Sony Pictures CEO wants to save cinemas – at cinemas’ expense

Luca Fontana

15.4.2026

Translation: Katherine Martin

Sony film executive Tom Rothman reckons he knows exactly how to save cinemas: fewer ads, cheaper tickets and an improved film-going experience. In implementing all this, everybody’s expected to make sacrifices. Except him. Is he kidding?

Las Vegas, CinemaCon 2026. The biggest industry conference in cinema. Every year, Hollywood comes here to give film theatre operators a flavour of what’s to come – and what they can expect Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony Pictures, takes the stage and tells his hosts – in a relatively friendly manner – that they’re not doing their job properly.

Too many ads before the film. Overpriced popcorn. Too little consideration of the cinema-going experience. «Get off the ad crack,» he says. These days, he continues, people even deliberately show up late to the screening just to avoid the endless ads. Apparently, they don’t even see the trailers any more. Then, Rothman makes perhaps the boldest statement of the evening: cinema has to become affordable again.

I find myself nodding in agreement and rolling my eyes at the same time.

Setting the house on fire and complaining about the water usage

Of course, Rothman’s entirely right. The cinema-going experience is cooked. In fact, it’s too far gone to be remedied by a few calls for improvement. Twenty minutes of ads before the film (at least!) plus over 20 francs for a ticket plus another 15 francs for popcorn does not equal a fun night at the movies. Rather, it’s a reason to stay home and watch Netflix.

Rothman’s clearly pointed out the systemic flaw, without sugarcoating it. Which is a good thing. However, he’s forgotten to take a look in the mirror. Film studios – Sony included – are largely to blame for the fact that cinema operators wound up in this situation in the first place.

Why? Because of the way studios and cinemas split ticket revenues. US figures show that in the long term, studios keep about 50 per cent of total box office revenue on average. That sounds fair, but it isn’t.

Here’s how it works. According to insiders, major studios negotiate for as much as 90 per cent of ticket sales during opening weekend – amazingly, the period generating most sales. The studio’s cut doesn’t drop below 50 per cent until the following weeks, by which point the film’s already bringing in less revenue. Cinemas that refuse to accept these terms are simply barred from showing the film.

So what other options do cinema operators have? Popcorn. Soft drinks. And of course, the endless stream of ads at the beginning of every screening that Rothman so eloquently decries. However, Rothman shouldn’t be surprised about any of this. The greed-driven problem of ads isn’t exclusive to cinemas. It’s a survival strategy within a model that the studios themselves have created.

Let’s face it, taking the lion’s share of ticket revenue away from cinemas, then tutting at operators for trying to find the money elsewhere, is like setting the house on fire, then complaining about your neighbours’ water usage.

The elephant in the room

What Rothman neglected to mention in his speech – and what nobody in Las Vegas is likely to have said out loud – is the real question. When will there be serious discussions about renegotiating the revenue split?

As long as studios keep skimming ticket revenue for themselves, all while shortening the window between theatrical and streaming releases (often to just a few weeks), cinemas will have little room for manoeuvre. In other words, no investment in the cinema-going experience, no reduction in ticket prices and no push to minimise advertising. Anybody set on making cinemas better will have to give them the financial basis to do so. That’s not a romantic notion – it’s simple arithmetic.

Rothman knows that. He’s been in the business for decades, so he knows his way around the numbers and the contracts. His speech was certainly brave; it really does take someone of his position in the hierarchy to speak out about these issues publicly. However, that doesn’t make it any more than what it is: a moral appeal, lacking a financial basis.

It still sounds good, though.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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