Two theater chains are refusing to screen the upcoming sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Cinemark and Regal have decided against giving any of their Imax screens to The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which has Brad Pitt reprising his role as a fearless stuntman in a movie written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by David Fincher. The decision effectively makes Cliff Booth exclusive to AMC among the major chains.
During Cinemark’s third-quarter earnings call early Tuesday, CEO Sean Gamble explained that the company decided against running the film due to Netflix‘s very short release window — which ends just two weeks before the title shifts to streaming — and not wanting to establish a precedent that could come back to haunt the chain in future negotiations.
“The Cliff Booth situation is an interesting one,” Gamble said. “We book all of our films on a case-by-case situation. In that particular situation, we always look at things through a long-term lens and how certain precedents and things we might do could affect longer-term industry dynamics. In this particular case, we don’t believe the proposed release model is constructive for the broader theatrical ecosystem, and it’s not aligned [with] what’s of the greatest interest in our theaters.” Gamble also added that keeping The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping on its Imax screens during Thanksgiving is a sold play due to the film’s strong advance sales.
Cliff Booth will debut in theaters on Nov. 25, then hit Netflix on Dec. 23.
For Netflix, which has traditionally resisted filmmakers’ efforts to secure theatrical releases for their movies, the film actually represents a first — the first time the streamer has released a movie in Imax. The slot was originally supposed to go to Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, but the movie was pushed to February, where it will have a far more generous seven-week theatrical window.
Cinemark Holdings posted higher revenue and earnings compared to a year ago, seeing total revenue rise to $1.05 billion versus $857.5 million in the same period of 2025. Gamble predicted the theatrical window could actually widen despite the rise of streaming.
“We’re going to continue to see [the window] grow, especially since the commitments were a minimum of 45 days and beyond that many of the larger films continue to have windows of 60-plus days,” he said. “As we turn the corner into 2027, we’re going to see that window continue to expand a bit, especially as additional studios join in.”
Etan Vlessing contributed to this report.
