IMAX Chief Says He Doesn't Understand Why Cinemas Would Skip Cliff Booth
IMAX's chief executive, Rich Gelfond, says he cannot see why any cinema chain would pass on The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth. He made the remark on a call after IMAX's quarterly earnings, and he was speaking about the film's two-week run on IMAX screens from Thanksgiving weekend. "Frankly, I don't understand why anybody wouldn't play it," he said, according to Deadline.
The film is a Netflix title. It is written by Quentin Tarantino and stars Brad Pitt, and Netflix has set its streaming release for Dec. 23, according to Netflix. Before that, it gets a theatrical window, the period when a film plays in cinemas before it reaches home screens. This one starts on Nov. 29, with a 27-day exclusive run on IMAX and at independent theatres in standard format.
Not every chain is on board. AMC Theatres will show the film. Regal and Cinemark will not, and both cited the shortened window as their reason. Instead, they will put The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping on their IMAX screens. That film opens the weekend before Cliff Booth.
Gelfond argued that the two films could share the screens. He described a win-win for large circuits with hundreds or thousands of screens: Hunger Games on many screens, and Cliff Booth on the IMAX ones. He said pre-sales for Hunger Games were very strong, and that the chains could have played both. He also said some exhibitors were still standing on ceremony over Netflix's window, which he called a battle already fought.
The IMAX frame was first claimed by Narnia: The Magician's Nephew. It later opened up when a Greta Gerwig Netflix film moved to February. Gelfond said he had seen an extended clip of Cliff Booth. He predicted a surprisingly strong run from fans of Tarantino, Pitt and David Fincher.
The debate lands during a strong stretch for the company. IMAX reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $175 million, up 64% from a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit before some costs, of $121 million, up from $51.8 million, according to Yahoo Finance. Net income rose 430% over the same period, with the results driven by Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, as Yahoo News reported.
For moviegoers, the practical question is simple. Which cinema near you shows which film, and on which screen? The answer depends on deals struck between studios, streamers and chains, and this autumn those deals are running in different directions. Gelfond's view is that the screens are big enough for both films. The chains that have declined Cliff Booth have so far pointed to the window length, and they have not said whether that will change.
