If, like me, you stuck around Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Friday of last week it would have been hard to tell that the world’s largest convention of movie theatre owners had taken place over the previous four days. Gone were the trade show booths, movie posters, elevator decals and any remaining vestige of CinemaCon 2023. Yet no matter how thorough and swift the cleaning crews at Caesars are, there will be no erasing the memory of this year’s CinemaCon from the business itself. After two pandemic suppressed editions, in which the optimism on display always felt slightly artificial, this year’s CinemaCon presented a vigorous industry that is clearly on an upwards trajectory, confidently overcoming one of the biggest existential threats it has ever faced.
Depending on who you asked, attendance at CinemaCon 2023 was either just below or on-par with pre-pandemic levels, with over 3,300 registered delegates, not including trade show participants. Six major Hollywood studios presented their upcoming release slates, or rather “portfolios,” as they now seem to be called. Amazon may have been absent but Apple Original Films sent footage from two highly anticipated titles; Ridley Scott’s biopic “Napoleon” staring Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonard DiCaprio. Indeed, DiCaprio showed up on the last day’s luncheon for an extended question and answer session with Scorsese.
They weren’t the only guests of honor, with studios parading out some major movie stars and filmmakers including Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jordana Brewster, Timothée Chalamet, Vin Diesel, America Ferrara, Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling, David Harbour, Stephanie Hsu, Anna Kendrick, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa McCarthy, Christopher Nolan, Anthony Ramos, Michelle Rodriguez, Seth Rogen, Justin Timberlake, Denis Villeneuve, Oprah Winfrey and Zendaya. Those are just the names I can remember off the top of my head. Even a very pregnant Rihanna, showed up to plug the new “Smurfs” movie she’ll be starring in as Smurfette.
Noticeably absent this year however was the constant murmurings of collapsing theatrical release windows. The perennial topic of CinemaCons past, studio executives went out of their way to stress that moving forward their films would be released exclusively in theatres with a “robust” window before eventually finding their way onto streaming platforms. David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, personally showed up on the Colosseum stage, delivering an impassioned speech to exhibitors about the importance of opening movies in cinemas first.
What’s more, the slates, ahem… I mean, portfolios, were chock full of diverse titles including comedies like “Joy Ride,” which Lionsgate screened in its entirety, musicals such as “The Color Purple,” animated films like “Elemental,” horror films, dramas, action films and, of course, comic book tentpoles. Studios were either quick to point out that they were intending on releasing 20+ movies in 2023, or stated that was their ultimate goal in future years. Exhibitors will soon have to start deciding again which of the wide releases opening on any given weekend to play.
And that’s just from major distributors. It really became clear at this year’s CinemaCon that the number of independent or specialty distributors bringing films to movie theatres is going to increase dramatically over the next several years. Newcomer Angel Studios presented their upcoming releases before breakfast on Wednesday morning and event cinema leader Fathom Events announced that they too would be getting into specialty distribution. There were also a handful of other up-and-coming indie-distributors lurking at CinemaCon who weren’t yet prepared to make formal presentations.
Taking in all of the proceedings and walking the trade show floors were cinema operators from all over the world. Though COVID travel restrictions kept many away in 2021 and 2022, this year attendees hailed from Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Serbia Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and many more.
As I mentioned last week, if the steady stream of press announcements coming into Celluloid Junkie before CinemaCon 2023 is a leading indicator to the state and health of the industry, then the outright flood of releases that arrived during the conference only confirmed the positive direction in which the business is heading. There were so many deals being announced in such a short period of time, from so many different manufacturers and theatre chains, that it became increasingly difficult to believe all the protestations about money being “tight” and budgets being slashed. Granted, while CinemaCon was taking place, the Walt Disney Company began laying off upwards of 7,000 employees.
Ultimately, this year’s CinemaCon, may be remembered most for being John Fithian’s final show as President and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners and the introduction of Michael O’Leary as his successor. Throughout the week, speakers and presenters publicly expressed their gratitude for Fithian’s 30 years of service to NATO. Perhaps the most moving speeches were those given by NATO executives Jackie Brenneman and Patrick Corcoran during the awards ceremony on the final evening. While there are those of us who would prefer Fithian not retire and will miss seeing him at future conferences, CinemaCon 2023 truly let him leave on a high note.
