- Off of a $1.77 billion domestic box office total, Cinemark saw its quarterly revenue grow to $643 million.
- The theater chain suffered a far worse net loss of $38.9 million in the first quarter of 2025, when the March box office crashed to a 30-year-low.
- Revenue topped Wall Street expectations, while its per-share loss of 6 cents was in line with estimates
While Cinemark was not able to stay out of the red during the now customary slow first quarter for the movie theater industry, a stronger start for the box office allowed the theater chain to narrow its loss to $6 million and 6 cents per share in its latest quarterly earnings report.
That’s an improvement from the prior year quarter, when Cinemark reported a net loss of $38.9 million and 32 cents per share. Its $643 million in revenue beat Wall Street projections of $634 million, while its per-share loss matched estimates.
“Our first quarter results marked our strongest first quarter since the onset of the pandemic across all revenue categories and Adjusted EBITDA, with meaningful top-line growth and margin expansion,” said Sean Gamble, president and CEO of Cinemark. “Our results reflect our team’s diligent operational execution as well as our advantaged market position, which continues to be reinforced by our ongoing investments and strategic initiatives.”
The first quarter box office relied on holdover grosses from Disney’s “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” to get through January, but got some help from films like Paramount’s “Scream 7,” Sony’s “GOAT” and the surprise success of the self-distributed Markiplier horror film “Iron Lung.”
Then in March, a month that in 2025 brought the worst spring slump theaters had seen in 30 years, theaters enjoyed turnout from movies like Pixar’s original success “Hoppers” and Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary,” which combined for $319 million in domestic grosses within the quarter and lifted the quarter’s total to $1.77 billion, the highest seen in a first quarter since the pandemic.
Looking ahead, Gamble praised the extension of the theatrical window to 45 days by studios like Universal — a theme at this year’s CinemaCon as studios and filmmakers touted longer windows.
“I think there’s there’s recognition that the shortened window has been creating headwinds in full attendance recovery, particularly for smaller titles and more casual moviegoers,” he said on the earnings call. “So I think this is a big step in terms of course-correcting what may have over-indexed in terms of reducing beyond 45 days, and now shifting back to that. So we see all these announcements as a really positive step forward. I think, again, there’s recognition, not only by studios, but by the wider creative community as well that this is a necessary step to help sustain long term industry health.”
Gamble was also asked on the earnings call about TheWrap’s exclusive report that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos met with theater owners at CinemaCon. While he said he doesn’t anticipate any “material shift on their part in the near term” regarding the release of films in theaters, he struck an optimistic tone.
“I would categorize the discussions as being productive in opening the door to the possibility of greater collaboration at some point down the road there,” he said. “Following that meeting, we do continue to believe there’s mutual opportunity in partnering together, and remain optimistic that they will pursue a more meaningful venture into theatrical distribution over time.”
