CinemaCon: cut the pre‑show ads

Sony’s top film executive used CinemaCon to tell theater owners to shorten the 30-minute blocks of trailers and commercials that can run before a movie starts. (variety.com) Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, made the appeal on April 13 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where CinemaCon opened its studio presentations. He told exhibitors to “get off the ad crack,” according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. (variety.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) Rothman tied that complaint to two other asks: keep ticket prices affordable and protect longer theatrical windows before movies move to home viewing. Deadline reported that he framed all three as “immediate goals” for exhibition. (deadline.com) The argument lands at a trade show built around theater owners, not studios alone. CinemaCon is the annual convention of Cinema United, the trade group formerly called the National Association of Theatre Owners, which rebranded in March 2025. (cinemaunited.org 1) (cinemaunited.org 2) Rothman’s point was that the movie itself is not the only thing a customer buys. The time between ticket scan and opening credits, including ad load, trailer count and start-time accuracy, is part of the theater product that exhibitors control. (variety.com) (thewrap.com) That message comes as the domestic box office is still rebuilding unevenly. U.S. and Canada ticket sales finished 2024 at about $8.7 billion, down from roughly $9 billion in 2023, even after hits such as “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Wicked.” (variety.com) (boxofficemojo.com) The early 2026 picture has been stronger. The Hollywood Reporter, citing Comscore, said domestic box office reached $2.113 billion by April 8, up 23.5 percent from the same stretch in 2025. (hollywoodreporter.com) (comscore.com) Exhibitors rely on preshow advertising as a revenue stream, especially when attendance remains below pre-2020 levels and concession and labor costs stay under pressure. Rothman’s speech asked them to give up some of that short-term income in exchange for a cleaner customer experience. (deadline.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) He also did not present the issue as a studio-versus-theater fight. In the same remarks, he said he was “rooting” for exhibitors while urging them to make harder long-term choices about ads, pricing and release windows. (thewrap.com) (yahoo.com) The practical question after Las Vegas is whether chains actually trim the preshow. Rothman’s complaint was simple: if customers think a 7 p.m. movie really starts closer to 7:30, theaters are training people to trust the auditorium less. (variety.com)