Overview
- CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week ended on a confident note after a strong Q1, with Project Hail Mary topping $500 million worldwide and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie accelerating toward the $1 billion mark.
- Presentations centered on theatrical-first strategies, with several studios backing roughly 45-day exclusive windows and premium formats like IMAX to boost attendance and higher-priced screenings.
- Paramount’s David Ellison laid out a high-volume plan that would keep a combined Paramount–Warner releasing at least 30 films a year with a 45-day theatrical window and a 90-day gap before streaming.
- The proposed Paramount–Warner merger divided exhibitors after early opposition from trade leaders, as AMC CEO Adam Aron publicly supported the deal and triggered an emergency meeting among rivals.
- Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos held private talks with theater owners about possible wider big-screen play, while a report on Doug Liman’s Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi—shot on blank stages for AI-built backgrounds—raised alarms about lost set and post-production jobs.