Paramount<\/a>-Warner Bros Discovery merger is poised to create a powerful combined company, one that will have the scale and the passion to deliver even more such films to theater screens the world over. It\u2019s a move that is feared by some, but in our strongly held view, this instead is a step forward that should be welcomed and celebrated. Perhaps that\u2019s why Paramount\u2019s action to strengthen itself has already been cleared by competition authorities and regulators in the United States, Europe and throughout the world, as of this writing in some 65 countries
globally already.<\/p>\n\n\tIt\u2019s critical to the industry\u2019s future that this transaction be completed as soon as possible, so that we all can build on the momentum that finally \u2014 after six tough years \u2014 only recently has been established. For that to happen, though, the legal challenge from a group of possibly well-intentioned state Attorneys General must be overcome.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe domestic box office just had its strongest quarter in seven years, growing a satisfying 11% from a year ago. Indeed, guests in all age groups flocked to movie theaters. Perhaps most encouraging is who is leading the way. Some 87% of Gen Z saw a movie in a theater over the past year, the highest percentage of any generation. As it turns out, young people who supposedly were to be lost forever to TikTok now instead have been turning moviegoing in theaters into a social event. History repeats itself, they are doing exactly as their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents have done continuously for more than a century.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut this resurgence can only continue if we have a steady supply of great movies, marketed well and given enough time in theaters to become cultural events. That\u2019s not a given, and it won\u2019t happen just because there may have been a few strong quarters along the way. By our sadly precise estimate, the number of theatrically released films from major Hollywood studios has fallen in recent years since COVID and the strikes. Simply put, movie theater operators have needed more movies entering into our ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs important as the movie count itself also is the length of time that movies stay exclusively in theaters. Since COVID hit, studio after studio experimented with rushing to take movies to the home. Ironically, in what several key movie-making legends have decried and lamented as a self-destructive move, Hollywood has been training the audience not to head out to theaters, but instead to wait patiently at home. In doing so, they deprived us all of precious communal viewing. As always has been the case,
seemingly forever, when you watch a movie with others the laughs get louder, the action seems more intense, the tears flow more quickly. To quote the best one-liner synopsis that AMC ever has had written, \u201cSometimes heartbreak feels good in a place like this.\u201d Taking this all together, that is why the future of the companies making movies matters so much to us.<\/p>\n
\n\tTraditional movie studios and independent filmmakers are no longer competing only with one another, but also with enormous technology companies, who can treat filmed entertainment as one product line inside a much larger subscription, advertising, hardware or e-commerce machine. Those tech companies can and often do produce great films, and some of them have demonstrated a willingness to support theatrical releases, which we at AMC both greatly appreciate and eagerly embrace. Indeed, we intend to sell more tickets for them in theaters than does anyone else on earth! But their commitment to theatrical release is likely to endure and increase only if they feel real competitive pressure, not just on their streaming platforms, but also from movie companies who are pushing them to fight for cultural and commercial relevance in the multiplex.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat kind of intense competition won\u2019t happen if companies like Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are forced to struggle along as subscale competitors, which is exactly what will happen in our view if their merger is blocked.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe AG\u2019s lawsuit argues, in part, that this merger needs to be prevented to protect companies like mine. Well thanks, but no thanks. Their complaint simply gets the economics of our business backwards.<\/p>\n
\n\tAMC licenses films one by one and theater by theater. Every week, we decide what to show, on how many screens and for how long. We negotiate revenue splits and other terms with every major distributor. We are not naive about bargaining power, and we do not give ours away. Over and over again, AMC has chosen not to play a movie if we are unsuccessful in negotiating film terms that we think are fair and reasonable both to the filmmaker along with their studio distributors as well as to ourselves as an exhibitor. We have every confidence in our own ability to stand up and to defend our commercial
interests.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut even with that said, a weak slate is a much greater threat to us than a strong studio. More movies mean more ticket sales. A commitment to observe a respectable theatrical window draws bigger audiences to theaters. And better movies that are marketed well are icing on this cake. It all generates more moviegoers, which translates in turn to more delicious popcorn being consumed and more energy being very much in evidence throughout a theater. By stark contrast, a sparse movie slate leaves seats empty, no matter what the percentage splits of the box office may be negotiated among the relevant
parties.<\/p>\n
\n\tDavid Ellison and multiple executives on his team have said publicly, and committed to me personally, that a combined Paramount and Warner Bros. will release at least 30 films theatrically each year, each with a minimum 45-day premium video-on-demand and a minimum 90-day subscription video-on-demand exclusive theatrical window. These are specific and measurable commitments addressing the two things that movie theater operators need most: more movies and enough time to turn them into events. If the AGs are truly concerned about the future of theaters, they should focus on holding the new
company accountable for delivering on these promises. At AMC, we surely intend to do so.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe good news is that we don\u2019t need to just take David Ellison\u2019s word for it. There\u2019s a real track record here. Paramount released only eight films last year. After Ellison\u2019s Skydance took control, it put the studio on track to release 15 movies this year in 2026, and similarly increased the number of movies being green-lit for future release. Not just any old movies either, I might add. David Ellison has already demonstrated that he is a consummate movie executive, having made commercially pleasing films that have entertained the entire world. \u201cTop Gun: Maverick,\u201d multiple films in the \u201cMission: Impossible\u201d franchise, and \u201cAir\u201d are just some of his recent titles.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat\u2019s more, Paramount has already put into action its promise to respect longer theatrical windows. It could have waited to create a future bargaining chip with regulators, but to its eternal credit, it did not play games. Paramount already gave theater operators exactly what we need on this all-important front, and it did it right now.<\/p>\n
\n\tCompetition should be measured not only by the number of logos on studio gates, but by what actually reaches America\u2019s screens and those in cinemas all around the world. Theater audiences are telling us exactly what they want: more movies, movies exclusively shown in theaters and better movies. That\u2019s the foundation of the nascent comeback of the theatrical ecosystem. We all need to nurture it, not starve it.<\/p>\n
\n\tApproving this Paramount Warner deal \u2014 letting a combined company get about the business of producing huge numbers of great films \u2014 is a big step in the right direction. This is precisely why AMC Entertainment, the largest movie theater chain on the planet, is a full-throated supporter of doing so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of all the great cinematic narrative arcs, there\u2019s something special about the comeback. Think \u201cRocky,\u201d \u201cThe Shawshank Redemption,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[121218,54847,88,4208,324153],"class_list":["post-792528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-adam-aron","tag-amc-theatres","tag-entertainment","tag-paramount","tag-paramount-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}