Boxoffice Podcast

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk discuss the latest news in theatrical exhibition, including a disappointing opening for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and new quotes from Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos on a 45-day theatrical window for Warner Bros. titles. Then in the feature segment, Daniel speaks with Matthew Frank, associate editor of The Ankler, about his insights following a cross-country trip to visit 58 movie theaters across the U.S. 

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What to Listen For

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:00 Weekend Box Office: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Performance
• 04:34 Netflix, Warner Bros., and the 45-Day Theatrical Window Debate
• 10:37 Q1 2026 Box Office Outlook and Market Performance
• 11:21 Amazon MGM’s Mercy Forecast and International Expectations
• 16:31 Feature Interview Begins: Matthew Frank’s Cross-Country Theater Road Trip
• 20:09 Inside Independent Cinemas and Small-Town Theater Realities
• 24:12 How Release Date Changes Hurt Local Exhibitors
• 28:42 Highlights From Visiting 58 Movie Theaters
• 33:00 Premium Formats, Renovations, and Industry Challenges
• 35:33 How Cinemas Can Improve the Moviegoing Experience

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk cover the latest industry news and preview Sony’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Then in the feature segment, Daniel speaks with Dine-In Cinema Summit founders Amy and Matt Mader of Venue Valet to preview this year’s show happening February 2-6 in Austin, TX. 

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What to Listen For

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:07 Weekend Box Office: Primate Overperforms
• 02:41 Repertory Cinema & Theatrical Experiences
• 06:18 Remembering Colleen Barstow
• 08:27 Industry Leadership Updates
• 10:34 ICTA North America Cinema Awards
• 12:09 Blue Ribbon Awards Relaunch
• 14:11 Box Office Outlook & Horror Trends
• 16:22 28 Years Later Franchise Discussion
• 21:46 Dine-In Cinema Summit Interview Begins
• 23:18 Evolution of the Dine-In Cinema Summit
• 26:41 Hospitality & Guest Experience in Cinemas
• 29:44 “Let’s Adapt” Programming & Diversification
• 33:06 Alternative Content & FEC Strategies
• 37:58 Food, Beverage & Kitchen Operations
• 39:12 Battle of the Brands Cook-Off
• 41:36 Operations, Pricing & Data Insights
• 45:02 Summit Sponsors & Industry Support
• 48:21 Why the Summit Matters Before CinemaCon
• 50:37 Registration Details & Final Takeaways
• 51:18 Closing Remarks & Subscribe CTA

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by AgileTix, co-hosts Daniel Loria and Rebecca Pahle cover the latest industry news and discuss the end-of-year box office performance. In the feature segment, Rebecca Pahle speaks with Shane Burkett (Director of Strategic Marketing) and Tanya Key (Senior Account Executive) of Agile Ticketing on the many ways in which technological solutions can help turn the occasional cinemagoer into a loyal customer.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

03:00 2025 Box Office Ends at $8.87B and Misses $9B Goal

04:38 Disney Crosses $6B as Avatar: Fire and Ash Hits $1B

05:15 Zootopia 2 Becomes the Top Hollywood Release Ever in China

06:07 Avatar’s Domestic Decline and International Strength

08:07 Strong Start to 2026 Despite a Slower January Slate

13:00 Agile Ticketing Interview Begins

16:06 The Rise of Event Programming and Custom Cinema Experiences

24:07 Loyalty Programs and Data-Driven Patron Engagement

33:18 Pre-Ordering Concessions and Reducing In-Theater Friction

36:02 Episode Wrap-Up and What’s Next

Join us for our annual box office preview episode, as we look ahead to some of the most anticipated movies and biggest potential hits of 2026. We start our analysis with discussion on a difficult Q1 with few titles poised to become major hits. Our Q2 conversation highlights titles like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, Supergirl, and Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Q3 should be the best quarter of the year with a monster month of July, where Minions 3, Moana, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey should combine to lift the box office to new heights. We close our discussion with Q4 titles like Jumanji 3, The Cat in the Hat, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Dune 3, and Avengers: Doomsday..

