• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 4, 2025

Theater owners want their stuff back: Movies that play for at least a month-and-a-half before going to premium streamers and pay-per-view home-entertainment platforms.

The trade group representing major theater owners -- Cinema United, which recently changed its name from the National Association of Theater Owners -- wants a return to pre-pandemic ways of theater exclusivity when it comes to movies.

Michael O’Leary, president/CEO of Cinema United, said recently at a CinemaCon event that the movie-studio world needs to revert back to a longer exclusive period for theaters. Currently some major film releases offer just a 31-day -- or as little as a 17-day -- exclusive window for theaters.

“The temporary adjustments made during that time, threatens the overall health of this great industry,” he said.

He added: “We need a system that recognizes our common goals and does not pit one sector against another in a short-sighted quest for immediate financial return at the cost of long-term success.”

Early on in the pandemic that started in the spring 2020, Universal Studios struck a ground-breaking deal with the largest U.S. theater owner -- AMC Theaters -- that dramatically shortened theatrical exclusive windows.

Now, five years later, many of those shortened windows remain due to new financial dynamics imposed by legacy TV-streaming-movie studio-owned media companies -- companies need to juggle financial interest for all their own businesses.

With a maturing streaming industry -- and growth slowing -- big media companies need to find ways to spike growth for streamers in terms of major movies hitting their platforms.

Think perhaps of what the big end of the year hit Universal Pictures' “Wicked” when it moved to its sister streaming platform Peacock just days ago-- on March 21. For many theater owners having “Wicked” in the theaters for many weeks after the holiday season was big deal.

In what could be somewhat good news for theaters, big media-owned streamers are now looking to expand their content in other areas -- especially sports. In addition, they continue to seek those big long-term TV series brands that capture consumers attention.

In that regard, O’Leary disputes the whole big media concern about having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

Availability of major megahit movies may be more flexible than it seems, he says -- that a movie would still benefit a streamer in terms of subscriber gains -- after a 45-day exclusive theater run compared to 20-day executive theater run.

“It’s not a zero-sum game. The goal is to make the pie bigger, for everyone,” O’Leary added.

Would movie studios and their premium streaming executives agree?