, as one executive puts it, “That ship has sailed.

Aron, planning to carry on with these gatherings, expresses doubts. “Currently, discussions are ongoing between production studios and cinemas,” he explained to investors, because he thinks that by establishing a minimum 45-day gap, they could potentially earn more revenue together.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that Cinemark Mega-Circuit hasn’t explicitly commented on whether movie window durations should be extended or not. However, compared to AMC, they carry less debt, which might suggest a different approach. Yet, during a conference at Morgan Stanley on March 4, CEO Sean Gamble hinted that shorter windows could potentially lead to confusion among viewers.

The executive mentioned that the film’s performance post-release has not shown a steeper decline compared to pre-pandemic trends, which is reassuring. Even when it becomes available on a Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) service, there hasn’t been a significant drop at that point. However, as consumers become more familiar with the short windows for these services, will this eventually lead to reduced overall attendance? That remains to be seen over time.

Read More

2025-03-07 18:54