The last major theater chain holdout has scheduled its reopening date, as Cineworld’s Regal Cinemas has announced (via THR) that select theaters will open its doors on April 2, just in time for Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong.” And with that, not only do we see the next major hurdle for the theatrical release business finished, but also, WB has officially unveiled its plans for theatrical exclusivity in 2022. Well, at least for now, right? With the pandemic, it’s silly to say that anything is set in stone anymore.
Regal has announced that a limited number of locations will open its doors on April 2 to welcome WB’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the next major blockbuster that is aiming to revive the US theatrical market. And as part of the deal with WB, the cinema chain will also showcase “Mortal Kombat” when it launches two weeks later, on April 16. But perhaps the biggest news isn’t so much Regal Cinemas as it is what WB had to agree to in hopes of making it happen.
The report claims that part of the deal between Regal Cinemas and WB is the assurance that theaters will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window for the studio’s offerings beginning in 2022. This means, at least for now, that WB’s experiment to release films day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max will likely be coming to an end at the end of the year, which is what the studio had been saying this whole time.
“We are very happy for the agreement with Warner Bros. This agreement shows the studio’s commitment to the theatrical business and we see this agreement as an important milestone in our 100-year relationship with Warner Bros.” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld.
Of course, as mentioned above, it’s hard to know what 2022 is going to look like right now. For the past year, theaters have been effectively decimated by closures and a reluctance from customers to return in droves. But with the vaccine beginning to be more widely available in the US, studios and theater chains are hoping the industry can recover in time for the summer movie season. But the big question is whether or not the industry will recover and if it doesn’t hit the same numbers as it did pre-pandemic, will folks like Regal, Cinemark, and AMC be able to survive in much the same way as before?
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As with everything related to the box office and theaters, we’ll just have to wait and see.