Cineworld and Regal Cinemas have set an exclusive plan with Warner Bros in the US and UK and means that it is looking like The Batman will be the first theatre only blockbuster release of 2022. This from Screen Daily:
Cineworld has agreed a multi-year agreement under which films from Warner Bros. Pictures Group will be exhibited in Cineworld’s cinemas in the US as of their opening. Beginning in 2022, Warner Bros. theatrical releases will have a 45-day window of theatrical exclusivity, with certain provisions. This is a reduction on the existing US window of around 75 days. The exhibitor would not elaborate on what these “provisions†involve.
In the UK, Warner Bros. and Cineworld have agreed to an exclusive theatrical window of 31 days prior to PVoD, and an extended window of 45 days for films that open to an agreed upon box-office threshold. This is a significant reduction on 2019, when the average window across all UK releases was 109 days.
