I have spent nearly 50 years in the motion picture exhibition business, and experience has taught me to be suspicious of simple answers to complicated problems.
The proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is a good example. The argument against such a combination is straightforward: Two major studios become one, concentration increases, and movie theatres and moviegoers must therefore be worse off.
But that analysis leaves out an important question: What happens if the merger doesn’t occur?
I founded Phoenix Theatres in 2000 and today operate 10 theatres in five states. Before that, I spent two decades with United Artists Theatres and Marcus Theatres. Through enormous technological and economic changes, one fact about our business has remained constant: Movie theatres need movies.
We can improve our seats, projection, sound and service. We can give customers a compelling reason to leave home. But exhibitors cannot manufacture the one thing our business ultimately depends upon: a steady supply of films people want to see. That is why the financial health of the studios matters enormously.
