Why Even Summer Box Office Flops Pushed Theaters to Strong Quarterly Results

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While studios saw losses on underperforming films like “The Little Mermaid,” theaters are reaping the benefits of ticket and higher-than-usual concession sales

theaters box office concessions
Movies want to fill seats and sell a lot of popcorn. Concessions sales are the a major revenue generator. (Getty Images)

Strong quarterly earnings reports for AMC Theatres and Cinemark have shown two things about the state of moviegoing right now.

As TheWrap previously noted, several summer films that flopped at the box office against their inflated budgets were nonetheless bringing substantial revenue to movie theaters. But the theater chains’ strong second-quarter numbers also tell us that people are going all in on the moviegoing experience.

On Tuesday, AMC Theatres reported 66 million tickets sold in second quarter 2023, the highest quarterly attendance seen at its locations since Q4 2019, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the chain is still dealing with immense operating costs, revenue rose 15% year-over-year to $1.34

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