The speak of the week at CinemaCon might have been Sony’s bombshell announcement about its 4 deliberate motion pictures about The Beatles. Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson are your Fab 4. And the way these motion pictures will look, the order they’re meant to be watched in, and most notably, Sony’s bold plan to launch all 4 movies in the identical month, opens up a world of questions.
However there was one different factor that raised an eyebrow: the date — April 2028.
The teasing of flicks three years down the street was the longest any studio requested exhibitors to attend to get excited for his or her product (the films must be value it), however they had been hardly the one studio enjoying the lengthy recreation at this 12 months’s CinemaCon. Plenty of studios’ closely touted movies opening in 2026 or being introduced for 2027 whereas solely displaying a smattering of content material for this summer time or this fall.
Sony had movies like “28 Years Later,” “Karate Child: Legends,” “A Huge Daring Stunning Journey,” and “Caught Stealing” earmarked for this 12 months that every one obtained teases, but it surely additionally hyped the following “Spider-Verse” film now dated for 2027 (after being pushed again from a launch as early as 2024), and the fourth live-action “Spider-Man” movie, “Model New Day,” dated for ’26. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” “Anaconda,” and “Resident Evil” had been additionally highlighted as late ’25, early ’26 and past entries.
Lionsgate after a dismal ’24 got here again robust with “Ballerina,” “The Lengthy Stroll,” “Energy Ballad,” “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” and “The Housemaid,” however the highlights (exterior of The Weeknd’s shock efficiency) had been a number of “John Wick” bulletins, the reveal of the brand new “Starvation Video games” emblem, Luca Guadagnino’s “American Psycho” remake, and the unlucky information about its Michael Jackson biopic possible shifting into ’26 after being closely touted eventually 12 months’s CinemaCon.
Amazon MGM Studios too leaned into the 14 movies it already has lined up for 2026, most notably “Venture Hail Mary” with Ryan Gosling and teases for others just like the Mahershala Ali motion movie “Your Mom Your Mom Your Mom.” They’ve a go, although — extra on them in a bit.
One supply speculated that the look to the long run may very well be by design. With 2025 already on rocky footing, with the field workplace down roughly 11 % down from the place it was at this level final 12 months, studios have to convey that there’s one thing constructive on the horizon. However theaters want some aid now, and which motion pictures are coming quickly wasn’t all that was on exhibitors’ minds.
The 45-Day Window Debate
On Tuesday at CinemaCon, Cinema United CEO Michael O’Leary made the case that studios ought to decide to a theatrical window with a “baseline” of no shorter than 45 days. Two days later, an actual icon in James L. Brooks took the Colosseum stage to agree with him.
The films to which he believes this issues most aren’t the most important tentpoles however the whole lot else. O’Leary cited information that of the High 100 motion pictures annually, the highest 20 motion pictures all had a mean window unique to theaters of 49 days, in comparison with simply 31 days for the underside 80 movies. However whereas the highest 20 motion pictures annually declined 10 % in field workplace {dollars} in comparison with pre-pandemic ranges, the underside movies declined by 32 %.
“To be truthful, there is no such thing as a single purpose that these 80 motion pictures dropped so severely, however shorter home windows, and the truth that customers anticipate these motion pictures to be within the residence inside 3-4 weeks, is a significant factor,” O’Leary argued. “Longer home windows, supported by advertising and marketing would scale back the present degree of decline, and create extra income throughout the trade.”
It was such an enormous speaking level that moderator Matt Belloni in a panel dialogue requested Regal Cineworld Group CEO Eduardo Acuna why he doesn’t refuse to play a studio’s movies until they make a 45-day window the usual. Acuna mentioned he agrees with the 45-day window, however he “hopes it doesn’t get there” by way of drawing a tough line within the sand. “Let’s not jeopardize the long-term well being of the trade for a brief time period achieve,” he later added.
As the opposite panelists Peter Levinsohn of NBCUniversal and Tom Quinn of Neon argued, a film’s success isn’t essentially primarily based on a one measurement matches all resolution. Home windows have been fine-tuned through the years such that they are often extra aggressive in relation to making a movie, particularly mid-size titles, accessible on transactional PVOD and extra conservative with after they make their method to SVOD providers similar to Disney+, Paramount+, or Peacock. Levinsohn additionally mentioned he’s not seen the proof that including a film to PVOD considerably impacts its theatrical efficiency, that it will get a complete new spherical of digital advertising and marketing that helps it theatrically as effectively, although that’s laborious for many exhibitors to consider.
Quinn had a compromise: If the film had been to be held longer, the quantity of rental, or how a lot a share of income the theater takes in comparison with the distributor, may very well be adjusted. Such bespoke choices for every particular person movie could also be key to the long-term well being of the trade.
Can Exhibitors Enhance the Theatrical Expertise?
A part of the explanation studios aren’t offered on the windowing query alone is as a result of they need to see extra creativity throughout exhibition. Throughout Sony’s presentation, Tom Rothman questioned why Tuesday is the one evening of the week that exhibitors supply discounted tickets? Paramount distribution chief Chris Aronson (earlier than driving off stage on a mud bike) pitched the concepts of limiting trailers and advertisements in entrance of movies that grossly delay a film’s precise begin time, making matinee pricing last more into the day, doing specialty promos like Cinemark’s latest Carry Your Personal Popcorn Bucket, higher leveraging social media and grassroots advertising and marketing, and providing different day by day offers.
And Quinn in the course of the panel dialogue was additionally an advocate of adjusting how theaters do trailers. He mentioned it’s not usually sufficient that his movies get significant trailer play, however he applauded circuits like Alamo Drafthouse that truly curate their trailers earlier than specific movies.
Mix these with the $2.2 billion that theater chains have dedicated to upgrading their cinemas, which studios are hoping doesn’t go merely to pickleball courts (sure, O’Leary informed IndieWire in September 2024 that pickleball courts will probably be a part of the upgrades). Joseph Kosinski on the panel with Acuna, Levinsohn, and Quinn mentioned he misses the times of a THX customary again within the ’90s when theaters had been all calibrated to anticipated technical ranges. He mentioned IMAX is the uncommon model that ensures its image and sound is at all times set correctly, however for different PLFs, theaters can’t cost premium costs with out providing an precise premium expertise.
Can Amazon MGM Be the New Fox?
The true downside as most exhibitors see it’s there aren’t sufficient motion pictures in theaters. On the field workplace’s peak in 2018 there have been roughly 900 movies launched theatrically, in comparison with simply 600 in 2024. The argument goes that it’s not strictly extra amount that theaters want however extra selection, that if all individuals see on the multiplex are massive tentpole superhero movies, they received’t present up in any respect. It’s the case Angel Studios made in its presentation to exhibitors. However whereas they’ve been an thrilling new presence within the field workplace, even cracking the High 10 amongst distributors, many others want to Amazon because the saviors.
The sensation across the Colosseum was that since Disney absorbed twentieth Century Fox in 2017, there hasn’t been anybody to fill that void. Amazon MGM in its first 12 months at CinemaCon may very well be those to try this. Prime Video head Mike Hopkins in the course of the studio’s late evening presentation mentioned it’s dedicated to have 15 movies in theaters by 2027 and already has 14 by 2026. And whereas everybody at CinemaCon loves gushing over exhibition, Amazon MGM actually made positive to drive residence the purpose, with nearly each speaker, that it actually cares about theaters and never nearly driving subscriptions to a service that gives free next-day transport on bathroom paper.
Fittingly, the studio’s slate was a starry, numerous group of titles, together with massive industrial spectacles like “Venture Hail Mary,” extra grownup dramas just like the Colleen Hoover adaptation “Verity” and Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” thrillers like “Crime 101” and “Mercy,” and even leaning closely on its Orion Photos portfolio for extra underrepresented tales, most notably the Tarantino-esque “Is God Is” with Vivica A. Fox and Sterling Ok. Brown.