Silver linings playbook

15 August 2014 By Patrick Plasterer

The latest box-office slump is a movie seen many times before by U.S. exhibitors. Premier League soccer and 3D films may help underpin valuations for AMC, Regal and Cinemark, while China expansion should propel IMAX. The threat of new technology, though, is a real cliffhanger.

This content is for Subscribers only

Subjects

Regions

Context News

U.S. summer box office receipts were on pace to fall 15 percent to 20 percent from a year ago, the worst such seasonal decline in three decades, according to a July 23 report in trade magazine the Hollywood Reporter.

Starting Aug. 16, Premier League soccer matches will be shown on Saturday mornings in some U.S. theaters, under a deal struck in late July with NBC Sports.

Around the same time, IMAX said it would open 19 new theaters in China in partnership with state-controlled Shanghai Film. IMAX revenue in China increased 26 percent last year from 2012 compared to overall top-line growth of about 1.8 percent.

In a survey published by Nielsen in July, 87 percent of Twitter users said their most recent decision to see a film in the theater was influenced by tweets.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *