At the world’s largest gathering of movie theater owners in Las Vegas last month, Paramount CEO David Ellison committed to a 45-day theatrical window and to releasing 30 movies a year if and when combined with Warner Bros.
AMC Entertainment’s chief executive Adam Aron, asked about that on a call after the giant chain’s quarterly earnings today, said, “We have had private conversations with Paramount for months and months at the highest levels” and “the passionate commitment that David made at CinemaCon in front of 5,000 people in the auditorium, he and the people that work for him gave the same commitments to us privately in the weeks and months preceding. And we believe him … We believe that he is fully committed to the promises that he made and fully capable of pulling them off.”
Ellison, in a surprise appearance at Par’s CinemaCon presentation April 16, said he wanted to look exhibitors “directly in the eye” to promise the 30 films a year. “You can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
The deal is controversial. and not all exhibitor are as sanguine as AMC. Michael O’Leary, the head of trade group Cinema United, has been outspoken over the risks to the industry of further studio consolidation. The Disney-Fox merger in 2019 significantly reduced the combined company’s slate of movie releases. Other Hollywood stakeholders are also extremely worried about the pending merger.
Ellison reiterated the 30 films a year on an earnings call Monday afternoon. Par said the Warner Bros. Discovery deal is still on track to close in the third quarter.
Aron today, on the call with analysts, thanked AMC’s studio partners for commitments to increase the number of theatrical move releases and extend theatrical windows to at least 45 days. They join Disney, “which has been constant in respecting the exclusive theatrical window,” he said.
Ahead of Paramount, Universal promised a 45-day window starting in 2027.
Studios, Aron said, are finally acknowledging that a new industry standard is needed. Chains have been pushing for it but the “heroes here … are the people who have really stepped up” from Disney’s Alan Bergman, to Universal’s Donna Langley to Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman, and Ellison.
“You all deserve praise for [helping to restore] the health of our entire theatrical ecosystem.” Windows were wobbling before Covid, disappeared during the pandemic with theaters shut and appeared at high risk after as studios’ sister streaming services fought for subscribers and people got used to the couch. Theater owners have insisted for years that a full theatrical release helps drive a more successful streaming release.
The idea is to to re-train consumers that movies will be in theaters longer. The 45-day theatrical window to PVOD (pay VOD) is key to that, but so is the commitment to a 90-day SVOD (streaming) window. Together, “they give the opportunity for theater operators to convey a sense to consumers that if you want to be part of this global phenomenon of seeing a movie when it’s hot, you’ve got to do it in a theater and can’t wait until it comes into the home.”
That’s a major shift from films appearing “on the small screen 17 or 21 or 25 days after theatrical release,” he said.