This week, Universal announced that it had signed “dynamic theatrical window” agreements with two more North American theatre chains – Cinemark, the US’s 3rd largest exhibitor, and Cineplex, Canada’s largest exhibitor and North America’s 4th largest exhibitor. This comes on the heels of Universal’s announcement in July that it has reached a similar agreement with AMC Theatres, the US’s largest exhibitor.
Under the AMC agreement, Universal committed that its films would maintain a minimum of 17 days (3 weekends) exclusivity for theatres before they would be offered to viewers over streaming as a PVOD rental. AMC would also have access to Universal films on its AMC-branded Video on Demand service, providing the exhibitor with an opportunity to earn revenues after its theatrical run.
In this week’s announcements with Cinemark and Cineplex, Universal has expanded its commitments by agreeing to maintain exclusivity to theatres for its blockbuster films, which generate a minimum of $50M at the box office during its opening weekend. In 2019, these Universal titles met that $50M threshold: “Us,” “Hobbs & Shaw,” and “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”.
Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi said, “We believe a more dynamic theatrical window, whereby movie theatres continue to provide an event-sized launching platform for films that maximize box office and bolsters the success of subsequent distribution channels, is in the shared best interests of studios, exhibitors and, most importantly, moviegoers.”
See also: Cineplex Joins AMC, Cinemark in Striking Shortened Theatrical Exclusivity Window Deal with Universal (Boxoffice Pro)
