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Encore: Movie theater owners are optimistic big audiences will return
BUSINESS
Movie theater owners are optimistic about an industry return at this year's CinemaCon
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Will big audiences ever return to movie theaters? That was the big question hovering2 over a recent meeting of theater owners in Las Vegas - their first full convention in three years. Here's John Horn of Southern California Public Radio.
JOHN HORN, BYLINE3: It felt a little like a reunion of Titanic4 survivors5, and the setting fit - The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where Celine Dion, who sang the blockbuster film's famous ballad6, played for years. The thousands streaming into the arena7 were talking about different blockbusters - those that didn't yet exist. They had come to Las Vegas for CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie theater owners who are looking for hit films to bring customers back to their multiplexes. Few national businesses were as decimated by COVID as movie theaters.
Tom Rothman is the chairman and CEO of Sony Picture Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.
TOM ROTHMAN: We went through a near-death experience.
HORN: Three years ago, domestic box office receipts totaled $11.4 billion. In 2020 and 2021, the combined ticket sales were just a bit more than half of that. Entire chains and mom and pop venues8 closed for good. Thousands lost their jobs.
Ponci Gallegos is a national sales manager for American Licorice, the makers9 of Red Vines. Theaters and vending10 machines account for a little less than two-thirds of all American Licorice sales.
PONCI GALLEGOS: It's been kind of dismal11.
HORN: And all the while, movie fans bolted to streaming sites by the millions.
At CinemaCon, movie studios bring in stars and show hours of film clips and sometimes entire movies, like the new "Top Gun" sequel, for theater owners, hopeful their upcoming releases will lure12 audiences back to the multiplex.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOP GUN: MAVERICK13")
TOM CRUISE: (As Maverick) In three, two, one.
HORN: Spoiler alert - Tom Cruise's Maverick survives. And people are returning to theaters, even if attendance remains14 well below pre-pandemic levels.
JOHN FITHIAN: The attitude in the hallways, the conversations with the members who operate motion picture theaters around the country and around the world then versus15 now, is dramatically different.
HORN: John Fithian is the president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, which stages CinemaCon.
FITHIAN: There's optimism about the coming movie slate16, and there's optimism about our patrons coming back out to cinemas. Those are two things that we thrive on.
HORN: On December 17 last year, in the middle of the omicron surge, Sony Pictures released "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME")
TOM HOLLAND: (As Peter Parker) But how do you tell someone that you're Spider-Man?
HORN: The Sony Marvel17 movie has grossed more than $800 million in domestic theaters so far. Without adjusting for inflation, that makes "Spider-Man" the third-highest grossing domestic release ever.
ROTHMAN: I would say that business doesn't survive. It actually thrives. Not only can it survive, it can overcome a global pandemic, which it's in the process of doing.
HORN: Unlike most other studios, Sony preserved what's known as a theatrical18 window. That's the time, historically around three months, from when a film hits the multiplex to when it premieres on places like Netflix or HBO Max. At CinemaCon, the studios pledged they would open their movies exclusively in theaters going forward.
But movie-going habits might be irrevocably transformed. Well before the pandemic, theater owners were steadily19 losing customers. And even if Netflix just reported its first subscriber20 loss in a decade, overall streaming growth is staggering - up some 18% from a year ago, according to one new study.
For NPR News, I'm John Horn in Las Vegas.
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 hovering | |
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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4 titanic | |
adj.巨人的,庞大的,强大的 | |
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5 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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6 ballad | |
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲 | |
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7 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
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8 venues | |
n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 );会场;(尤指)体育比赛场所;犯罪地点 | |
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9 makers | |
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式) | |
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10 vending | |
v.出售(尤指土地等财产)( vend的现在分词 );(尤指在公共场所)贩卖;发表(意见,言论);声明 | |
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11 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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12 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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13 maverick | |
adj.特立独行的;不遵守传统的;n.持异议者,自行其是者 | |
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14 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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15 versus | |
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下 | |
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16 slate | |
n.板岩,石板,石片,石板色,候选人名单;adj.暗蓝灰色的,含板岩的;vt.用石板覆盖,痛打,提名,预订 | |
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17 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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18 theatrical | |
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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19 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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20 subscriber | |
n.用户,订户;(慈善机关等的)定期捐款者;预约者;签署者 | |
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