Hollywood's betting big on theaters again—and Gen Z is actually showing up
IMAX CEO's phone is ringing nonstop as studios chase $10 billion box office year. Here's why theaters are finally winning again.
Richard Gelfond's phone won't stop ringing. The IMAX CEO has become Hollywood's hottest ticket, except it's not about what he knows—it's about what he controls. Studios are practically camping outside his office hoping for early access to "The Odyssey," Christopher Nolan's massive sci-fi project that's shaping up to be the kind of film that makes people care about seeing things on a proper screen again.
After years of doom-scrolling through box office reports and watching streaming cannibalize theatrical releases, the industry's suddenly acting like cinemas might actually survive. The numbers are backing up the hype. A $10 billion domestic box office year isn't just possible anymore—it's looking like the baseline expectation. That's the kind of optimism you don't hear from studio execs unless something's genuinely shifted.
What changed? Partly, Gen Z decided theaters were worth their money again. Surprise hits proved that audiences will pack into multiplexes if the film's actually worth the trip. Studios stopped treating theatrical releases like obligations and started treating them like events. Weird how that works.
The bigger picture: studios are finally getting it. Not every movie needs to be "event cinema," but when something's built for the big screen—massive scale, Nolan-level ambition, the kind of thing that loses half its impact on a laptop—people will show up. They'll pay for tickets, buy overpriced popcorn, sit in the dark for three hours.
Gelfond's suddenly valuable because IMAX screens are where studios want their tentpoles. It's not about the technology anymore, really. It's about the promise that a film shown in IMAX is the way it was meant to be experienced. That marketing angle sells.
The rebound isn't a miracle. It's the industry finally remembering what theaters actually do—they create an experience you can't replicate at home. Streaming's not going anywhere, but it's also not the boogeyman studios feared. There's room for both. Right now, Hollywood's just remembering how to use theaters properly.
