Cinemas brace for summer sizzle

A new Spider-Man adventure, a Steven Spielberg UFO movie and Baby Yoda's big-screen debut will light up movie screens this summer in what cinema operators hope will be their hottest season since they reopened from the lengthy pandemic shutdown. At this week's CinemaCon ?convention in Las Vegas, theater owners cheered clips from upcoming movies such as 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day', 'Toy Story 5' and director Christopher Nolan's epic tale 'The Odyssey'. Hollywood's summer season, which typically brings in about 40% of the year's box office dollars, kicks off in early May with high-fashion comedy 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'. Other notable releases include 'Star Wars' movie 'The Mandalorian and Grogu', featuring the popular Baby Yoda character, and 'Disclosure Day,' Spielberg's alien movie. "Front to back, this is going to be one of the best summers for movie theaters ever," said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends ?for Comscore. Movie theaters have been struggling to return to pre-pandemic ticket sales. After cinemas reopened from Covid-19 shutdowns, production was halted again by Hollywood labour strikes in 2023. That left an uneven supply of films that cinema operators say is finally returning to healthy levels. "I think the narrative on our sector is going to change very significantly after this summer," said Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Vue Entertainment, Europe's largest privately held cinema operator. "If this is not the biggest summer in history, it's going to be very close. Our audiences worldwide are coming back." The summer box office record was set in 2013, when 'Iron Man 3' was released and receipts hit $4.8 billion. Theaters are celebrating a strong start to the year with hits such as 'Project Hail Mary' and 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' driving year-to-date ticket sales 19% higher than a year ago at $2.3 billion, according to Comscore. Compared to the pre-pandemic times of 2019, however, ticket sales are down ?18%. Industry leaders ?also worry that the proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery will leave them with fewer movies in future years. At the moment, though, they are optimistic that they have reached a post-pandemic turning point. "We're working our way back," said Greg Marcus, President and CEO of The Marcus Corporation, the operator of the fourth-largest theater chain in the US. He noted that Universal Pictures recently promised to play films exclusively in theaters for at least 45 days before they go to streaming, a welcome development after the ?studio had yanked some movies earlier. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison also vowed to follow the 45-day minimum. Spielberg hailed the move, though he called for more. "Do I hear 60 days?" he said to huge cheers. "Those days have got to be coming back to us soon." Theaters have invested in upgrades and taken steps to make movies into bigger events, ?encouraging costumes or selling themed concessions to help lure people off their couches. "We have people all in costume for 'Super Mario Brothers' and it makes the experience better and more fun," Marcus said. "I'm sure we will have special cocktails for 'Devil Wears Prada 2'. That's a movie that's made for a fun cocktail." There is ?always a chance, of course, that movies that look like sure-fire hits will not live up to expectations. Still, theater owners often repeat how they have survived disruptions over the decades. "I lost count of how many times people have said movie theaters are dead," said Ellis Jacob, President and CEO of Canadian chain Cineplex and a 40-year industry veteran. "Time and again, we have proven them wrong."