In hindsight, NATO was an unnecessary confusing acronym for the trade organisation representing cinema owners. For 60 years, the National Theatre Association has fostered cinema interest, from the largest chains to one screen mom and pop shop. They also regularly received mail and telephones targeted at other NATOs, the North Atlantic Treaty Agency.
But the theater owner organization is looking to the future with a new name and a refocused mission. This group is now known as Cinema United. President and CEO Michael O'Leary told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
“It can be a bit complicated to have the same name as a multinational alliance,” O'Leary said. “We felt it was time to look at our name and rebrand.”
They hoped the new name would reflect “the passion and energy of the people who run the theatres,” and would return the focus to the exhibits and cinemas. Cinema United represents over 32,000 movie screens in the US and over 30,000 screens in 88 countries. According to O'Leary, their job is to promote and support theatrical exhibitions. Movie goving, which new catchphrases read, is their mission.
“We had a challenging four or five years, but we put a little more of those challenges in the rearview mirror every day. For now, our focus is on the future,” Ollary said. “I think we are standing on the cliffs of the next great era of film.”
Oscar screams for the film director
Just a few weeks ago, “Anora” filmmaker Sean Baker filed his own lawsuit for the theatre on the national stage. In accepting Oscar's best director, he used his time on the podium to create a “scream of battle” for the theatrical experience. For filmmakers to continue making films for the big screen, and studios keep releasing them there.
“People were excited about it,” O'Leary said. “He has gained the indomitable loyalty of theater owners around the world over the years and certainly for his strong support at the Oscars.”
Cinemas, big and small, have been hit hard by the pandemic. Many were closed and not reopened. Last year they also faced a release calendar that was exhausted due to the Hollywood strike. It all brought about a dry domestic box office. In 2024, the industry was just above $8.7 billion, down 3.3% from 2023 and 23.5% from 2019.
A more complete release schedule is expected this year, but the total box office collection is currently down about 5% from where the industry was at this point.
“It's really important that we don't focus on a year like 2025. We need to always build, grow and move forward,” O'Leary said.
Despite the challenges, it has remained an affordable entertainment for all ages and in the past. A recent study by the National Research Group said in 2024 that 76% of the American population aged 12-74 years old attended at least one film.
Emphasises cinema upgrades
And while theater closures often make headlines, like the E Street Cinema in Washington, DC, where Cinema United is headquartered, some are led by famous filmmakers and actors, like investments and renovations in theaters across the country.
Jason Lietman, along with more than 30 directors, including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Bradley Cooper, bought theatre in the village of Westwood in Los Angeles, dating back to Los Angeles in February last year. I invested in cinemas.
Last fall, the eight largest theatre chains in the US and Canada announced they plan to invest more than $2.2 billion to modernize 21,000 cinema screens over the next three years. This includes everything from projectors, lighting, sound to concession area features. But theatre upgrades aren't new, O'Leary said, they're just helping to draw attention to it.
“The entire membership is regularly reinvested in the theatre,” O'Leary said. “Part of the reason we made that announcement is because I don't think it's clear to people that theatre owners are always in the process of reinventing themselves and reinvesting them.”
Preparation for the summer 2025 film season
The announcement comes more than a week before approximately 6,000 cinema employees from around the world convened in Las Vegas for the annual Cinemacon Conference hosted by Cinema United.
All major Hollywood studios, including Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Photography, Universal Photography, and even Amazon/MGM, will present a large starry sky presentation on the main stage of Caesar's Palace. There, executives and stars will show off new footage and trailers, showing off their merchandise to get an audience in the theater.
It shows that many theaters are small and medium-sized businesses.
NATO was built in 1965. This is a merger of America's largest cinema trade organization. The American Theatre Owner is a product of a merger that dates back to 1948 and is the Allied Film Exhibition Association, dating back to the 1920s.
People at Cinema United want to say, “We're not the Hollywood industry. We're the main street industry.”
“At the end of the day, the majority of our members are small and medium-sized businesses, so we feel the same push and pull that other small businesses feel all across the US and around the world. They are in Knoxville, Dallas and Kansas.”