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In this episode of The Boxoffice Podcast, Daniel Loria, Chad Kennerk, Rebecca Pahle, and Albert Lawrence discuss the year’s biggest stories, trends, and moviegoing moments in theatrical exhibition for 2025. On the Story of the Year, the team discusses the potential sale of Warner Bros. and its implications for the industry at large. Warner Bros. is named Distributor of the Year for an all-time-great-caliber slate, and independent filmmaker is recognized as the Industry Figure of the Year for his defense and promotion of the theatrical experience. The Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year goes to A Minecraft Movie’s Chicken Jockey, and Sony’s Demon Slayer Infinity Castle is singled out as the box office surprise of the year. In this engaging conversation, the hosts discuss the standout performances of 2025, and their favorite movies and movie-going moments of the year.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

01:00 The Power of Collective Moviegoing

02:15 2025 Industry Recap and Episode Overview

03:10 Story of the Year Warner Bros Sale

06:05 Netflix and Theatrical Windows Shift

07:00 Movie of the Year Debate Minecraft vs Ne Zha 2

09:30 Industry Figure of the Year and Consolidation

12:20 Exhibition Trends Event Cinema and Anime

15:55 Distributor of the Year Warner Bros

20:05 Viral Marketing of the Year Log Truck Campaign

24:00 Viral Moviegoing Moment Chicken Jockey

26:05 Anime Breakout and Demon Slayer Box Office

28:50 Biggest Box Office Disappointments of 2025

33:00 Best Performances of the Year

39:00 Favorite Moviegoing Moments

48:00 Best Needle Drops in Movies

51:30 Top Movies of 2025

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by Barco, co-hosts Daniel Loria and Rebecca Pahle cover the latest industry news and preview upcoming releases like Avatar: Fire and Ash, along with its premium technology offerings. Then in the feature segment, Daniel talks to Barco Cinema’s vice president of marketing Adam Cassels to discuss the evolution of premium cinema technology, including the rollout of HDR by Barco.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

01:20 Warner Bros Acquisition Fallout

04:25 Global PLF and Cinema Tech News

08:10 Mega Entertainment Centers vs Micro Cinemas

12:35 Zootopia 2 Hits One Billion

13:20 Christmas Corridor Box Office Forecast

14:05 Avatar Fire and Ash Opening Outlook

19:50 SpongeBob The Housemaid and David

26:00 Christmas Day New Releases

29:05 Barco Cinema Interview Begins

33:10 Laser and HDR Explained

38:20 How HDR Changes Moviegoing

45:20 Future of Premium Large Format

51:00 Episode Wrap and Year End Preview

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by Christie, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk recap the weekend box office, as well as break down what’s known and unknown about the Warner Bros. acquisition. In the feature segment sponsored by Christie, Rebecca talks to Allan Fernandes, product manager at Christie about their new RGBH projectors, as well as Christie’s variable dynamic range (VDR) technology, set to launch in 2026.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

01:23 Netflix’s Winning Bid

03:12 Paramount’s Countermove

05:07 Theatrical Stakes

06:42 Guilds Push Back

07:55 The “Sh*t Sandwich” Reality

08:47 Political Opposition

10:14 Industry-Wide Consolidation

12:03 Sarandos’ Theater Claims

14:26 The 17-Day Window Problem

17:03 Filmmaker Support Gaps

19:12 Paramount’s 30-Film Promise

21:34 Preparing for Change

22:18 Box Office Highlights

24:13 Avatar Forecast

25:32 Christie’s New RGBH Projector

30:47 Inside Christie VDR

37:12 APAC Tech Innovation

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by Qube Wire, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk recap the Thanksgiving holiday and take a weekend-by-weekend look ahead at the holiday 2025 box office. In the sponsored segment, Daniel speaks to Alan Christensen and Mark Waterston of Qube Cinema to discuss cloud-based distribution service Qube Wire and the recent expansion of their network domestically. Rebecca then interviews Emma Tammi, the director behind Blumhouse and Universal’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, in advance of the sequel’s December 5 release.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

