Regal Theaters, the second biggest and arguably the most hardline of the U.S. exhibition community, has closed a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.
Regal’s parent company Cineworld Group announced today that it will re-open its U.S. sites this April and will kick things off with a limited number of theaters showing Warners’ “Godzilla vs. Kong” followed by that studio’s “Mortal Kombat” on April 16th.
Regal and Warners had been at loggerheads, especially over Warners’ day-and-date HBO Max release strategy, but the new deal sees them carrying the films that Warners will release this year.
Then, as per terms of the deal, Regal’s theatrical window exclusivity on Warners titles will shrink from 90 to 45 days starting in 2022 – albeit with certain provisions.
Regal has 7,076 screens in 536 theatres in the U.S. which have been closed for the last six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the U.K., Warners and Cineworld have agreed to an exclusive theatrical window of 31 days prior to PVOD, and an extended window of 45 days for films that hit an agreed-upon box-office threshold.
Source: THR
