As exhibitors continue looking for programming that can turn a trip to the cinema into something audiences cannot replicate at home, StudioCanal and TheaterEars are taking two different approaches to the same opportunity: making catalogue titles feel like events again.

StudioCanal has launched StudioCanal Classics, a worldwide catalogue label built around its library of more than 18,000 films spanning 100 years of cinema. The company has invested nearly €25 million over the past seven years restoring almost 1,000 titles in 4K and says the new label will support theatrical releases across independent, repertory and mainstream cinemas around the world.

The initial theatrical slate demonstrates how broadly StudioCanal is thinking about catalogue exploitation. Michael Mann’s newly restored “Manhunter: The Final Cut” is receiving anniversary releases in the U.S. and UK, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” returns this fall in a new 4K restoration with 3D availability, and a Jacques Tati retrospective is headed to European theaters. A David Lynch collection is planned as part of the label’s 2027 slate.

Then there is “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” which returned to cinemas for its 35th anniversary in 2D, 3D, 4DX and D-BOX. For U.S. screenings, TheaterEars added another reason for fans to revisit the film: the first theatrical availability of James Cameron and co-writer William Wisher’s original commentary track, previously confined to DVD and Blu-ray releases. Using TheaterEars’ Director’s Experience, moviegoers can listen through their own phones and headphones while the commentary remains synchronized with the film. No additional cinema hardware or ticket surcharge is required.

TheaterEars is simultaneously applying the concept to new releases. NEON’s “It Ends” launched with a newly recorded synchronized commentary from writer-director Alexander Ullom and producers Carrie Carusone and Evan Barber, available while the movie is still in its theatrical run.

For exhibitors, the larger opportunity goes beyond another round of anniversary screenings. With studios sitting on decades of recognizable IP, the back catalogue is increasingly looking less like an archive and more like another theatrical programming pipeline.