2022 Cinema Recovery Expectations

NEED TO KNOW

What do moviegoers want from the movies now?
The shutdown of theaters made moviegoers realize just how much they took going to the movies for granted. The experience of watching movies in theaters is like no other; it's a social experience. Customers are now less tolerant of disruptive behaviors during the movies. They also are more picky about what they go watch; some customers mainly want to see blockbusters and others mostly want to see small, quiet films (ones they might’ve turned off if watching on a streaming platform at home). As exhibitors, it's important to create a way to limit disruptive behaviors like texting, talking, etc. so that all customers can enjoy the movie and will want to come back. It's also important to program movies in your theater that have a lot of buzz surrounding them so you can bring in revenue. Read more.

How Theaters Battled to Survive Another Year Fraught with COVID
The boom at the box office known as Spider-Man: No Way Home was a welcome reminder that, even during tough times, the movies provide an experience that can’t be replicated by streamers. Streaming platforms gained a ton of business, but the movies that were released day-and-date, averaged worse revenues at the box office (The Matrix Resurrections, Raya and the Last Dragon, Black Widow). New variants, numerous shutdowns, streaming, restrictions, and delayed release dates have continued to plague theaters. It is important for exhibitors to pay close attention to what their customers and customers of other successful theaters are going to the movies for to optimize your success. With a 45-day exclusivity window being reimplemented from multiple studios it should make theatrical releases more profitable. Read more

Happy New Year! The theater industry has battled through yet another year dominated by COVID-19 and has survived to see 2022. This year's going to be a good one. As far as the pandemic goes, things aren’t starting off as strong as we'd hoped, with Omicron looming. However, the theater industry was able to end 2021 strong with the ginormous box office rewards of Spider-Man: No Way Home. With vaccinations available to most everyone, people are starting to feel more comfortable going out and there's a more optimistic view for cinemas this year. 

Although there is an optimistic view, most people aren’t going to go to the theaters for just any movie.  With streaming options beckoning, there may be a certain type of movie that moviegoers are more likely to venture to the cinema to see. Luckily, there is a strong line-up of movies set for this year that moviegoers have indicated they're anxious to see. 2022 is being called the year of many sequels; including the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Top Gun: Maverick, and many more. Moviegoers will be on the lookout for these sequels as well as many horror movies and blockbusters that Marvel will be releasing. Another win for the theater industry will be the reimplementation of a theatrical exclusivity window. Most studios and their streaming partners will be participating in a new 45-day window before movies are released on streaming platforms. The day-and-date release (or streaming exclusive) proved to be a major negative to the crucial box office window and, while studios saw some success with the growth of the streaming audiences, they realized that killing the box office goose was a sure-fire recipe for chaos with their top titles - talent compensation lawsuits (i.e. Scarlett Johansson v Disney) being just the tip of the iceberg.

As we all look forward to continued improvement of the cinema business in 2022, don’t forget to register for CinemaCon 2022. Registration is now live for this event which is the biggest gathering for the global motion picture theater industry. The event will run from Monday, April 25th to Thursday, April 28th. To save money, register online before April 20th. The countdown has begun and the convention is only 110 days away.

Now for what’s new with CinemaPlus! We're excited to serve you guys for the new year and have some new benefits that will be coming out in the first half of this year, that we want to talk to you about. First-up, online concession sales/pre-order. The benefit of online concession ordering will be available to you through CinemaPlus later this month, which will make your concession counter in your theater run much more smoothly. CinemaPlus can help you upsell concessions to your customers alongside their online movie ticket purchase. This can make your lobby lines shorter and your customers happier. We will also be releasing Syndicated Ticketing (SM), electronic gift cards, premium loyalty and design your own subscription programs throughout 2022, so keep your eyes peeled for these exciting new releases. Make sure to keep checking-in with our weekly newsletters as we'll be diving into more depth with each as they release.

Happy New Year once again, let’s make it a great one working side-by-side.