Theater owners group optimistic about future of moviegoing

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For the movie theater industry, the math behind recovery is simple: More movies in theaters equals more money for theaters and Hollywood. John Fithian, the outgoing CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, assured exhibitors at the CinemaCon trade convention that the industry is “off to an incredible start in 2023.” In 2022, the domestic box office rebounded to $7.4 million, aided by the enormous successes of films like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” According to a report from The Cinema Foundation, the biggest difference between the pre-pandemic landscape of 2019 and 2022 was the number of wide releases. In 2019 there were 112 wide releases. In 2022, there were 71 movies that opened on over 2,000 screens. Eight of them grossed over $300 million domestically and 18 surpassed $100 million, the foundation found. The Cinema Foundation found in a poll that nine out of ten people are 50% more likely to watch a movie on a streaming service when it was released theatrically first. A recent test case of that is Ben Affleck’s “Air,” sold as a streaming product to Amazon but which Amazon decided to give a theatrical release where in several weeks it has grossed over $68.4 million worldwide. Motion Picture Association Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin spoke about what his group is doing to “ensure that more movies are being made in more markets.” Rivkin also said the Middle East holds great potential for the industry. “Just look at Saudi Arabia. Since 2018, the country has become one of the region’s top movie markets, and they now cite production incentives, which we are helping to shape, as a core element of their Vision 2030 economic plan,” he said. “Similarly, the King of Jordan last year shared with me his ambitious plans to attract more international investment in new sound stages to make movies in iconic locations like Petra and Wadi Rum.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.