As CinemaCon Fires Up, Here Are The Biggest Mistakes Studios & Exhibitors Are Making Right Now

deadline.com:

Every major motion picture studio, including streamer and theatrical embracer Amazon MGM Studios, will be accounted for at this week’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, with all making onstage presentations inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

However, it comes at a time when the domestic box office really stinks — and that’s an understatement. At a current year-to-date gross of $1.44 billion stateside per Comscore, we’re 11% behind last year for the period of January 1-March 31.

We’re also roughly $1.4 billion behind the same point in Q1 2018, which had cleared $2.8 billion by now. The box office will not hit $10 billion this year, a significant disappointment after last year’s industry mantra “Survive till ’25.” Despite boom times last year with movies like Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2 and Wicked, and movies like Barbie in 2023, it’s clear that the pre-pandemic audience hasn’t returned.

The question is, will they ever? In a 2024 NRG industry study, moviegoers are going less often: 25% attend the cinema at least every other month, compared with 40% pre-pandemic.