Theaters bet big on massive screens, flowering sound and chairs to attract movie fans

(Update headlines) * Theater chains Invest $ 1.5 billion in upgrades * Improved formats accounted for 14.9% of ticket sales * Premium experiences, offset 23% drop in ticket sales by Harshita Mary Varghese and Dawn Chilelski, September 17 (Reuters) -with a $ 5 million makeover, phosix -tea. 10 -Scara at Cleveland’s great. Philmatic escape where wall-to-wall screens, thundering sound and luxurious chairs enthusiasts attract to the big screens. It seems that the investment has paid off this summer, as filmmakers have sold out luxury performances of blockbusters such as “Superman” and “Jurassic World: Rebirth”. Theater chains in North America, including AMC Entertainment, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark, have invested more than $ 1.5 billion over the past year to upgrade auditoriums, add larger screens, improve sound systems and provide other amenities, according to Cinema United. AMC told investors last month that its upgraded auditoriums were attracting the occupation of an ordinary theater almost three times. “In terms of seating, image quality and sound quality, it should be better than you can get at home,” says Cory Jacobson, president and owner of Phoenix Theaters. Auditoriums with improved visual and video formats, such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema and Screenx, account for a record 14.9% of all tickets sold in the US and Canada this year, of 9.8% in 2019, according to the data from the research firm Comscore compiled exclusively for Reuters. Texas-based Cinemark has invested $ 225 million this year to maintain and improve its world theaters, according to Cinema United’s Cinema Investment Report. Theater owners ask for an average premium of $ 5 per ticket for these more luxurious experiences, according to ENTLIGENCE, which helps to compensate the 23% decline in ticket sales since 2019. “The box office can come back to where it was pre-pandemics, but it will really be driven by the higher prices and premium large formats), compared to the industry of the Industry Industry Industry Industry Industry for the Industry Industry Industry, which uses the industry, and the industrial industry. Industry for the Industry Industry, the Industry of the Industry, the Industry of the Industry Industry Industry, “upgraded auditoriums. Although upgraded auditoriums fill faster and fetch higher prices, the box office income remains far below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that the recovery continues. Theater owners still make investments while betting on the future. “The reinvestment we do is proof of the fact that we believe that seeing a movie on the big screen is unique and can now match,” says Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of Cinema United. More than 200 screens with improved formats have been added worldwide since 2023, taking the total to almost 6,000, the Cinema United report states, citing the researcher Omdia. Experience on Price Magnolia Neu said she is the latest “Captain America” ​​film in the screen X format -projecting footage on the auditorium’s side walls for a 270 -degree viewing experience -look at the luxury experience -focused Apple Cinemas in Greece, New York. “If it wasn’t for the big format or premium show, I probably wouldn’t pay money to go to the movie in the first place,” Neu said. The summer of 2025 was generally considered an important test for the film industry, with studios betting that a packed slate successors, restarted and high-profile transgressions would help to help theaters restore the income lost since the pandemic. After a record setting of the Memorial Day Weekend, it was raised by ticket sales for the direct remake of the animated “Lilo & Stitch” and the latest “Mission: Impossible” film, the return of the Summer Box Office, $ 3.67 billion, according to Comscore, 0.1%. “If film theaters have not recovered – what they did, which is very surprisingly considered that they were closed in March 2020 – Premium would not even be on the table,” said Paul Darabedian, Comscore senior media analyst. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; editing by Dawn Chmelewski and Patricia Reaney)