They will come if you build it.
Universal's president of domestic theatrical distribution borrowed the line from the movie "Field of Dreams" during a presentation at CinemaCon on Wednesday.
Domestic ticket sales for the first four months of the year may be down around 44% compared with the same period last year, but cinemas are seeing gains over last year.
The Batman, Warner Bros., and Paramount have some of the most popular titles.
Operators were reassured by studios at CinemaCon last week that they will receive a lot of theatrical exclusives going forward, and they are glad for the new titles.
The day-and-date experiment of the Pandemic has ended and studios used their time at the annual convention hosted at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas to tout their biggest and boldest tentpoles as well as showcase a diversity of content.
The studios will not be solely relied on to drive consumers to theaters. Movie theater owners have been more aggressive with their marketing strategies, more innovative with their food and beverage offerings, and more flexible in the type of content they place on the big screen because of a lack of product during the Pandemic and a slow start to 2022,
For big chains like AMC, Regal and Cinemark, the emphasis has been on adding live event streams, like concerts, sports and even Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and upgrading its theaters with state-of-the-art projectors and sound systems.
AMC announced last month that it was investing $250 million to bring laser projectors to 3,500 of its auditoriums in the U.S. Laser is considered a step-up from digital projection because it offers brighter pictures and a sharper image. The upkeep of the theater is much easier because the bulbs do not need to be replaced multiple times a year.
Cinemas big and small have long partnerships with IMAX and Dolby to bring large-format options to consumers, but updating the digital projectors ensures that even those unwilling to pay an upcharge for premium options will still have a quality experience at the cinemas. The hope is that this experience will encourage people to return to theaters to see more films.
In September of last year, AMC launched its first-ever advertising campaign featuring Nicole Kidman with the slogan "we make movies better." The company invested around $25 million in the campaign.
AMC Theatres wanted to make a bold, straightforward statement to remind people that seeing a movie in a theater is the only way to experience that experience.
Movie theater owners rely on studios to promote films and drive people to their cinemas. AMC CEO Adam Aron said at the time of the ad's launch that the company will no longer depend on what has worked before.
Smaller chains with less access to large sums of capital are still investing in the theatrical experience byUpgrading seats, projectors and sound equipment, but they are more heavily using digital and social advertising to target their local communities.
Rich Daughtridge, president and CEO of Warehouse Cinemas, said during Tuesday's panel that they are more flexible than larger organizations. We do crazy things.
Daughtridge said there are a variety of promotions, including date night showings and margaritas with movie tickets. Warehouse Cinemas hosted a car smash event during the fifth week of the film Unhinged to take advantage of the release of the film.
If the film had not been hosted by Warehouse, ticket sales would have increased by 2%, compared to projections of what the film would have done, he said.
Ben Deighton, general manager of marketing for the cinema chain, said that events at Reading Cinemas in Australia and New Zealand are a little more tame. One of his cinemas has a knitting club.
He said during Tuesday's panel that the idea came from a local patron.
Cinepolis will offer guests gold undereye patches and a small popcorn on Self-care Sundays.
Annelise Holyoak, senior national director of marketing and loyalty at Cinepolis, said one of the things they noticed over the years was people coming to their theaters and practicing their own self-care.
Each show has a 10-minute meditation to relax consumers before they watch the film.
Daughtridge said that as marketers we tend to say that this movie is playing. The reason why moviegoing makes sense is more important than the movie that is playing.
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