Latest news with #CinemaUnited
Pink Villa
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Box Office: The ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf' of Theatrical Windows
In a striking example of how market forces are reshaping film distribution strategies, Maddock Films made a last-minute decision to pull Bhool Chuk Maaf from its scheduled theatrical release, just one day before opening. Citing weak advance bookings and heightened public anxiety due to regional war tensions, the studio opted to release it on OTT platform bypassing cinemas. The move sparked immediate legal action from PVR INOX, India's largest cinema chain. PVR INOX secured a restraining order to prevent the film's direct-to-digital release on Amazon Prime Video. However, the conflict was ultimately resolved amicably, with both parties agreeing to a shortened two-week theatrical window and a new release date of May 23. The incident echoed broader tensions within the Indian exhibition landscape, especially as PVR INOX itself had previously declined to screen high-profile Tamil-to-Hindi dubbed films like Leo and Jailer due to their non-compliance with its preferred 8 week windowing policies. The inconsistency highlights the strain that rigid release frameworks can impose across diverse linguistic and regional markets. This clash comes amid growing global discourse around theatrical windowing, particularly as CinemaCon 2025 underscored the need for the industry to re-evaluate its strategies. Michael O'Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United, used his keynote address to advocate for a standardized 45-day theatrical window. He warned that ongoing reductions in exclusive theatrical runs are weakening the film ecosystem—particularly for small and mid-budget productions. While the top 20 films have seen only a 10% decline in box office performance post-pandemic, the next 80 films have suffered a steep 32% drop. O'Leary attributed this disparity to shrinking windows, which averaged just 31 days for these titles compared to 49 days for top-performing releases. He also criticized the industry's increasing reliance on premium large-format screens (PLFs), which, despite attracting audiences, account for just 9% of the global box office. O'Leary urged studios and exhibitors to recommit to positioning films as 'Only in Theatres,' warning that without a robust and predictable theatrical ecosystem, even blockbuster titles risk losing cultural and commercial relevance. Jackie Brenneman, a longtime industry advocate, echoed these concerns, highlighting how shorter theatrical runs undermine a film's ability to build word of mouth. She pointed to data from MoviePass and box office trends showing that audiences are still willing to attend theaters, particularly when incentivized with discounted pricing. However, studios' increasing focus on early streaming releases is cannibalizing potential theatrical revenue. According to Brenneman, nearly $1 billion in box office was lost across just ten titles due to rushed transitions to digital platforms. Her message was clear: audiences value the theater experience, but the industry must give them time to engage with it. CinemaCon 2025 was, in many ways, a battleground for these ideas. Exhibitors called for a universal 45-day window, while studios—facing financial pressure from recent flops like Disney's Snow White and Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17 —argued for greater flexibility. With the first quarter of the domestic box office down 12.3% year-over-year, studios are increasingly relying on early PVOD and streaming releases to recover costs. Universal Pictures, for example, defended its swift digital pivot for Wicked, which went on to generate $100 million post-theatrical. This debate raises a fundamental question: Is a universal windowing policy still viable in today's film industry? The answer may lie not in uniformity, but in strategic adaptability. The theatrical model that once dominated the industry was built for a time when box office receipts were the primary source of revenue. Today, delayed digital monetization can seriously impact a studio's bottom line—especially for mid-budget or niche titles that may not find large theatrical audiences. A more sustainable model may be one of variable windowing. Tentpole films with global marketing campaigns and broad audience appeal—such as superhero franchises and animated blockbusters—can benefit from extended theatrical runs. In contrast, auteur-driven films, mid-budget dramas, and experimental projects may perform better with limited theatrical exposure followed by quick transitions to PVOD and streaming, where they can find their audiences more effectively. Crucially, the availability of streaming and audience data now enables studios to make smarter, data-driven decisions about release timing. Metrics around viewer engagement, demographic insights, and box office projections allow for bespoke distribution plans designed to maximize total revenue. Universal's