The theatrical movie business is facing as tough a time as ever, but there’s one new thing in the mix: the alliance between distributors and exhibitors is tighter than it’s been in years.
And they’re all asking: Will the movie business ever get a break?
At the annual CinemaCon gathering of theatrical exhibitors in Las Vegas, a major new distributor this year was welcomed in Amazon/MGM during a year when the box office is down a sickening 11% over last year’s not-great performance. We saw a pipeline of movie slates refilled from all the major studios after four – count them – years of COVID lockdowns and labor strikes.