The head of the cinema owners warns studios that oppose resorting to blockbusters: 'One of the Movies' is 'critical' for the box office

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Michael O’Leary, the new president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, is encouraging Hollywood to downsize.

Don’t get me wrong, he loves Marvel, “Mission: Impossible” and “Fast. “

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“It’s not enough to rely only on blockbusters — we want to have a strong and dynamic market for films with small to medium budgets,” he said Tuesday morning at CinemaCon, the industry’s showcase held in Las Vegas. He pointed to last year’s offerings of Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-winning literary satire “American Fiction,” the romantic drama “Past Lives” and the Japanese action-adventure “Godzilla Minus One” are recent examples of mid-budget hits.

This is the first CinemaCon for O’Leary, who joined NATO in 2023 from the video game industry organization Entertainment Software Association. Since becoming the showroom’s top lobbyist, he claims that Disney, Warner Bros. And other vendors have “consistently reaffirmed” their commitment to the big screen. This is a replacement for the speed of its pandemic-era strategy of shortening the theatrical release window and making videos stream faster.

“We know that a film that begins its adventure with theatrical exclusivity is more of a hit on all subsequent platforms,” O’Leary said from Caesars Palace’s Colosseum Theater. “It deserves to appeal to other people who need as many moviegoers as they can imagine to see their films, but also for those who need to make money. “

O’Leary also noted that theater owners are in dire need of financial help. Despite the resounding good fortunes of “Barbenheimer” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and other 2023 blockbusters, the box office has yet to regain its previous level. -Pandemic glory. Exhibitors are facing a new shortage of big-screen releases after last year’s measures forced Hollywood to delay several blockbusters. As a result, film analysts don’t expect the industry to do so until 2025 (at best).

“Keeping pace with the growing demands of movie audiences is nothing new, but it does require capital. And for our friends in the money sector, making an investment in other talented people running cutting-edge movie theaters across this country and around the global world is a smart investment,” O’Leary said. “Injecting more capital into the formula will generate benefits for everyone: creatives, studios, exhibitors, local communities and, most importantly, cinephiles. “

Also in Tuesday’s State of the Industry address, Charles Rivkin, president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, highlighted the risks of piracy for the company. It estimates that online piracy costs movie theater owners more than $1 billion at the box office. MPA aims to run with members of Congress to “enact a judicial law on site blocking here in the United States. “

Blocking sites, he told the crowd of movie theater owners and studio executives, disrupts the connection between hackers and their target audience. He said the procedure would only take effect on sites that host illegal content, adding that in order to identify such sites, he “detailed evidence would be needed” and the perpetrators would be allowed to appear in court.

“Site blocking is a common tool in about 60 countries, in addition to primary democracies and many of America’s closest allies,” he said. “There is no intelligent explanation for our conspicuous absence. There is no other explanation than a lack of political will. “, along with an outdated understanding of what site blocking is, how it works, and who it affects.

To close out the CinemaCon 2024 keynote, O’Leary returned to the level to emphasize his optimism about the long-term of the theater industry despite the challenging realities of the market.

“The long run of this industry is limited,” he said before correcting his Freudian error. “Uh, unlimited. “

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The head of the cinema owners warns studios that oppose resorting to blockbusters: ‘One of the Movies’ is ‘critical’ for the box office

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