Eight of the largest cinema chains in the U.S. and Canada have committed to investing more than $2.2 billion to modernize theaters over the next three years. The announcement was made by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), which says the eight investors represent over 21,000 screens and 67 percent of the box office. The funds will be used to improve everything from picture and sound to air quality, dining, concessions and additional entertainment options. “This investment reflects that commitment in a tangible way that every moviegoer will see and enjoy,” said NATO President and CEO Michael O’Leary. Continue reading North American Theaters Announce Plans for Major Upgrades

A new study by Roku and National Research Group found that streaming may be a more effective marketing tool for theatrical exhibition than social media or television. According to the research, 44 percent of what the survey categorizes as “moviegoing streamers” claim a trailer on a streaming service would increase their interest in seeing a film in a theater while 43 percent indicate the same of trailers on social media. These numbers slightly edged out the 41 percent who say ads on broadcast or cable TV would encourage them to visit a theater. However, it’s worth noting that the survey also suggests 72 percent pay more attention to TV commercials than ads on social platforms. Continue reading Roku and NRG Study Finds Streaming Benefits Theater-Going

Sony Pictures Entertainment has agreed to purchase Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a 35-location U.S. theater chain known for creative cocktails and craft food service as well as “no talking, no texting” policies. To manage the acquisition, SPE has established Sony Pictures Experiences, which will be headed by Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann. The exhibitor chain was purchased from founder Tim League, Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group, who had quietly been shopping it this past year. Established in Austin, Texas in 1997, Alamo operates in 25 U.S. metropolitan areas and is the seventh-largest theater chain in North America. Continue reading Sony Is Purchasing Popular Alamo Drafthouse Theater Chain

The summer Olympics are coming to a theater near you, courtesy of NBCUniversal and AMC Theatres. NBC will extend daily live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics events to 160 AMC locations nationwide, from July 27-August 11. Tickets will be available for purchase through AMC and Fandango this summer. Excluding opening and closing ceremonies, select daytime hours of the NBC network’s coverage will be telecast live to the big screens as they unfold in Paris. A 2024 Paris Olympics promotional trailer will begin running in AMC Theatres beginning March 29. Continue reading NBC Teams with AMC to Bring Live Olympics to the Big Screen

A group of filmmakers led by Jason Reitman has purchased the 93-year-old Village Theatre in Westwood, an architectural gem that currently boasts one of the largest screens in Los Angeles. Originally opened as the Fox Westwood Village in 1931 and operated since 2010 by the Regency Theatres group, the structure’s unusual combination of Spanish Mission and Art Deco design earned it a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument designation in 1988. After it was put on the market last year, Reitman gathered more than three dozen backers, including Steven Spielberg, Judd Apatow, J.J. Abrams, Christopher Nolan, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alexander Payne. Continue reading Filmmakers Purchase the Historic Village Theatre in Westwood

AMC Theatres is closing its on-demand movie streaming service and transferring users and their content libraries to Vudu, a digital rental and sales streaming platform owned by NBCUniversal’s Fandango. Beginning last week, customers were invited to transfer their AMC Theatres On Demand accounts to Vudu, where they will be “upgraded to the highest-quality format” the platform offers, including 4K Ultra HD. Migrating customers will also receive 15 percent off any titles purchased within their first month of Vudu service. Since 2019 the theater chain has been offering AMC Stubs loyalty members on-demand movie delivery. Continue reading AMC Theatres Ends Streaming and Ports Customers to Vudu

MoviePass, the movie theater ticketing platform, segued from its beta test and waitlisting to nationwide availability ahead of Memorial Day weekend. The company, which is relaunching under new ownership following a bankruptcy, is offering subscription plans starting with Basic at $10 per month for 1-3 movies, up to the Pro plan for $40 per month for as many as 30 films. There’s also a 3-7 Standard plan for $20, and a 5-11 movie Premium package for $30. MoviePass says it has more than 4,000 participating theater locations — including those from the AMC Theatres, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas chains. Continue reading MoviePass Goes Live Again with 4,000 Participating Theaters