success with Wicked —both in theaters and on digital platforms—demonstrates that a hybrid model can indeed succeed when carefully executed. Nevertheless, exhibitors' concerns are valid. The theatrical experience remains culturally significant, fostering communal storytelling and sustaining a broad cinema infrastructure that supports films of all sizes. Independent theaters, in particular, rely on a steady flow of exclusive content to remain viable. Without longer windows, many such venues may be forced to shut their doors. The future likely lies in collaborative, tiered windowing models that align studio economics with theatrical sustainability. This could take the form of performance-based windowing, where high-performing films are granted longer exclusivity, or pilot programs that experiment with hybrid release strategies. The goal is not to preserve outdated practices but to build a forward-looking framework that recognizes the diversity of films, audiences, and revenue pathways. The Bhool Chuk Maaf episode, combined with the insights from CinemaCon 2025, points to a shifting equilibrium. Theatrical and digital platforms need not be adversaries; they can be partners in delivering compelling stories to audiences everywhere. However, clearer communication to viewers about where and when films will be available is essential. Without it, even the best strategies risk confusing audiences and undermining engagement. In this new landscape, transparency, flexibility, and collaboration will be the keys to sustaining a vibrant and profitable film industry.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jack Black Asks ‘Minecraft' Audiences to Not Throw Popcorn During Surprise Appearance at L.A. Theater
Keep your popcorn to yourself. That was Jack Black's instruction to moviegoers attending a screening of A Minecraft Movie over the April 11-13 weekend at AMC Century City in L.A. following days of headlines about young moviegoers engaging in rowdy behavior and hurling handfuls of popcorn into the crowd when Black's character exclaims, 'chicken jockey!' More from The Hollywood Reporter Box Office: 'Minecraft' Mints More Gold With $80.6M, 'King of Kings' Leads New Films With $19M Some 'Minecraft Movie' Audiences Are Trashing Theaters, Causing Chaos 'A Minecraft Movie' Is a Smash - So, Where's the 'Roblox' Film? As Black entered the auditorium unannounced, he initially disguised his voice when he intoning: 'For today's presentation of A Minecraft Movie, please no throwing popcorn.' When he began speaking in his own voice and was recognized, the crowd went nuts as he waved his main prop from the movie, an axe. 'Look what I brought,' he said, eliciting hoots and hollers. Throughout the movie's opening weekend a week earlier, viral videos captured audiences going wild, throwing food and drinks, and trashing auditoriums. In one video, somebody was even kicked out for holding up a live chicken. Some theaters are issuing warnings, with Cinema United — a trade organization representing thousands of exhibitors across the globe — issuing a memo of voluntary guidelines, including 'pre-show announcements' and that if the 'situation escalates, local authorities can be called' (reportedly — and in at least one moviegoer's video — police have been called). Jack Black appears at a 'MINECRAFT' movie screening asking fans not to throw popcorn all over the theater. — The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) April 14, 2025 After all, A Minecraft Movie is delivering a huge win for the box office, having cleared $552 million in global ticket sales in less than two weeks to already become one of the biggest video game adaptation of all time, not adjusted for inflation. It earned $78.5 million in its second weekend dommestically for a cume of $278.9 million and $273.8 million for a global total of $552.6 million. And It couldn't have come at a better time for Warner Bros.' motion picture chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who had previously come under fire after a series of misses. Minecraft, produced and co-financed by Legendary Pictures, is the top release of the year to date, and is almost assured of becoming the first film of 2025 to clear $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales (Vertigo is also a credited producer). While theater workers are unhappy about the mess they are stuck cleaning up, many exhibitors, and especially some of the biggest chains, are refraining from posting wholesale prohibitions on the behavior out of concern that such warnings would only inflame the situation. Insiders say such warnings may not have been helpful when rabid fans of Minions: The Rise of Gru began throwing bananas during screenings of the film or, more recently, when chains including AMC asked Wicked moviegoers to refrain from singing along with the film (later on in the movie's run, Universal hosted sing-along screenings). For the uninitiated, A Minecraft Movie follows four misfits who are pulled through a portal into a cubic world and must embark on a quest back to the real world with the help of an expert crafter named Steve (Black). At one point, a baby zombie falls onto the back of a chicken making a 'chicken jockey' — an extremely rare occurrence in the game — which prompts fans to erupt with excitement and surprise. Black was surely dispatched to AMC Century City to do some damage control and hopefully spark his own viral moment that could counteract the urge to hurl popcorn. 