Vincenzo Guzzo on Quebec’s Latest Round of Closures and the Future of Day-and-Date Releases

In this week’s episode of The Boxoffice Podcast, Daniel Loria and Rebecca Pahle discuss Marcus Theaters’ new subscription program, strong Q4 results from Cineworld/Regal, and a successful opening weekend for Paramount's Scream.

In the feature segment, Vincenzo Guzzo, CEO of Cinemas Guzzo, Canada's third-largest circuit, joins the podcast to discuss the latest round of Covid-related closures in Quebec. Guzzo also provides insights on the current status of day-and-date releases and why he believes Quebec's top filmmakers have been defecting to Hollywood. 

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Episode Resources:

• State of Subscription: The Modern History Behind Cinema Subscription Programs
• Weekend Estimates: Scream Powers to No. 1 w/ $30.6M 3-Day/$35M 4-Day Debut
• Cineworld Reports Growth Over Last Sixth Months of 2021
• Marcus Theatres to Test New MovieFlex Subscription Program in Ohio and Nebraska Starting Jan. 14
• Boxoffice Barometer - Exhibitors' Poll  

What to Listen For

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:08 It’s our 100th episode!
• 02:30 Marcus Theaters introduces a pilot subscription program: MovieFlex
• 06:22 Cineworld’s financial data from the last six months in 2021
• 09:32 Warner Bros. backtracking from its 2022 slate
• 10:13 SCREAM opens at $30M over the 3-day weekend
• 12:53 Top 4 openers overseas this weekend
• 18:05 Update on Cinemas Guzzo’s theater closures
• 19:33 Prioritizing comfort to see movies freely
• 22:03 Threading on random closures
• 27:35 Forced vaccination remains a hot topic
• 33:35 Netflix gave people access to unlimited content 
• 37:05 Why are talents willing to leave Quebec?
• 40:21 What exhibition needs to do to thrive once again