Cinemas exit slow 2025 as ‘Stranger Things’ heads to big screen
Shares of AMC, the largest US theatre chain, have declined almost 60% this year, and now trades below US$2
[LOS ANGELES] The domestic box office delivered tepid growth in 2025, with cinemas struggling to return to pre-pandemic sales.
US and Canadian theatres took in US$8.76 billion this year till Dec 28, an increase of 1.6 per cent from 2024, indicated global media researcher Comscore. The full-year record of US$11.9 billion was set in 2018.
Two Walt Disney films – Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2 – led in the final days of the year.
The top 10 pictures of 2025 were once again dominated by sequels from existing franchises. Warner Bros Discovery delivered the two exceptions: A Minecraft Movie finished number one in domestic ticket sales, and Sinners, an original horror film from director Ryan Coogler, came in seventh.
Shares of AMC Entertainment, the largest US theatre chain, have declined almost 60 per cent this year. It now trades below US$2 after going as high as US$450 in June 2021, during the meme-stock frenzy.
The future of theatres has been in hot debate as Paramount Skydance seeks to acquire Warner Bros, which has accepted a competing offer for its studios and streaming business from Netflix.
Paramount has argued its merger would be better for cinemas, since Netflix has historically released just a fraction of its films for limited theatrical runs. The streaming leader has promised to continue to release Warner Bros films in theatres if it prevails.
“Our attention will be laser-focused on one issue and one issue only,” AMC chief executive officer Adam Aron said in November. “And that is the count of movie releases that’s coming out from studios.”
“Clearly, if it’s more movies, that’s good for AMC, and if it’s fewer movies, that’s not as good for AMC,” he added.
In a special promotion, Netflix is putting the final episode of its TV show Stranger Things in theatres for two days starting Dec 31. The seats are free, but attendees must purchase concessions in advance. The price varies by theatre chain.
More than 1.1 million fans had reserved spots, said Ross Duffer, one of the show’s creators, as at Dec 29. The promotion was put in place before Warner Bros accepted Netflix’s offer. BLOOMBERG
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