The Marcus Corporation reported a surge in second-quarter earnings, lifted by strength in their core cinema business. The company showed year-over-year increases across the board, with a 9.7% rise in revenue from admissions, a 7.3% increase in concessions sales, and a 20.7% increase in operating income.
Mark Gramz, President of Marcus Theatres, credited their “Value Tuesday” promotion for much of this improvement. Launched at the beginning of the quarter, this promotion offers $6 movie tickets on Tuesdays for members of Marcus’ loyalty program and $7 for non-members while also discounting most concessions prices by 20%.
Gramz also pointed to the positive impact of having a steady flow of high-performing blockbusters during the quarter, including THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (4/5 release), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (5/5 release) and SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (6/2 release).
Commenting on the ongoing strike by Hollywood’s writers and actors, Granz acknowledged that it is “difficult to handicap” how and when the results will flow down to theatres but emphasized that the current situation is quite different than pandemic-era shutdowns. Gramz characterized the current situation as “a labor dispute.
Does a business on the mend need this? No. But it doesn’t come close to what we went through.” He continued by pointing out that no one any longer is “questioning whether [people] want to go to the movie theater” or whether studios are planning to shift their key “movies to streaming, and suggesting the future is day-and-date releases.”
See also: Marcus CEO Says Strikes “Nothing Like” Covid Hit to Theaters: “Mom and Dad Are Fighting [But] Have to Live in the Same House” (Deadline) and ‘Barbie,’ ‘Sound of Freedom’ and Hollywood Strikes. What it’s like running a movie theater today (LA Times)