Key Takeaways
- Audience Experience: Despite challenges, audiences still enjoy watching films together in theaters.
- Concession Revenue: Netflix tracks revenue through concession sales rather than traditional box office grosses.
- Theatrical Windows: Netflix may limit Warner Bros. releases to a 17-day theatrical window, shorter than the industry standard.
- Box Office Performance: Avatar: Fire and Ice is nearing $1 billion globally, showcasing its strong performance.
While movie theaters may be dying, folks clearly still have an appetite for the experience of watching something with an audience. Case in point: the Stranger Things finale, which only screened on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with one showing per day, yet reportedly generated a whopping $25–30 million in concessions.
We say concessions because that’s how Netflix tracks these events. When the streamer does a limited engagement—such as this one or K-Pop Demon Hunters earlier this year—they can’t technically charge admission. Instead, when you buy a ticket, you receive a concession coupon worth the price of admission. Netflix doesn’t report box-office grosses, so only estimates make their way into the public sphere, such as the ones posted by Deadline today.
While this would seemingly suggest Netflix could make a lot of money if it were more aggressive with theatrical releases, the same Deadline report reveals something troubling. If the streamer’s acquisition of Warner Bros. goes through, Netflix would reportedly grant Warner Bros. titles only a 17-day theatrical window. At the moment, 45 days is considered standard, although some studios experiment with shorter windows. Universal, for example, often releases underperforming titles to VOD within 21 days.
Elsewhere at the box office, Avatar: Fire and Ice continues to perform well, with its domestic total currently sitting at $266 million as it closes in on $1 billion worldwide.
- Avatar: Fire and Ice: $50 million
- Zootopia 2: $12 million
- Marty Surpreme: $11 million
- The Housemaid: $9 million
- David: $8 million
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