As movie theater owners and studio executives converge on Las Vegas this week for the annual CinemaCon trade conference, a rare sentiment is emerging — optimism.
A string of hits like Amazon MGM Studios’ “Project Hail Mary” and Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” have ignited theatrical revenue and helped push year-to-date domestic box office revenue about 23% higher than last year, according to Comscore data.
And that’s not just due to higher ticket prices. More people are going to theaters, with 154 million tickets sold so far this year in the U.S. and Canada, up nearly 16% from the same time last year, data from EntTelligence shows.
The upswing suggests that the exhibition industry is beginning to recover from the devastating downturn that occurred in the aftermath of the pandemic when people got out of the habit of watching movies on the big screen and instead turned to Netflix and other streaming platforms.
Studio executives and theater operators chalk up the improved prospects to several factors, including a better and more plentiful crop of bankable movies that are giving consumers more reason to trek to the multiplex.
Several upcoming films could be blockbusters: Walt Disney Co.-owned 20th Century Studios’ 20-year sequel “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Entertainment’s “Dune: Part Three.”
That’s given hope to theater executives like Cinépolis USA Chief Executive Luis Olloqui. The chain’s first-quarter revenue was about 4% to 5% higher than expected.
The Dallas-based subsidiary of the Mexico-cinema chain which has 10 locations in California, saw especially high demand for the “Super Mario” movie. On opening weekend, fans bought out all of its merchandise, including a Yoshi-themed popcorn bucket and a “Mario” blanket, even though Cinépolis had ordered additional products.
Already, pre-sales for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” are “through the roof,” with many inquiries about private events, Olloqui said.
“We’re getting into that cadence we needed in terms of having good movies, different types of movies being released every weekend,” he said. “This year in general, we’re feeling more confident, more optimistic.”
That enthusiasm is a far cry from the dread many exhibitors felt this time last year after a disastrous first quarter at the box office.
Theatrical business did pick up shortly after last year’s CinemaCon with a monster showing for Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie,” followed by strong performances from Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch.”
But the fiscal first-quarter hole was just too deep to fill . The 2025 box office ended up reaching about $8.87 billion, just barely above 2024’s already dismal total.
Box office analysts predict this year will be different.
For one, first-quarter box office revenue this year was 22% higher than last year’s bleak numbers — marking the strongest start since the pandemic, according to MoffettNathanson.
“We believe the long-awaited box office rebound is finally here,” senior analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a recent note to clients.
In addition to the strong kickoff, 2026 marks the return of popular franchises that once printed money for studios: a new “Star Wars” movie, as well as Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Their reception will be a test of how those franchises can hold up in the post-pandemic era, particularly at a time when superhero films may have finally reached their ceiling.
In their place, however, are family-friendly films, which became theatrical juggernauts in the last few years and have accounted for numerous billion-dollar hits.
Plenty of kids’ movies will be released later this year, including Universal and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters,” Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” and Paramount Pictures’ “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie.”
“This is the year we wanted last year,” said David A. Gross, who writes the FranchiseRe movie industry newsletter. “There is wind at the back of the industry right now.”
To be sure, the movie business still faces many serious challenges.
Theatrical revenue still deeply lags that of 2019, before the pandemic decimated moviegoing habits.
Those changes have rocked the exhibition business in ways that are still reverberating today.
Last month, dine-in movie theater chain iPic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it planned to pursue a sale . The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company has 13 locations across the U.S., including theaters in Pasadena and Westwood. In February, Dallas-based Look Dine-In Cinemas abruptly closed three Southern California locations.
The closures reflect a tough environment for theaters, which have struggled to fill seats especially as studios have cut back the number of movies they release.
“If you don’t have enough movies coming through your theaters, it becomes very difficult to pay your rent or pay your salaries or the cost of food,” said Patrick Corcoran, founding partner of the Fithian Group, a theater consulting firm. “You’ve got to either squeeze more revenue out of each movie that comes through, or cut costs.”
Even larger chains have been slow to recover since the pandemic.
Leawood-Kansas-based AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. posted a net loss of $632.4 million on revenue of $4.8 billion for fiscal year 2025, compared with a net loss of $352.6 million a year earlier. AMC said it incurred higher costs due to a refinancing and reported a 2.1% decline in attendance.
Still, in a February earnings call, Chief Executive Adam Aron expressed confidence in the film lineup for 2026, calling it “the strongest slate of moviegoing that this industry has seen since 2019.”
“We will likely need at least a strong 2027 film slate as well … for AMC to be cash-flow positive in outer years,” Aron told analysts. . “But the considerable progress that we expect to make in this year, 2026, should fill us all with heightened confidence as to our future.”
Exhibitors also are worried about the growing consolidation in Hollywood. As more studios merge, including the upcoming deal between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, theater owners fear it will lead to even fewer movies.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has sought to ally those fears, saying the combined company will release 30 films a year — 15 each from Paramount and Warner Bros — though industry insiders are skeptical.
Nevertheless, many exhibitors are hopeful domestic ticket sales will reach $9 billion this year, a milestone the industry has aimed for since the pandemic.
“That’s where we need to get,” said Olloqui of Cinépolis. “That will give the confidence we need to keep investing in seats, new projectors … so we can continue to offer that top-level service that everybody wants to see at the theater.”
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