Having survived global theater closures due to COVID-19, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a change in ownership, MoviePass is back. Informally known as MoviePass 2.0, the company has launched a website for MoviePass Beta that says it is “launching to the public summer 2023.” The resurrection of MoviePass appears well-timed to take advantage of pent-up demand for the moviegoing experience. An August 2022 waitlist, opened for only five days, experienced volume sufficient to crash the server. Prospective subscribers are told to sign up for email advisories of further availability. Continue reading MoviePass Beta Preps for Summer Launch with Limited Tests

British cinema operator Cineworld Group, owner of Regal Cinemas, has proposed a plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In what is described as a “debt-for-equity swap,” the company would reduce by some $4.53 billion the indebtedness of its principal U.S. claimants, who would be getting a stake in the company in exchange for waiving their claims. The group companies have commitments for roughly $1.94 billion in debtor financing from lenders to help ensure Cineworld operations can continue during its anticipated reorganization, which is subject to court approval. The transaction is expected to “result in very significant dilution of existing equity interests.” Continue reading Regal Parent Cineworld on Path to Chapter 11 Restructuring

LG is bringing to market a line of LED screens designed for small movie theaters, the LG Miraclass line. The four initial models range in size from 16- to 46-feet wide, offering 24-bit color and resolution from 2K to 4K. The screens are comprised of smaller panels featuring self-emissive LED pixels that run edge-to-edge (eliminating visible seams). Brightness adjusts across five stages — from 48 to 300 nits  — making the displays suitable for a range of use-cases, from the brightness required for 2D/3D movies to less light-intensive corporate presentations. Continue reading New LG Miraclass LEDs Offer Cinemas Projection Alternative

Netflix is now live with its ad-supported tier, but company co-CEO Reed Hastings said he regrets not having launched it sooner. Speaking at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Hastings said he was preoccupied with digital competition from Google and Facebook. “I didn’t believe in the ad-supported tactic for us. I was wrong about that. Hulu proved you could do that at scale and offer customers lower prices,” Hastings told NYT columnist and DealBook founder and editor-at-large Andrew Ross Sorkin. “I wish we had flipped a few years earlier on that, but we’ll catch up.” Continue reading Netflix Expanding Previews as Ad Tier Gets Up and Running

The Sundance Film Festival is returning to Park City, Utah in January after holding its last annual event entirely online. The 2022 Festival will introduce a new hybrid format that will expand The Spaceship, a virtual venue of the New Frontier exhibition where attendees can socialize and visit virtual reality and mixed reality installations. Sundance is also introducing a new Biodigital Bridge, a human-scale screen that will connect “festivalgoers in Park City and those attending The Spaceship online from anywhere in the world — establishing the Festival as a metaverse that overlays the physical event with a virtual one.” Continue reading The Sundance Film Festival Advances Tech for Hybrid Model

The MoviePass subscription theater ticket service appears on track for a re-launch. The company was purchased by one of its original co-founders, Stacy Spikes, as a liquidated asset of parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics, which filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2020. Spikes was upon launch in 2011 the CEO of MoviePass, which Helios acquired in 2017. He released a statement last week confirming the acquisition, which was “encouraged by the continued interest from the moviegoing community,” and said he hopes to relaunch the service next year with new investors. Continue reading Co-Founder Acquires MoviePass, Aims to Relaunch Next Year

AMC Entertainment Holdings is in the midst of changes intended to appeal to its Reddit investors. In addition to opening new locations, chief executive Adam Aron said the company would start accepting Bitcoin at U.S. locations by the end of 2021. After AMC was brought to the verge of bankruptcy by COVID-19 lockdowns, its revenue tripled in the June quarter compared to the previous 2021 quarter. In the wake of that news, share prices rose 4.6 percent to $35.36 in after-hours trading. Its stock ended in 2020 at $2.12. Continue reading AMC Opens New Theater Locations, Plans to Accept Bitcoin

To the dismay of cinephiles, ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres are permanently shuttered, a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the company’s holdings is the historic Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. An IndieWire report stated that Pacific Theatres still owes $181,900 for its March 2021 rent on the Culver City ArcLight location, which could rise to $2.2 million for a full year. Parent company Decurion Corporation controlled 300+ screens in California, including 18 at the Americana at Brand mall in Glendale and 14 at The Grove in Los Angeles. Continue reading ArcLight Cinemas, Pacific Theatres to Shut Down Operations