As CinemaCon 2026 kicks off in Las Vegas, theater owners are focused on the pending merger between Paramount and Warner Bros, expected to close before the end of the year. Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged to produce 30 films annually while keeping the studios separate. Exhibitors express mixed views amid concerns over output and box office impact.
The domestic box office has reached $2.26 billion this year through April 12, up 23% from the prior year, with admissions at 154 million, a 16% increase. This strong performance contrasts with anxiety over the merger, drawing parallels to the Disney-Fox deal, which saw box office revenue drop by $1 billion between 2016 and 2025, a 70% decline per exhibitor discussions at the event held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Paramount executives cannot yet discuss specifics with theater chains due to antitrust rules, leaving questions about marketing, distribution, and leadership like Warner Bros Motion Picture Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy unresolved. Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, described conversations with Ellison as positive but stressed the need for more than promises. “We’ve heard these things before,” O’Leary said, citing Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav’s unfulfilled commitment at a prior CinemaCon to release 20 films yearly. Not all exhibitors share the worry: AMC’s Adam Aron shows little concern, while Cinemark’s Sean Gamble praised both studios as longstanding theatrical partners. A combined entity could yield 42 releases by late 2027, per Comscore, with analysts noting $79 billion in debt may necessitate theatrical focus despite streaming growth to 172 million subscribers for Paramount+ and HBO Max.