00:34 Episode Overview: Zootopia 2 + December Lineup

09:54 Thanksgiving Box Office Results

10:00 Zootopia 2’s Domestic Opening

11:03 Global Performance & China Records

13:52 AMC & Regal Thanksgiving Records

15:54 Wicked for Good Week 2 Drop Analysis

18:12 Should Wicked Become a Franchise

20:35 December Box Office Outlook

20:45 Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Projections

22:14 Avatar Fire and Ash Presales

23:10 December Counterprogramming Strategy

24:44 Christmas Day Releases Overview

29:00 Cube Cinema Sponsored Segment

47:00 Interview Emma Tammi (FNAF 2)

47:59 FNAF 1 Box Office Breakout

52:35 Animatronics with Henson Creature Shop

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by Irwin, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk recap the opening weekend of Universal’s Wicked: For Good and preview the Thanksgiving holiday, with Zootopia 2 opening from Disney. In the feature segment, Rebecca speaks with Irwin’s Jack Powers about the December 2 release of the company’s new seating option Spectrum Aura. Learn more at irwinseating.com

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

00:00 Holiday Rush & Cleaning Challenges for Theaters

00:17 Wicked for Good’s Opening & Thanksgiving Weekend Preview

01:00 Awards-Season Catch-Up: New & Noteworthy Releases

04:39 Wicked for Good: Fan Response & Act Two Concerns

07:25 Weekend Outlook: Thanksgiving Play Patterns & Forecasts

08:11 Wicked’s Global Opening Numbers & Top Markets

12:00 Premium Formats Break Records (IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX)

12:45 Circuit Highlights: AMC, Regal, Marcus & International Records

16:30 Feature Interview Intro: Jack Powers of Irwin Seating

18:00 How Seating Impacts Operations During Peak Season

24:00 Designing Comfort & Capacity for Modern Moviegoers

26:45 New Product Spotlight: Spectrum Aura & Faster Auditorium Cleaning

31:12 Renovations, Durability & Future-Proofing Theaters

37:10 Aura Launch Details

This week on the Boxoffice podcast, presented by Irwin Seating, co-hosts Daniel Loria, Rebecca Pahle, and Chad Kennerk recap the opening weekend of Lionsgate’s Now You See Me, Now You Don’t and forecast the November 21st release of Universal’s Wicked: For Good. In the feature segment, Rebecca speaks with Greg Heckmann, the director of marketing for Maya Cinemas, about key initiatives including the chain’s Young Cinema Professionals workshop.

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What to Listen For

00:00 Intro 

01:00 What the Maya Interview Covers

02:00 Weekend Box Office: Frankenstein, Running Man, NYSM 3

03:24 Oscar Isaac’s Ska Band & Frankenstein Reactions

06:59 Running Man Review & Performance

07:49 Now You See Me 3: Strong Opening & Franchise Strength

09:35 Wicked For Good Tracking: Baseline 135M

10:40 UK & US Presales Break Records

11:58 High-End Forecast: 180M–210M Possibility

14:05 Expected Range: 145M–175M Opening Weekend

15:10 Why Many Viewers Will Wait for PLF on Thanksgiving

16:57 Behind the Scenes: New Songs & Expanded Story

17:35 Wicked as a Cultural Holiday Event

19:55 Economic Strain & Moviegoing as the Affordable Alternative

21:58 Why Theaters Still Offer the Best Value for Families

22:40 2025 Thanksgiving Outlook: Narnia’s IMAX Exclusivity

24:00 Should Wicked Become a Holiday Double-Feature Tradition?

25:25 Harkins Re-Release Success Story

26:00 Transition to Feature Interview

27:00 Interview: Maya’s New Young Cinema Professionals Program

29:15 Maya’s Community & Holiday Food Bank Initiatives

31:00 Why Investing in Young Workers Matters

33:20 How Pandemic & Strikes Affected Youth Entry into Exhibition

35:10 Anime & Event Titles Bringing Younger Audiences Back

36:00 Sending Young Cinema Workers to the CinemaCon Fall Summit

38:40 First Impressions from the Selected Participants

41:10 Plans to Expand the Program Next Year