There is no other way to view this past week than as a mixed bag for the cinema industry. It began with the news that the first-ever National Cinema Day was a success in the United Kingdom, North America and Ireland. Admissions and box office were up significantly in each territory accounting for a…

It is the last week of August. The last week of summer. It is supposed to be one of those weeks where we struggle to find even a single story to include in the Marquee. The kind of week some might refer to as “a slow news week.” It was anything but. If it wasn’tRead More

It’s that time of year when public companies throughout the world announce their second quarter earnings. If you’re a giant media company with a streaming service that means you’ll be trying to appease Wall Street big wigs with your latest subscriber figures, price increases or pla…

If you missed this week’s CJ Cinema Summit, have no fear, you can still catch our session here, on demand, with cinema operators, landlords and real estate professionals. Like many who work in and around the cinema industry, I am currently in the middle of my summer holiday. More specifically,…

As the Northern Hemisphere of planet earth burns to a crisp amid what seem to be endless record setting heat waves, I am reminded of a focus session during last month’s CineEurope. On a panel titled “A Cinema Experience for All Audiences” Dorothy Smith, the Managing Director of Zef…

Though we have highlighted our share of territories, like Italy, that are having trouble bouncing back from the COVID pandemic, this last week brought some good news about countries whose box office is rebounding more successfully along with predictions for when these markets might return and surpas…

It is no coincidence that Vue’s USD $550 million debt-for-equity deal and HG Entertainment’s USD $450 million consolidation move in the Chinese cinema market came to light the same week. The success of recent films such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Thor: Love and Thunder…

Four weeks ago, when my 17-year-old daughter asked me if she could borrow one of my suits to to go see “Minions: The Rise of Gru” with a group of friends, I readily agreed. I did however ask why she needed a men’s suit and tie to attend a Saturday night screening of an animatedRead…

Anyone fortunate to have attended CineEurope last week could be forgiven thinking that UNIC’s opening-night Paella was spiced with happy powder. There was a tremendous outpouring of love between colleagues who had not seen each other for years, from studios professing their love for the big screen o…

In only a few days the annual CineEurope convention kicks off in Barcelona, with over four days of showreels, previews, presentations, popcorn, awards, trade show, roundtables, seminars, networking, gossip, parties, paella, Coke & Cava (lots of the latter). We say “annual,” but of co…