'Are you ready to rock? Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy A Minecraft Movie,' said Black as he walked the aisles of the packed auditorium at AMC Century City. Best of The Hollywood Reporter "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked 20 Times the Oscars Got It Wrong
Los Angeles Times
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Theaters want you to wait longer to stream movies. Why that probably won't happen
An age-old debate has roared back to the forefront in Hollywood. The so-called theatrical window has long been a hot topic for studios and movie theater owners. The discussion about how long a film is in movie theaters before it's available for home viewing ramped up during the pandemic, when some studios dramatically shortened their windows before releasing movies for video on-demand and streaming. Then top theater lobbyist Michael O'Leary threw down an unexpected gauntlet. Speaking before thousands of theater operators and film business professionals in Las Vegas, he called on the industry to establish a new standard: make viewers wait longer — at least 45 days — to watch movies on the couch. 'A clear, consistent starting point is necessary to affirm our collective commitment to theatrical exclusivity and to provide clear expectations for movie fans,' said O'Leary, president and chief executive of the Cinema United trade group, in a speech earlier this month at the CinemaCon trade convention at Caesars Palace. 'We cannot sacrifice long-term success for short-term gain.' After that, the topic dominated the convention — and industry chatter. From private conversations to public proclamations, everyone, it seemed, had an opinion on theatrical windows. Before COVID-19, the wait was often as long as 90 days. Theaters would loudly protest any attempts to shrink windows, until the pandemic and resulting theater closures forced the issue. Chains such as AMC and Cinemark reluctantly accepted the new realities through deals with the studios. Now the average is around 30 days. Andrew Cripps, Walt Disney Studios' head of theatrical distribution, told an audience that the company's films were in theaters longer than those of any other studio, at an average of about 60 days. Peter Levinsohn, chairman of global distribution at NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios, noted during a panel discussion that there is now more competition for 'discretionary time' than there was a handful of years ago. 'To think that it's just the windowing issue, I think we, as an industry, need to be innovative and flexible to meet the audience where they are,' he said. Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, said a day before O'Leary's speech that 'cost and windows can work for us or against us,' adding that 'Sony will work with you on both' to the applause of the assembled movie theater owners. But whether the industry will collectively decide on a baseline window — much less coalesce around O'Leary's stated 45 days — is an open question, and many insiders have serious doubts. Exhibitors argue that shorter windows cut into box-office profits by decreasing the number of casual moviegoers who look up showtimes on a whim and encouraging audiences to wait to watch a film at home. Distributors counter that a one-size-fits-all window doesn't work, especially for smaller and mid-budget movies, and that once a film taps out its earning potential at the theater, moving it to home viewing helps profitability. 'It's really tough to go backwards,' said one studio insider who was not authorized to comment. 'I don't want to say it won't happen, but I think we've got a lot of work to do.' For his part, O'Leary said he considered his 45-day window proposal a 'reasonable and fair starting point' for further discussions. Any final decisions must be set by the studios, as windows are a market-based determination in the U.S., he said. But O'Leary said he felt the time was right to broach the topic in a substantial way. The last half of 2024 felt like the first period of extended 'normalcy' since the pandemic, the dual writers and actors strikes and industry upheaval rattled the movie business, he said. This year and 2026 will be strong, O'Leary said, which would give the industry breathing room to consider its future. 'There's a recognition that we need to have a period of exclusivity,' O'Leary told The Times. 