The CEO of America’s largest cinema chain – AMC – joins the call for longer theatrical exclusive windows for movies.
Did you know that as of last week, only one of January 2025’s top 10 films in the US wasn’t already available to watch at home? It’s a pretty shocking indictment of how far things have come since film studios (admittedly navigating the tricky and uncharted waters of a global pandemic) threw out theatrical exclusivity windows and for the most part, never re-established them in the same manner.
The studios would argue that premium video on demand (PVOD) releases that sometimes can find their way into your home just 17 days after a film releases in cinemas don’t cannibalise theatrical box office and they’d probably pull out some statistics to justify that point of view as well.
Of course, you can rustle up numbers to back up almost any claim and cinema operators, frustrated by the slow erosion of one of the principles that safeguards their industry, don’t tend to see things in the same light.
One cinema operator that has a fair amount of sway is AMC, given that it’s the US’ largest multiplex operator. Being the biggest exhibitor in one of the world’s largest theatrical markets gives you a bit of clout and AMC’s CEO Adam Aron seems determined to use that position to put some pressure on studios to reconsider their strategy.
During a quarterly earnings call, he said that there is a “very live debate right now” going on regarding cinema exclusivity windows and that they would “like to convince all the major studios that they should keep movies in theatres longer.”
One thing that is becoming increasingly clear to studios (even if the rest of us knew it all along) is the irreplaceable value of a theatrical release, even if that isn’t always measured in pounds or dollars. Cultural awareness and cultural value are vital to the continued success of any film release and nothing adds to this nebulous element more effectively than a well-built theatrical run to build anticipation for a film’s eventual release onto home platforms.
“In our view, 17 days or 30 days are too short, [and] this is a conversation that is front and centre, live. We believe everybody would make more money if the windows were longer,” continues Aron, referring to this idea before adding that eventually, he wants to see theatrical exclusivity extended even further.
“So watch this space,” he added, saying, “we’ll continue to see what can do to convince the industry that it should be firm around this 45-day number. And once we get there, maybe we can extend it to 60 days or 74 days, like it was pre-pandemic. We will all learn together, but this is a very live topic.”
Will it make a difference over the long term? When you consider the many other debates going on regarding the theatrical experience, from ticket pricing to intermissions, there’s a feeling that if the industry can get all of these elements into some form of equilibrium, yes, it absolutely could. Of course, AMC hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory in the past with perhaps this decade’s most egregious ticket pricing shenanigans, but this call-to-arms definitely feels like a step in the right direction.
