JOHN FITHIAN

In an uncertain time, they’re the best way forward for the movie-theater industry and audiences alike.

Kathyn Dennet, center, and Brian Haver leave the IFC Center after viewing a screening on "Mank", Friday, March 5, 2021, in New York. Theaters in many other areas reopened last summer around the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” but that attempted comeback fizzled. “It’s a symbolic moment,” said Michael Barker, co-president of the New York-based Sony Pictures Classics, which on Friday released the Oscar contenders “The Father” and “The Truffle Hunters” in Manhattan theaters. Some of the city’s prominent theaters, including the Film Forum, the Alamo Drafthouse, the Metrograph and Regal Cinemas were targeting openings in the coming weeks. “We in the movie theater business live off of movies that play all around the country and all around the world.

FILE - Posters for upcoming movies are displayed in an empty corridor at the currently closed AMC Burbank Town Center 8 movie theaters complex on April 29, 2020, in Burbank, Calif. After several false starts, the film industry is hoping to bring new releases back into movie theaters in late August. While the beleaguered restaurant industry still has takeout and airlines continue to operate with masked flyers, the vast majority of U.S. movie theaters havent punched a single ticket since March. The largest studios the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Universal now all have streaming services of their own now, along with television operations. Theaters in China, the worlds second largest movie market, this week reopened with theaters limited to 30% capacity. If they dont do something, if they just keeping holding the films back, the theaters are going to die.

That's how the National Association of Theatre Owners is explaining the digital success of Universal's "Trolls World Tour." For comparison, Universal retained about 80% of the digital rental or purchase fee for "Trolls World Tour," which in three weeks has garnered around $100 million, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC. While that has given Universal confidence in releasing future films on-demand, NATO president and CEO John Fithian sees "Troll World Tour" as an outlier, not the new normal. NATO said the performance of "Trolls World Tour" was indicative of hundreds of millions of people being isolated in their homes and seeking entertainment, not a shift in consumer viewing preferences. "While Universal may be pleased with the PVOD results of "Trolls World Tour," this outcome should not be interpreted as a sign of a 'new normal' for Hollywood," NATO said in a statement.

Movie theaters in a number of countries have been shuttered in an attempt to stem the rate of infection from the coronavirus. The only theatrical movie that is set to be released online instead of in theaters is Universal's "Trolls World Tour." Last week, the theater owners group asked Congress to provide relief measures for its 150,000 employees. The association has also asked for tax benefits to assist theater owners who are still paying their employees and to make up for their losses. Last year, the movie theater industry took in $15 billion in revenue, he said, a combination of around $11 million in ticket sales and $4 billion in concessions.