By Lisa Richwine
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -Movie theater owners are making a new push to keep films in cinemas for a longer period before they are available for audiences to watch at home.
Cinema United, a trade organization formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners, called on Tuesday for a minimum 45-day window of exclusivity for all films to help boost box offices still hovering below pre-pandemic levels.
“Shorter windows reduce the number of people that head to the theater in the opening weeks of a release,” Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of Cinema United, said at the industry’s annual CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas.
“It hits the bottom line, and in many cases, undermines the ability of medium- or smaller-budget movies to build an audience or even get off the ground,” he added.
The issue has caused friction between theater owners and media companies in the past.
It used to be standard practice that movies played in only in theaters for 90 days or more.
The rise of streaming and the pandemic led media conglomerates to reduce that period. Today, a film can become available to stream at home – for a fee – as soon as 17 days. The time period varies for each title.
In 2024, U.S. and Canadian box office receipts totaled $8.6 billion, 25% below the pre-pandemic heights of $11.4 billion in 2019.
Theater operators said their business would benefit from a consistent timeline, and they want studios to stop advertising the date a movie will be accessible at home while it is on the big screen.
“One of the most important things is to not announce the streaming date while we’re still playing the movie,” said Bob Bagby, president and CEO of the B&B Theatres chain. “That confuses consumers.”
Hollywood studios have shortened theatrical windows to make money with at-home streaming rentals. They argue that many films have collected most of their box office dollars within a few weeks. Streaming service Netflix puts only a small number of its films in theaters for a short period.
On Monday, Sony film executive Tom Rothman told the CinemaCon crowd that “Sony will work with you” on setting windows and on pricing flexibility, though he offered no specifics.
“If theaters and studios manage for the long term and do the right thing, the future will be grand,” said Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine;Editing by Mary Milliken and Sandra Maler)
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