'I do think you'll see some windows get longer. The larger question is, can we get some kind of stability and uniformity so we're creating consistent expectations for the moviegoing public?' Movies generated $8.7 billion in box-office sales last year, down 3% from 2023 and far below pre-pandemic levels, prompting concerns that audiences' habits have fundamentally changed. So far this year, revenue is down 5% from 2024. There has been much debate over whether shorter theatrical windows cuts into box-office profits, and if so, how much. A recent analysis by movie business data site the Numbers found that since 2021, films with an 18-day window generally underperformed at the box office, and that an early premium release for home viewing didn't negatively affect their final theatrical earning potential — and in fact, the associated advertising may slightly boost their box-office sales. However, films with a 21- to 44-day window lost $132 million in box office revenue in total, though the effect on earnings decreased as the windows got longer, the report found. 'I don't think this needs to be one side versus the other,' said Jackie Brenneman, founding partner at theater consulting firm the Fithian Group, who has researched windows. 'I just believe that movie theaters could be much more important to [distributors'] bottom line all the way down the value chain if there was more exclusivity. I don't think it will harm their streaming platforms to give those movies some time.' Studio executives have said shortened windows may be part of why audiences haven't flocked back to theaters since the pandemic. But it's not the whole story. Improving customers' experience in theaters is a major piece of the puzzle, they say, and with so many more options for people to spend their time, it must be worth it for them to get out of their homes and into the theater. That could include daily deals, modernizing theater facilities, extended matinee pricing or even more limited trailers before films. On the studio side, quality films are a must. 'I'm happy to discuss windows, but believe it must be one part of a larger discussion about how to get people back to theaters more often,' Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, told The Times. And that is something O'Leary, too, can get behind. 'The consumer today is much more demanding than in the past,' he said. 'They have many more options. We have to look at all of the pieces that go into making going to the movies a great experience.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
If they build on it, will they come? Movie theater owners' plan to get butts in seats for summer blockbusters.
LAS VEGAS — When Sean Baker won Best Director at the Oscars for Anora in March, he issued a 'battle cry' to the industry: 'The theatergoing experience is under threat. … It's up to us to support them.' A clip of that acceptance speech played at CinemaCon, a yearly conference where studios screen footage of their upcoming releases to theater owners to get them excited about what's to come. Cinema United, the trade organization that hosts the gathering, rallies its members to think radically about how to keep theatergoing alive. It's nice to have the academy's top filmmaker of the year in your corner, but Anora didn't come close to winning the box office last year — that victory goes to Inside Out 2, followed by Deadpool & Wolverine and Wicked. Still, Anora is a massive success story. Made for just $6 million, it's been in theaters for more than 25 weeks and made over $20 million at the box office, Neon executive Elissa Federoff said onstage at CinemaCon. CinemaCon's star-studded presentations of footage from Superman and Wicked: For Good certainly drummed up enthusiasm about moviegoing, but the industry cannot live on familiar intellectual property alone — especially not when recovering from the devastating impact of pandemic theater closures, a slow trickle of releases following Hollywood strikes and increased interest in streaming services. President and CEO of Cinema United Michael O'Leary said in his State of the Industry speech that the 'short-sighted quest for immediate financial return' is no longer enough. They need to 'craft a model that will thrive for generations.' Though presenters at CinemaCon remained optimistic — they came to rally, after all — there's a chance that moviegoing audiences are forever altered. But, as CinemaCon's managing director Mitch Neuhauser said onstage, theaters have been 'defying gravity' by maintaining relevance through all sorts of technological advances and changing trends throughout the years, from television to VCRs. The box office is expected to rally this summer. Here's what theater owners are doing to support its comeback. In his speech, O'Leary called on studios to give movies 45 days to exist solely in theaters before putting them on video-on-demand or streaming services, earning thunderous applause from the crowd. That prospect was discussed and debated throughout the week as studios and exhibitors went back and forth about the risks. O'Leary said the move would add a billion dollars to the annual box office and that even VOD and streaming services would benefit from seeing movies marketed for longer periods of time. Before the pandemic, the standard was 90 days. Now, the average is about 30 days or less. At an industry think tank hosted by Puck's Matt Belloni, executives debated whether this could work. Theaters would have to demand that studios agree to 45 days of exclusivity in order to have their movies shown, but if studios want to rush to streaming to recoup their investments, that could result in fewer screenings for theaters. Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, told Deadline that 'at least three of the six major studios … are completely in agreement that we need to bring back the 45-day window.' Disney, which has had the No. 1 movie at the box office for eight of the last nine years, is likely one of them, as many of its releases were exclusively in theaters for 60 days last year. O'Leary said that if the only reason to go to the theater is a large screen format, that's 'destroying the heart of the business,' and called for all theatrical experiences to be premium ones. But butts in seats are butts in seats, and high-tech screening experiences can be enticing to audiences — even if they only make up 9% of the box office right now. Tickets are more expensive, but blockbusters like Oppenheimer and Dune: Part Two kept premium screenings sold out. Here are some premium formats that some theaters offer: IMAX: Taller, wider screens with more immersive sound. ScreenX: 270-degree panoramic screens include additional footage in some scenes meant to be viewed in your periphery. 4DX: Special motion seats, water spray, wind, vibration and other touch-related effects turn theaters into low-key rollercoaster rides. Dolby Atmos: Immersive sound that moves around the theater, even going overhead. The up-and-coming values-based Angel Studios gave a presentation at CinemaCon in a venue that was smaller than those of the major studios, but it was totally packed. The studio broke out with the controversial box office success Sound of Freedom in 2023. Before presenting their upcoming slate, executives touted their unique distribution model. Fans are invited to pay to join the Angel Guild, which allows them to vote on what films are then distributed to audiences around the world. Guild members then have a vested interest in the film's success, increasing box office revenue. According to the Angel Studios website, there are 360,000 Angel Guild members from more than 150 countries. Nearly every year, the movie that tops the box office is based on something familiar, be it a sequel to a beloved film or an action flick based on a comic book. Studios are taking that into account this summer — there's a new franchise installment (Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning), a reboot (How to Train Your Dragon) or a superhero movie (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) expected to land in theaters all but one weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and more may be added. It can't be the only reason people are going to theaters if the industry wants to survive, but it can't go away, either. O'Leary said in his speech that recent data from the National Research Group shows that audience awareness of new movies has decreased. There's a 38% decline in movies that reached an awareness level of over 50% by opening weekend. In other words, there's a huge shortage of movies that it feels like everyone knows about. 'There are a lot of ways to measure the falloff we've seen, but I think this gets to the heart of the problem: film's retreat from its central place in the culture and imagination,' the Ankler's Richard Rushfield wrote of the stat in his dispatch from CinemaCon. Can marketing fix this cultural problem? O'Leary thinks it can help, and he called on theaters and studios to work together to get the word out. He suggested that trailers run for 90 seconds and that theaters show four to six of them before a movie. 'Moving forward, our goal should be audience awareness of over 50% for all wide releases. We live in a time of pervasive and relentless communication, and there is no excuse not to attain this target if exhibition and distribution work together,' O'Leary said. Longer theatrical windows would also allow for longer time spent marketing movies, but studios would have to carve out extra room in their budgets. Theaters definitely noticed when the Dune: Part Two popcorn bucket — ahem, sandworm — flew off shelves, but that's not the only 'elevated concession vessel' that has resonated with fans. Industry experts from the likes of AMC, Regal, Disney and Snapco Manufacturing gathered for a panel at CinemaCon, where they discussed how they're not only fun collectibles for fans, which make a little extra money — they're also an effective advertising tool for the films. The Dune bucket may have taken the trend to a level that was then elevated by its Deadpool & Wolverine parody, but the craze got studios interested and more willing to work with