As of last Friday, we saw Cinemark make an exciting announcement about their theatrical schedule. Does this mean an overall recovery for the exhibition industry? BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Attorney Los Angeles takes a closer look.
Cinemark has now reached agreements for theatrical showcases of films from all of its five major studio partners. They’ve been scarce on other details, but that alone is an encouraging sign for the ailing exhibition industry. CEO Mark Zoradi has described each deal as ‘different and unique,’ building on the agreements made last November with Universal, and bringing Walt Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Sony into the fold.
Universal was the first of the studios to work with Cinemark, back in November already, with the other agreements falling into place over the last two months. As to the ‘unique attributes’ of each contract, we cannot yet speculate, and it seems that they will be kept under strict wraps for the meantime. Yet Zoradi describes them as ‘mutually beneficial for both parties.’
It will certainly be beneficial for the cinema chain, which suffered severe losses amid forced closures last year. Zoradi has described the deals as a way to ensure there’s a constant flow of interesting content to their screens, from blockbusters to gentler family fare, ready to entice visitors to continue to support them.
Support there has been, especially since the key New York and Los Angeles markets received the greenlight to reopen. In fact, the support shown to cinemas has been heartening indeed, and, provided the public demand for an easily accessible, low-pressure night out continues, it makes good business sense for Cinemark to hunt out a varied and consistent content schedule to entice people to their door.
While it’s way too early to describe the exhibition crisis as ‘solved’, and there’s still many sticky questions to navigate in the post-streaming world created through the crisis last year, this is certainly a heartening announcement for Cinemark. BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Lawyer Los Angeles will watch continuing developments with interest.
Brandon Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A.
