Is the great movie theater reset truly, finally, actually upon us?
Hollywood keeps prophesizing about the industry’s long-awaited recovery… only for domestic box office grosses to remain frustratingly behind pre-pandemic levels. Already, 2026 has started strong — and cinema operators believe this year’s slate has the goods (for real this time) to get the business back on track. More importantly, there’s volume: Hollywood is releasing 113 films, the most of the post-pandemic era.
But there’s much more to consider than just the movies that populate the marquees. Exhibitors need to rethink ticket and concession prices, make their bathrooms cleaner and find ways to improve the overall customer experience. As Hollywood heads to Las Vegas for CinemaCon, the annual exhibition industry trade show, theater owners talk about ways to boost attendance.
Bob Bagby
CEO B&B Theatres
Courtesy of Bagby
Bob Bagby
CEO, B&B Theatres
Missouri-based circuit with 53 locations across 16 states
What is the biggest obstacle in getting audiences to theaters?
Having a diverse supply of movies on a year-round basis. Since COVID, we get a wonderful selection of movies over the holidays, and then into January, there’s nothing big to keep people in the habit of going. We need studios to release movies year-round and not just put all the movies during summer and Christmas.
What became an unexpected hit in 2025?
“Superman” did better than we anticipated. “Sinners” was a big one. It was just good. And it was original IP, which is exciting.
What genre would you like to see more of?
Romantic comedies used to do really well, and there haven’t been nearly as many. And family movies because they do really well for us in the Midwest.
How many trailers are ideal to show before a movie?
We try to stick to the preshow of 15 minutes. Much over that, nearly 20 minutes, gets too long.
What is the most underrated concession stand snack?
We sell a lot of cotton candy. We make it fresh. It’s kind of messy, but it’s fun, and kids love it.
What’s a bigger problem: talking or texting during the movie?
Texting. We try hard to keep that from happening. We have the “Turn your cellphones off ” message on the screen before the movie starts. It’s just hard for people to put their phones away.
Recliners or regular seats?
Well, the audience has spoken, and they like recliners. They are very expensive to maintain, where the other seats would last years. Recliners are constantly needing to be replaced or repaired, and they are much more expensive. I wish we had the old seats back, but recliners are what the customers wanted, so that’s what we have.
What will be the highest-grossing movie of the year?
I’ll say “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” There’s a real demand for it. The last one was really strong, and everybody likes Peter Parker.
Greg Marcus
Courtesy of Marcus
Courtesy of Marcus
Greg Marcus
CEO, Marcus Corporation (parent company of Marcus Theatres)
Milwaukee-based chain with 78 locations across 19 states
What is your biggest obstacle as an exhibitor?
Theatrical windows. If you want to maximize the value of a movie, windowing has worked forever. But the truth is that [shorter windows] are training people to not go to the movies at all. It’s training them to wait until it’s at home for what they perceive as free. Coalescing around a consistent window will be very helpful.
Is price a factor in moviegoing?
We should be sensitive to it. The price of movie tickets has held close to inflation. But because of all the costs that we’ve had to take on — from increased film rentals and the cost of distribution — we don’t exactly have high margins. We have fewer films and shorter windows, so we’ve been faced with no other choice but to raise our concession prices. We have to be very careful about that. Moviegoing still needs to be the cheapest form of out-of-home entertainment.
How do you offset slower months?
You cut your costs as tightly as you can. You can play alternative content, but this business wasn’t built that way. It was built for national releases. If a great home experience was our only headwind — if we weren’t dealing with shorter windows, lack of product and high film rentals — we could overcome the slower months with alternative content. But if you’re asked to overcome a 20% decline in box office with alternative content, that’s going to be a challenge.
How big of a problem is texting during the movies?
If you go to a teen-oriented movie on a Friday night, you are going to see a lot of people texting. But if you go to the same movie on a Wednesday night, you’re not going to see that. It depends on the audience it’s drawing. I went with some friends to “M3GAN,” and a bunch of high school kids were on their phones. I was like, “Yeah. That’s what high schoolers do. We shouldn’t go on a Friday night at 7 p.m. if we don’t want to see that.” Once in a while, someone is not courteous. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s a huge problem.