Premium Large Format
IMAX Reports Positive Earnings for First Quarter of 2023
With premium cinema offerings being the talk of CinemaCon 2023, IMAX weighed in with an earnings report for the first quarter of 2023 that beat Wall Street analysts expectations. The premium large format giant saw USD $86.9 million in revenue, outpacing the expected USD $78.5 million previously anticipated. This represents earnings of 16 cents per share and a gross margin of 57.6%. All of these figures are up for the same quarter year-over-year.
With studios releasing a steady stream of tentpole titles IMAX took in USD $273.4 million in box office during the quarter from 22 films. This includes the grosses for “Avatar: The Way of Water” (USD $109.1 million) as well as local language titles which account for 30% of the company’s box office. IMAX also had a record Chinese New Year, attracting USD $61.3 million from titles during the 26-day period. Indeed, 31% of all IMAX revenues came from China during the first quarter.
The IMAX footprint grew slightly since the same quarter last year to 1,711 screens in 87 countries, comprised of 1,631 commercial multiplexes, 12 commercial destinations and 68 institutional locations. There are 375 IMAX screens in China.
Source: Celluloid Junkie
Exhibitors
Russian Cinema Business Suffering Under Hollywood Boycott
More than a year after Hollywood studios began boycotting Russia after that country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the Russian film industry has declined by at least 40% in 2022, if not more. While trade publications such as Celluloid Junkie have previously covered how some cinema operators in Russia have been screening pirated versions of Hollywood titles, mainstream media outlets are now picking up on the story, explaining how the practice works in more detail.
At a Kinomax in Moscow the scheme works by having moviegoers by tickets for the screening of a Russian film which just happens to be coupled with a “preview” screening of a film such as “Avatar: The Way of Water.” In this manner, the Russian title gets artificially boosted attendance and the cinema operator avoids the government fine associated with screening unlicensed movies. Those fines might disappear however since the Russian Parliament is close to passing a bill that would allow Russian exhibitors to license copyrighted material from companies based in “unfriendly countries” even if a copyright holder refuses to do so. Essentially this legitimizes piracy in an attempt to force content owners back into the country.
Foreign titles, many coming from Hollywood, accounted for between 75-80% of Russia’s RUB 40.7 billion rubles (USD $505.9 million) box office in 2021. Both of those figures dropped in 2022 with foreign films accounting for 48% of the box office in Russia and the market itself falling by 42% overall. Nevafilm Research reports that top cinema chains lost billions of rubles last year, including the country’s largest operator Cinema Park declining by 43% for a loss of RUB 1.8 billion (USD $22.4 million), Karo Film off by 42% giving up RUB 1.3 billion (USD $16.2 million) and Kinomax suffering a 47% dip or a RUB 2 billion (USD $25 million) loss.
Source: ABC News
Cinemas
Edinburgh Filmhouse Sold To Unknown Bidder
When the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) in Scotland went into administration in October of 2022 some of its assets were put up for sale, including the Edinburgh Filmhouse. This kicked off a saga with more twists and turns than some of the movies the cinema used to show.
FRP Advisory was appointed as administrators to oversee the sale of the building with 16 bids being received including one from a team that included former Filmhouse staff and London’s Prince Charles Cinema. There has been a public outcry to maintain the Filmhouse as a cinema for cultural reasons, generating support from filmmakers such as Paul Laverty and actress Tilda Swinton. Activists began a Save the Filmhouse campaign and pleaded their case to local government officials.
Last week it was reported that the historic cinema was sold for GBP £2.65 million (USD $3.33 million) to an unknown commercial bidder. The Scotsman reported that property management group Caledonian Heritable, who own The Dome, Ryan’s Bar and the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh, though this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Source: The Scotsman
Sponsor Spotlight
Optimized Coverage for Small-to-Medium-Sized Auditoriums
Dolby’s new System 126 screen speaker not only features a patented asymmetrical waveguide delivering exceptional audio coverage, but also offers both bi-amplified or passive, single-amp-channel operation.
Celluloid Junkie is the leading online resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business. The Marquee is our newsletter focused on motion picture exhibition; keeping industry professionals informed of important news, the latest trends and insightful analysis