Cinemark and Marcus Theatres, two of the four largest exhibitors in the United States, reported tremendous earnings this week for the second quarter period. Cinemark earned $1.1 billion in global revenue, a 15% increase over last year’s Q2, headlined by a record-setting $540 million in global ticket sales. Ticket sales were particularly strong for seats in Cinemark’s pricier Premium Large Format auditoriums, which include ScreenX 270-degree panoramic projection and D-Box motion seating. Cinemark also reported $433 million in concession revenue with record breaking per-cap spending among domestic audiences and strong spending on merchandise items. Marcus Theatres also showed similar trends in their second quarter earnings report, albeit at a smaller scale. Marcus’s gross revenues increased by 14% to $151 million while net income increased by 70% to $27 million.
The CEOs at both Cinemark and Marcus Theatres credited the Q2 uptick to the strong slate of studio releases during the period. Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble explained, “While established IP and sequels were certainly an important component to the overall box office, the breakout success of originals like OBSESSION and BACKROOMS connected with Gen Z and young adult audiences to deliver huge surprise contributions to the box office. The success of small and mid-sized original films played a critical role in diversifying the box office and making the industry less dependent on individual tentpole films.” The strong Q2 film slate has lifted the fortunes of all exhibitors, with strong results reported last week by AMC and IMAX as well.
