President and CEO of Cinema United, Michael O’Leary put the biggest annual gathering of theater owners on alert today about the risks of “concentrating marketplace power in the hands of a smaller group of distributors that dictate the terms, windows, scheduling, screen-placement of movies, and access to historic film catalogs.”
Noting “the ongoing efforts to acquire Warner Bros., the iconic studio that delivered a truly spectacular 2025,” he said M&A in the space has “a real and lasting impact on Main Street and millions of movie fans around the world.”
Paramount chief David Ellison has said he hopes to close the deal in the third quarter. He’s promised 30 films a year, but the industry fears fewer and worries about steep job losses.
“Unfortunately, history shows us that consolidation results in fewer films being produced for movie theatres. We believe this transaction will be harmful to exhibition,
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