April 1, 2025
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, the theatrical trade group formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), iscalling for a mandatory 45-day theatrical window in an effort to safeguard the struggling box office industry.
Michael O’Leary
Speaking April 1 at the CinemaCon 2025 confab in Las Vegas, O’Leary said extending — not shortening — the exclusive window for new release movies in movie theaters is key to the survival of the box office and Hollywood.
“We need a system that recognizes our common goals and does not pit one sector against another in a short-sighted quest for immediate financial return at the cost of long- term success,” O’Leary said in his keynote address.
Specifically, the executive was referring to previous industry efforts to shorten the theatrical window to just 17 days for movies generating less than $50 million in ticket sales, and/or bypassing theaters entirely for streaming. Efforts, he said, are driving down box office results.
O’Leary said ticket sales for the Top 20 box office hits in 2024 were down 10% from 2023. The percentage drop increased to 32% for the next 80 releases. The 2025 theatrical market is off to a terrible start, with year-to-date North American ticket sales down 7% to $1.34 billion through March 25, according to Comscore.
To O’Leary, the issues is not the quality of movies, but a growing belief among consumers that patience will be rewarded by theatrical releases appearing on streaming services.
“The perception, or more importantly, the reality at times, that everything will be available on other platforms in a matter of weeks, undercuts the sustainability of the entire industry by negatively impacting the frequency of movie fans going to the theatre,” he said. “Box office success and consumer demand cannot be effectively determined short of a 45-day window.
“If we continue to shorten windows, and crowd out the small and medium sized movies, creating the impression that the only reason to go to the theatre are the big blockbusters, then eventually, the very network needed to make those blockbusters successful, will atrophy,”