Cinema United CEO Michael O’Leary called on movie theaters and studios alike to build a new future together for their shared industry in his keynote speech at CinemaCon on Tuesday, and that includes finding common ground on the constantly thorny issue of theatrical windowing.
“Clinging to the norms of a pre-pandemic world or to the temporary adjustments made during that time, threatens the overall health of this great industry,” O’Leary said to the attendees in Las Vegas. “We need a system that recognizes our common goals and does not pit one sector against another in a short-sighted quest for immediate financial return at the cost of long- term success.”
O’Leary tackled a wide range of issues facing theaters as they fight to get the box office back to the consistency it once had before the pandemic, from marketing to showtime scheduling to the ongoing push for refurbishment of auditoriums and concessions. His remarks repeatedly received applause from the exhibitors in attendance.
But windows were first and foremost on his list, noting that while the pre-pandemic standard of a 90-day window was never coming back, the COVID-era experiment of releasing films on premium video on-demand as early as 17 days after theatrical release was creating the presumption among many moviegoers that they could just wait a couple weeks to see a film at home, hurting efforts to rebuild theatrical grosses.
“The perception, or more importantly, the reality at times, that everything will be available on other platforms in a matter of weeks, undercuts the sustainability of the entire industry by negatively impacting the frequency of movie fans going to the theatre,” he said. “Box office success and consumer demand cannot be effectively determined short of a 45-day window.”
O’Leary also pointed to box office data for 2024 that showed that while the combined grosses for the top 20 films dropped by 10% compared to pre-pandemic times, the grosses for the next 80 films dropped by 32%.
Such a drop shows how movie theaters are trending towards a dangerous new normal where audiences only show up for films perceived as having big enough spectacle for the big screen, leaving non-franchise/blockbuster films to fizzle out. That has played a factor in overall grosses for Q1 of 2025 dropping 11% year-over-year to just $1.44 billion, and has led to films like Focus Features’ “Black Bag” to struggle despite strong reviews.
“Shorter windows reduce the number of people that head to the theatre in the opening weeks of a release. It hits the bottom-line, and in many cases, undermines the ability of medium or smaller-budget movies to build an audience or even get off the ground,” he said.
“If we continue to shorten windows, and crowd out the small and medium sized movies, creating the impression that the only reason to go to the theatre are the big blockbusters, then eventually, the very network needed to make those blockbusters successful, will atrophy,” O’Leary also warned.
Outside of windowing, O’Leary also called on new approaches to marketing films, reemphasizing the phrase “only in theaters” and not promoting home platform availability during the theatrical run. He pointed to a recent NRG survey showing a a 38% decline in the number of movies that reached a audience awareness level over 50% by opening weekend as a sign that marketing needs to change.
“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. If fewer than half of movie-goers are aware of a new movie, can we sincerely say we are working to build a robust theatrical business?” he said.
For the exhibitors’ part, O’Leary called on attendees to continue their work to refurbish their theaters and to make them into places that people want to come back to. Cinema United released a report last week outlining the efforts that theaters from the biggest chains to independent theaters are doing to improve the quality of their theaters.
The trade org chief’s comments echoed those of Sony Pictures film executives during their CinemaCon presentation on Monday night, as film chairman Tom Rothman vowed to work with theaters on windowing while Sony Pictures Releasing president Adam Bergerman pledged to help reverse the trend of moviegoers waiting for what they expect to be an imminent home platform release with longer windowing.
But calls from O’Leary and others in exhibition for an industry-wide standard on windowing come at a time when studios’ approach to the topic has become more splintered than ever, even on a film-to-film basis. Disney is one notable exception as the studio has fulfilled the exhibitor wish list of not putting their films on streaming for at least 100 days after theatrical release or even advertising such a release ahead of time.
On the flip side of Disney and Sony, there are studios like Universal, which have long stuck to their 2020 agreement with top theater chains that allows them to keep the exclusive window at 17 days if the film opens below $50 million. Studio execs, including NBCU Chairman Donna Langley, have argued that the approach appeals to audiences who have put off moviegoing for good and and allows them to cater to the moviegoing habits of a wider variety of customers.
With each studio taking a very different approach to windowing and release strategies both for theaters and home platforms amidst a time of deep uncertainty for the film industry’s future, it will take a lot of talks from exhibitors to get all of Hollywood on the same page.
