Independent Cinema Alliance

The Recovery Is Real. But It Isn’t the Same Recovery for Everyone
93% Recovered Doesn’t Mean 93% Healthy


Let’s start with the good news.

The industry is having its best year since COVID. Box office is up roughly +20% over last year and has recovered to about 93% of 2019 — the last pre-COVID year and second-highest grossing year on record.
We’re not all the way back. But make no mistake, this is HUGE progress and something our industry should feel very good about.
At the same time, dig beneath that 93% and a very different story emerges — particularly for smaller, independently owned theatres.
Overall industry attendance remains approximately -39% below 2019, but there are also -14% fewer screens operating today. Spread those admissions across fewer screens, add a +24% increase in average ticket price, and something pretty remarkable happens:

Industry gross per screen is actually 7% ABOVE 2019.

Now look at 1–4 screen theatres.
Their screen count is down -18%, not dramatically different from the industry. But attendance per screen is down -44% — twice the industry's -22% decline. And gross per screen is down -10%, compared with the industry's +7% increase.
 That’s a 17-percentage-point gap.    


Industry vs. 1–4 screen theatres, YTD through 39 weeks. | Estimates ATP 80% vs Industry

 The Big Difference: People Walking Through the Door

So, this isn't simply about fewer theatres or fewer screens. And it isn't about dramatically different ticket-price growth. 

The big difference is people walking through the door.

Every missing admission represents more than a lost ticket. It also means fewer high-margin concession sales — the popcorn, drinks, and candy fundamental to theatre economics.

Meanwhile, average ticket prices have increased about +24% since 2019, while overall inflation has risen roughly +30%. And exhibitors haven't fully passed those inflationary increases along to moviegoers.

Fewer customers. Fewer concession transactions. Costs rising faster than ticket prices. That's margin compression — and smaller theatres have less volume over which to absorb it.

A Different Marketplace
So why aren't smaller theatres recovering at the same pace?
There's no single answer, and the numbers don't establish cause and effect. But today's theatrical marketplace looks very different from 2019 in ways that can disproportionately affect smaller theatres.
Start with product.
We have -11% fewer wide-release films than in 2019, marking the seventh consecutive year wide releases have failed to return to 2019 levels.
A handful of enormous blockbusters can drive the national box office. But they can't fill a two-, three-, or four-screen theatre's calendar 52 weeks a year.
Smaller theatres depend on a steady cadence of broadly available commercial films.
Then there's the theatrical window. It has improved to approximately 41 days, which is encouraging, but remains less than half the 91 days of 2019. And smaller markets can take longer to discover and build an audience for a film.

The marketplace has changed: fewer wide releases, shorter windows and pricing that has not kept pace with inflation.

 For a Small Theatre, Every Screen-Week Matters

And then there's simple math.

The larger theatre doesn't just have more screens — it has dramatically more flexibility to move films around, accommodate longer holds, double-screen a blockbuster and still make room for something new.

For a small theatre, every screen-week matters.

Which brings us back to something ICA has been saying for some time: 

One-size-fits-all business practices don’t have one-size-fits-all consequences.

A three-week hold, a thin release calendar or a shorter window simply means something different when you have two screens instead of twenty.

A Stronger Industry Requires a Broader Recovery
None of this diminishes the progress our industry is making. The recovery is real — and after the last several years, we should be excited about it.
But we also shouldn't allow a strong national number to obscure the very real financial challenges many theatres are still facing.

The average industry screen is now generating more box office than it did in 2019.
The average small-theatre screen is not.

If we want a truly healthy theatrical ecosystem, getting the national box office back isn't enough.

More movies. Longer windows. Reasonable holds. Greater flexibility. 

Different theatres are different businesses, serving different communities. A stronger industry requires a broader recovery.

 

 

 



 
 

ICA Statement Regarding the Proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery Transaction

The decision to postpone closing the proposed acquisition has created an opportunity to reexamine theatrical
distribution and its impact on independent exhibitors

DALLAS, TX (July 29, 2026). The Independent Cinema Alliance (ICA), representing independent movie theatre owners throughout the United States and Canada, today issued the following statement regarding the proposed Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery:

The proposed acquisition has entered a new and increasingly significant phase. Following approval by the European Commission and 64 other competition authorities worldwide, the remaining challenge now centers on the litigation brought by a coalition of state attorneys general in the United States. With closing now postponed until June 1, 2027, the acquisition has moved well beyond a traditional regulatory review. The ultimate outcome may depend not only on the courts, but also on the business realities that come with a prolonged delay.

This is more than a procedural delay. It creates an opportunity to reexamine how the industry approaches theatrical distribution and whether today's business practices reflect the realities of exhibitors of all sizes.

For independent exhibitors, however, the broader issue extends well beyond a single transaction. Theatrical distribution is already a highly concentrated industry. As competition narrows, exhibitors generally face fewer film choices and fewer competitive incentives for distributors to negotiate.

"Independent theatres don't need special treatment," said Frank Rash, Executive Director of the Independent Cinema Alliance. "They need industry business practices that recognize they are different businesses serving different communities—not one-size-fits-all policies that treat every theatre as if it were the same."

The European Commission's review is particularly noteworthy because it distinguished between film production and theatrical distribution. While concluding that sufficient competition among major film producers would remain, the Commission nevertheless required structural changes to theatrical distribution in Europe before approving the transaction. That distinction reinforces an important principle: a healthy theatrical marketplace depends not only on the production of great films, but also on competitive distribution practices that provide exhibitors of all sizes meaningful access to those films.

The ICA notes Paramount's previously announced commitments to maintain a robust theatrical slate and meaningful exclusive theatrical windows. Those commitments are constructive. Ultimately, independent exhibitors will judge the success of this transaction not by the commitments made during the approval process, but by the business practices that exist years after the acquisition is complete.

The delay in closing has created an opportunity to reexamine how today's theatrical distribution system serves exhibitors of all sizes. The ICA intends to be an active voice in that conversation, advocating for licensing, booking, and distribution practices that recognize the unique role independent theatres play in communities across North America. Independent theatres are not simply smaller versions of larger circuits. They are different businesses with different operating realities, and the industry's business practices should continue evolving to recognize those differences.

About ICA

ICA is a not-for-profit, alliance of independent cinemas operating in communities throughout the United States and Canada. Theatres operated by alliance members range in size from single-screen venues in small towns to multiplexes in larger cities. Today a growing 180-member companies representing approximately 5,000 screens and generating $1 billion in boxoffice revenue share one common goal: to provide a public voice that promotes the importance of independent cinemas as a vital and necessary part of a healthy and vibrant motion picture industry. For more information, visit www.cinemaalliance.org.