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Warner Bros And Universal Bosses Say No Movie Theater Buyouts In The Works, But “We’re Rooting For Them”
The Industry Oct 20, 2020
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The AMC in Orange, CA AMC Donna Langley , chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and Ann Sarnoff , chair and CEO of Warner Bros had the same reaction Thursday when asked if their companies had any interest in buying movie theaters . They laughed. “We have no plans to do that currently,” Langley said, appearing with Sarnoff and CBS CEO George Cheeks on a Milken Institute Global Conference virtual panel about COVID-19’s impact on Hollywood.
“We have no plans either,” Sarnoff said with a light chuckle. Especially with the 1948 Paramount decree now abolished and major theater circuits on the brink of bankruptcy , the scenario of studios taking a stake in exhibition, whose stocks have plunged, is frequently floated. The entire theatrical model, which has shown signs of wear in recent years but still yielded more than $11 billion in revenue in 2019, is in a suspended state.
While major studios have all come to rely on streaming to varying degrees as a replacement for theatrical in 2020, the profit margins many releases enjoy in the traditional model are not yet possible in streaming. Plus, with major media companies on their heels due to the pandemic’s effect […]
