AFI Archives - Celluloid Junkie

(From left) Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, Cinema United President & CEO, Michael O'Leary

Cinema United Didn’t Back the Paramount-Warner Merger. It Put Its Terms on the Table.

As Paramount Skydance wins conditional support from America’s largest theatre chains, Cinema United is trying to turn months of warnings about consolidation into enforceable protections, particularly for smaller theatres that lack the leverage to negotiate their own deals. Four months ago, Michael O…

(From left) Locarno's Mitchell Harper moderated the "It Takes A Village: Investing in Film Beyond Cinema" panel, which featured Darcy Heusel, of Outside Pictures; Nicola Ofoego of Black Mic Mag, Logical Pictures; and Samuel Tebandeke of Kiasi. The panel took place on August 8, 2026, as part of the Swiss film festival's industry platform. (Photo: courtesy of Locarno Film Festival/Ti-Press)

At Locarno, Restored Films Face Their Next Challenge: Finding an Audience

At Locarno Pro 2026, archivists, exhibitors, distributors and filmmakers explored why restoring a classic film is only the first step in putting it back in front of audiences. Locarno Pro (August 5-11) – the Swiss film festival’s industry platform – closed its biggest edition yet this August with 2,…

Eddy Duquenne, CEO of Kinepolis, Javier Sotomayor from Cineworld, Anna Marsh, CEO of StudioCanal, Laure de Boissard of Pathé France and Sharon Reid of Cinema First during the executive roundtable panel at CineEurope 2026 in Barcelona Spain on June 22, 2026.

A Stronger Release Slate Eases One Problem for Cinemas, but Reveals a Harder One

At CineEurope’s Executive Roundtable, leaders from exhibition, distribution and filmmaking argued that returning content is proving audience demand remains resilient. The harder task is making films discoverable, accessible and capable of creating lasting cinema habits. For nearly six years, the cin…

Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, CEO of Cinépolis and Cameron Mitchell, Executive Director of the Cinema Association Australasia, Mojisola Oladapo, Chief Marketing Officer of Filmhouse Group and Zsófia Varga from Everyman Cinemas during the "Best in Class: Lessons From Around the World" panel at CineEurope 2026 in Barcelona Spain on June 22, 2026.

There Is No Global Formula for Cinema Success, but the Best Ideas Travel

From affordable premium experiences in Australia to eventized local films in Nigeria and social listening across Cinépolis markets, exhibitors are finding growth by staying closer to their audiences. In Australia, a family could watch “Toy Story 5” in a premium-format auditorium during the day witho…

Stephanie Morgner, Senior Director Away-from-Home Customer Cinema, Leisure & Entertainment at The Coca-Cola Company, Sara Nieuwdorp of Cineplex Deutschland, Laila Kaid, Commercial Graduate – Category Executive at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Francisco Serrano, Market Research Executive at Conecta Research & Consulting during the "Inside the Gen Z Mindset" panel presented by Coca-Cola at CineEurope 2026 in Barcelona Spain on June 23, 2026.

Gen Z Is Still Going to the Movies, but the Trip Has to Be Worth It

Research across five European markets presented during CineEurope found that younger audiences attend frequently and buy concessions at high rates, but they expect convenience, variety and an experience worth sharing. For years, Gen Z offered the cinema business a convenient explanation for almost a…

Cathy Huis in ’t Veld-Esser, Gofilex CTO and co-owner, Harry Bakas, Business Development and Marketing Manager at Village Cinemas Greece, Almudena Fernández-Golfín of the Federación de Cines de España (FECE) and Omdia analyst Charlotte Jones, during the UNIC Focus Session, "Audience Engagement Across Europe: What Really Works?" at CineEurope 2026 in Barcelona, Spain on June 24, 2026.

Growing Cinema Audiences Starts With Knowing Who You’re Targeting

From Village Cinemas’ Cine School and Spain’s Cine Sénior to solo moviegoers and creator communities, CineEurope showed how identifying specific audiences – and removing the barriers keeping them away – can build attendance. The most revealing audience statistic presented during CineEurope 2026 may…

Nathalie Kaiser, Rentrak Manager, Statistics and Research, Cathy Huis in ’t Veld-Esser, Gofilex CTO and co-owner, Miguel Rivera, Cinépolis Group VP Global Film Programming and Content, Johnny Carr, Vue International Head of Event Cinema and Distribution, Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing, and Paul Huis in ’t veld, Gofilex CEO, during the ICTA Focus Session, "How Event Cinema, Live Experiences & Streaming Technology Are Set to Transform Cinema-Going" at CineEurope 2026 in Barcelona, Spain on June 23, 2026.

Event Cinema Is Becoming an Always-On Business

Once known as alternative content, event cinema has long since established itself on the theatrical calendar. Now exhibitors are treating it as a year-round programming discipline built around fan communities, advance demand and reliable technical delivery. Event cinema largely shed the label “alter…

(From Left) Juan Garcia (Odeon Multicines), Howard Kiedaisch (DCDC), Christof Papousek (Cineplexx) and Marion Rosset (ADDE) during the Technologies Shaping Tomorrow’s Cinema Experiences panel at the ICTA 2026 Cinema Technology Experience on June 21, 2026 in Barcelona Spain

Cinema Technology Is Advancing Faster Than the Business Model Supporting It

At the 2026 ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Experience, executives from Odeon Multicines, Cineplexx and DCDC examined how exhibitors can identify the technologies audiences will value – —and whether cinema’s current economics can sustain the industry’s accelerating upgrade cycle. Asked where cinema…

(From Left) Gregory Theile (Kinopolis Group), Tomasz Jagiello (Helios Cinemas), Karl Geraghty (Stella Cinemas) and Araceli Vaello (CinemaNext) during the panel discussion with 2025-2026 ICTA EMEA Award Winners at the ICTA 2026 Cinema Technology Experience on June 21, 2026 in Barcelona Spain

The Best Cinemas Aren’t Competing With Netflix. They’re Competing With a Night Out

Three award-winning cinema operators at the 2026 ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Experience explain why memorable design, hospitality and flawless execution increasingly matter as much as what appears on the screen. When cinema executives talk about competition, the conversation usually turns to st…

(From Left) David Ong (AAM-Qube), Andreas Stier (OneCinema), Seneit Debese (Greta Apps), Sophie Doherty (TAPOS) and Timo Holtkamp (Gofilex) during the Connected Cinemas panel discussion at the ICTA 2026 Cinema Technology Experience on June 21, 2026 in Barcelona Spain

Cinema Technology Has Never Been More Sophisticated, So Why Is It Still So Disconnected?

Cinema technology vendors at the 2026 ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Experience examine why the systems handling ticketing, content delivery and theatre operations still struggle to share data, what those disconnections cost exhibitors and whether open standards or consolidation will finally bring…