Mike Bowers
CEO Harkins Theatres
Bryan Kinkade
Mike Bowers
CEO, Harkins Theatres
Scottsdale, Arizona-based circuit with 30 locations across four states
What was your biggest takeaway from 2025?
Original films performed so well. Look at Warner Bros.’ incredible streak last year; “Sinners” was a big swing that was rewarded with tremendous box office and awards.
Are you worried about the Warner Bros. sale to Paramount?
We’re always concerned about consolidation and the impact it could have on the availability of major releases. I have no reason to doubt the sincerity about Paramount’s efforts, but we have to look at how this has played out in our industry in the past. Historically, consolidation has resulted in fewer wide release and less diversity of film product.
Who are today’s bankable stars?
Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are still bringing people to the movies. Ryan Gosling — look what he has just done with “Project Hail Mary.” I would add that the success of “Marty Supreme” was on Timothée Chalamet. Zendaya and Tom Holland are the next generation. Austin Butler is a rising star.
Are popcorn buckets still all the rage?
Yes, but we need to be thoughtful about what they really are. They are about adding whimsy and fun around the movie. If you’re thinking that popcorn buckets are such a big revenue driver, you’re missing the entire point. My company pursues very exclusive popcorn containers, and we expect them to run out in the first 48 hours. They’re worthwhile, but the idea is not to just flood the market with stuff that ends up not being valuable or unique.
What does Hollywood get wrong about operating a movie theater?
How tremendous the moviegoing experience is throughout the country. Our industry has spent a couple of billion dollars since the pandemic investing in moviegoing. I’ve been in this industry for 40 years, and it has changed dramatically during that time. Forty years ago, you had crammed-together seats that didn’t move and small screens. And now you have tremendous audiovisual presentations, large screens and comfortable, wide rocking seats. You have enhanced food and beverage offerings. It’s just night and day.
What streaming movie should have premiered in theaters?
We got the most requests on “Frankenstein” because of Guillermo del Toro.
Daniel Fastlicht
Courtesy of Fastlicht
Courtesy of Fastlicht
Daniel Fastlicht
COO, The Lot
La Jolla-based dine-in chain with four locations in Southern California
Who are today’s bankable stars?
Margot Robbie is somebody who’s able to appeal to the four quadrants. We saw it happen again with “Wuthering Heights.” Leonardo DiCaprio also has that stardom effect.
Are studios keeping their movies exclusively in theaters for long enough?
Studios make decisions based on specific films and their performances. It doesn’t help the industry because there’s times where a studio will kick a movie to streaming earlier, and that tends to confuse the consumer. Then the consumer is more willing to wait it out to see it on a streaming service. Because of that perception, theatrical needs to have a [defined] window.
Is price a factor in the dine-in space?
In today’s economy, prices are a factor for a lot of people. Our ticket prices are the same, if not cheaper than, some of our competitors’, like AMC. When we have done price analysis for our food and beverages, we believe we’re in a pretty good range. It might be $1 to $2 more than some of our competitors, but the quality of product is exceptional. You can get anything from flatbreads to Wagyu burgers and sliders. We believe the quality we’re serving matches the price.
What’s your bestselling food item?
We service a lot of families, so our best-sellers are chicken tenders and sliders. Of course, after popcorn and soda.
Should blockbusters cost more to see?
I don’t think so. If we were to start charging more for blockbusters, the studios would get a majority of that, which doesn’t necessarily help the theater owner. And we have seen in some of our locations that a higher ticket price will probably drop attendance. So I’m not sure a movie like “Avengers” would hold up to the same box office opening if tickets were 30% or 40% more expensive than every other film.
Have you had to get more creative with marketing?
We came up with a program called “Girl Dinner.” It’s dinner — a small Caesar salad, penne pasta and a side of fries — and a girl-themed movie. We’ve done “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and a lot of rom-coms. It’s targeted towards 21- to 36-year-olds. It was phenomenal. We’ve had it sell out at all of our locations. Now it’s about … what does “Girl Dinner” look like for people that are into Marvel? Or people who are into documentaries?
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