A significant number of North American exhibitors have failed to reach what they consider to be an acceptable agreement with Disney to play its latest wide-release movie, Raya and the Last Dragon. Dallas-based Cineplex is the third-largest exhibitor in the US and the most prominent among the group of holdouts, which also includes Phoenix-based Harkins (#5 in the US) and Toronto-based Cineplex (#1 in Canada).
The reason exhibitors cite for their boycott is that Disney is insisting on a studio-friendly split of box office revenues, while it is also releasing the film on the same day it opens in theatres on its Disney+ streaming service as a $30 premium rental. Famously, Warner Bros. announced that during 2021 it would release all of its feature films both in theatres and on its HBO Max streaming on the same day, but sweetened the deal for exhibitors by offering a generous split of box office revenues for these titles, which have included Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Tom and Jerry.
Disney, the world’s largest movie studio, is renowned for taking a tough stance with exhibitors in terms of revenue sharing. Even without the participation of Cinemark, Harkins, and Cineplex, Raya is playing in over 2,000 theatres in North America this weekend.