Cinemark, Studios Reach Deals on How Movies Are Shown as Theaters Reopen

Cinemark didn’t disclose terms of the deals. “Some go for multiple months; some go for multiple years,” Chief Executive Mark Zoradi said on a call with analysts.

Under Cinemark’s deal with Universal, movies that gross more than $50 million domestically during their first weekend in theaters will continue to be shown in theaters exclusively for five weekends, or 31 days. After that, while theaters can continue to screen a film, the title would be available concurrently on premium online rental platforms like Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

“In our ongoing efforts to maximize attendance and box-office during the pandemic and beyond, our goal is to provide the widest range of content with terms that are in the best long-term interests of Cinemark, our studio partners and moviegoers,” Mr. Zoradi said.

Separately, Cinemark on Friday reported a wider first-quarter net loss because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Zoradi said recovery is on the horizon.

“We are highly optimistic…on account of a range of factors, including the rapid pace of the vaccine rollout, improving consumer sentiment about returning to movie theaters, recent box-office successes and confirmation of consistent product supply,” Mr. Zoradi said.

The Plano, Texas-based company posted a quarterly loss of $208.2 million, compared with a loss of $59.6 million in the year-ago period. Cinemark’s revenue fell to $114.4 million from $543.6 million for the period a year ago.

Cinemark said it plans this year to add six new theaters and 72 new screens to its current aggregate count of 5,872 screens.

In the U.S., 98% of Cinemark’s theaters have reopened, Mr. Zoradi said. But the pace of recovery has been uneven as Covid-19 cases surge in certain parts of the world. Mr. Zoradi said only half of Cinemark theaters are operating in Latin America due to new government restrictions.

Write to Dave Sebastian at [email protected] and Matt Grossman at [email protected]