At this year's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, leading representatives of the film and cinema industry spoke about the current challenges and future plans of the industry. The focus was on demands for better funding conditions, longer cinema exploitation windows and a general realignment of the industry.
Charles RivkinChairman and CEO of Motion Picture Association (MPA)emphasised in his speech the necessity of nationwide film funding programmes in the USA. While many states such as Georgia, New Mexico or New York While the film industry has already successfully relied on tax incentives - with an economic return of 6 to 9 US dollars per funding dollar invested - there is still a lot of catching up to do at federal level. According to Rivkin, the production of a major film can generate an average of 1.3 million dollars into the local economy and about 17 million dollars in wages pay off.
In California in particular, support is urgently needed, as many filmmakers are still struggling after the Writers' and actors' strikes 2023 and natural disasters such as the forest fires. One positive sign is that the state is now 51 film projects with tax credits support what is likely to be 580 million dollars of economic activity.
At the same time Michael O'LearyPresident of the recently renamed organisation Cinema United (formerly NATO - National Association of Theatre Owners), called on the industry to rethink together. He emphasised that the world has changed and the cinema industry must not only adapt, but actively develop further.
One of O'Leary's central concerns is the Cinema exclusive window - i.e. the period during which a film can only be seen in cinemas before it is released for streaming or other platforms. Before the pandemic, this window was around 90 daystoday it is often considerably shorter. O'Leary called for a Minimum window of 45 daysas shorter periods would have a major impact on cinema releases - especially for smaller and medium-sized films. While the top 20 films only have around 10 % the revenue of the following 80 films collapsed by 32 % a. According to O'Leary, a stabilisation of these losses could over one billion dollars extra per year to the cinema box office.
O'Leary also warned against focusing the cinema experience too heavily on premium formats such as IMAX to concentrate. These may make an impression, but they only 9 % to total sales with. Rather Every screening at the local cinema is a high-quality experience to retain the audience in the long term.
Another point of criticism was the Simultaneous promotion of streaming releaseswhile a film is still showing in the cinema. This damages the cinema's success and confuses the audience. Also the Spectator attention is declining according to current data: only a few films achieve brand awareness of over 50 % by the time they are released in cinemas.
Despite all the challenges, O'Leary was optimistic. He sees the industry at the beginning of a new cinema erain which cooperation and innovation play central roles. The renaming of NATO to Cinema United is a symbol of this new beginning and should radiate more unity and future orientation - also in harmony with CinemaCon and the Cinema Foundation.
Although the start of the 2025 cinema year was marked by a few flops such as "Snow White" weak, but there are promising blockbusters on the horizon - including "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning", "Jurassic World: Rebirth" and "Avatar: Fire and Ice". The industry hopes that this will attract more viewers to the cinema again.