manufacturers so they have more lead time to come up with something truly amazing. Fans have come to expect them, so the trend won't be ending any time soon. Putting zip lines and pickleball courts into theaters to entice new customers is an often-referenced joke among theater owners, but some are serious. Eight of the biggest theater chains in the country announced in September that they'd be investing $2.2 billion to modernize their properties. It seems like that will mostly mean better seats, air-conditioning and carpeting, but there could be a few kooky attractions in the mix. On the trade show floor at CinemaCon, a bowling lane product company had a popular booth. At a luncheon featuring a panel with the director and stars of The Running Man, Colman Domingo admitted he loves eating a plate of chicken wings while at the movies, a point in favor of dinner theaters like Alamo Drafthouse. Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuna said at CinemaCon's industry think tank that the company is willing to at least try unique screenings that audiences have been clamoring for, including texting-friendly ones and sing-alongs. 2022 breakout horror hit M3GAN will be briefly returning to theaters with Meta's Movie Mate technology. During screenings, audiences will be able to use their phones to access exclusive content, including a chatbot. X users didn't love the sound of that, though. One day after CinemaCon ended, A Minecraft Movie hit theaters and began making headlines about its rowdy screenings in which theatergoers are screaming and throwing popcorn. Though it's nice to see younger audiences at the movies, theater owners seem less than thrilled about having to kick people out and call the authorities. Perhaps next year's convention will propose a sanctioned middle ground.
Forbes
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘A Minecraft Movie' Viral TikTok Trend Is Wreaking Havoc In Theaters
An image from the "Chicken Jockey" scene in "A Minecraft Movie." A viral TikTok trend spurred by a scene in Jack Black and Jason Momoa's A Minecraft Movie is resulting in disruption and destruction in some theaters. A Minecraft Movie, of course, blew out box office projections in its opening weekend and earned $313 million at the worldwide box office. About $163 million of those box office dollars came from 4,265 North American theaters, and some theaters in the U.S. have been subject to the TikTok craze surrounding a scene in the movie adaptation of the blockbuster Mojang Studios video game. Black stars as Steve in A Minecraft Movie, a wannabe miner who finds a mystical portal that transports him to the Overworld — a fantastical place where he can build anything he imagines out of blocks. All the creatures in the Overworld are block-shaped as well, and one faction — called the Piglins — takes Steve hostage because he possesses a powerful cube that they want to use for nefarious purposes. Steve can prevent the disaster, though, when a group of outcasts — Garrett (Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Stan), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) – find the portal and rescue him. During the film, one of the Overworld's zombie creatures rides atop a chicken character in a scene with Black and Momoa in a wrestling ring, which has prompted some audiences to get obnoxious for the sake of capturing the moment on video to post on social media platforms like TikTok. In a video posted on X, the 'Chicken Jockey' scene prompts a loud outburst from the crowd, theatergoers through popcorn and a patron holding a live chicken in the air. Some theaters are being damaged by vandals at showings of A Minecraft Movie, according to different publications including The Hollywood Reporter. In one case, the Township Theatre in Washington, N.J., has enacted a new policy where any minor who wants to see the film must be accompanied by 'a responsible adult.' If they're not accompanied, they won't be admitted, the venue warned in a Facebook post. 'We want to make all parents aware of an unfortunate situation that occurred at Township Theatre last night during a showing of The Minecraft Movie,' the Township Theatre said in the Facebook post to parents earlier this week. 'Large groups of unsupervised boys engaged in completely unacceptable behavior, including vandalism,' Township Theatre added in the Facebook post. 'We also received multiple complaints from other moviegoers who were trying to enjoy the film with their families. Video footage of the incident has been obtained.' Reacting to the destructive craze at A Minecraft Movie, the theatrical trade group Cinema United — formerly the National Association of Theater Owners — issued a memo to its thousands of members filled with voluntary guidelines, per THR. According to the trade publication, Cinema United has recommended pre-show announcements and urges calling the police if situations escalate. Rated PG, A Minecraft Movie is projected to have another big weekend in its second Friday to Sunday frame.
