At a time when the box office is hungry for content and audiences seem more discerning than ever, Fathom Events is posting record revenue gains.
The joint venture between AMCRegal and Cinema is best known for bringing alternative content to the big screen in the form of classic Hollywood titles, live broadcasts of theater and opera productions, concerts and even television series.
Most recently, it ventured into the specialized distribution space to deliver to the public “The Blind,” “The Chosen,” “Jesus Thirsts,” and “Waitress: the Musical.” Still to come is “The Journey: A Music Special by Andrea Bocelli.”
In 2023, Fathom generated $100 million at the box office, up 116% from 2019 levels and its highest grossing year ever. And that momentum has continued into 2024, as the company raked in $43 million in the first quarter, up nearly 140% from the $18 million it took in the same period a year earlier.
Fathom's relationships with Hollywood's biggest studios and its cinematic reach — as a partnership of the industry's three largest theater chains — has made it a formidable force at the box office. Its value proposition is twofold: it breathes new life into older films and into theaters.
“Anniversary titles fall primarily under the banner of event films and have seemingly become more fashionable now than in years past, with particular emphasis on these beloved older films,” said Paul Degarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “These anniversary reissues are a win-win, bringing joy to movie fans and, notably, additional revenue to theaters, often decades after their first theatrical release.”
In post-pandemic times, Fathom has served as a mainstay for many smaller exhibitors, providing much-needed content for the big screen amid a drought caused by pandemic- and strike-related production shutdowns.
Season 4 of “The Chosen,” a television series about faith and the life of Jesus, generated $32 million at the box office for Fathom, about 75% of its first-quarter revenue.
“The Chosen One” was finished [Fathom]and it was huge for us,” said Brock Bagby, president and chief content, programming and development officer at B&B Theatres. “It gave us a lot of additional revenue in February and early March that we wouldn't have had otherwise.”
Fathom has also benefited from its anniversary titles and classic cinema showings. Each year, the company brings films back to theaters to celebrate milestone years alongside popular titles.
“We've seen that there's a growing segment at the box office, people who are interested in seeing older films on the big screen,” said Jordan Hohman, vice president of project development at Phoenix Theatres. “These audiences are able to enjoy classic films for the first time or for the first time in a new way. I think that's valuable.”
This year, the company celebrated the 85th anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind” and the 35th anniversary of “Steel Magnolias.” Still on the calendar are the 50th anniversary of “Blazing Saddles,” the 70th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock's “Rear Window,” the 40th anniversary of “Neverending Story” and the 20th anniversary of “Mean Girls.”
It also has a film series called Studio Ghibli Fest, which features all 14 of the studio's films in their original Japanese and English dubbed versions. This year's lineup celebrates the 20th anniversary of “Howl's Moving Castle,” the 25th anniversary of “Kiki's Delivery Service” and the 30th anniversary of “Pom Poko.”
And these titles can still make a lot of money even decades after their initial release.
Fathom's three-weekend run of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy resulted in $8.2 million at the box office.
“Lord of the Rings was a huge success across the country, and for us,” Bagby said. “We did 4DX Lord of the Rings this weekend at our new theater in Dallas, and we sold out all the shows.”
4DX is a screen format that uses moving seats, practical effects and sensory elements to immerse viewers in a movie experience.
Audiences are already buying tickets for August screenings celebrating the 15th anniversary of “Coraline,” which will be shown widely in 3D for the first time since its original release.
Fathom has re-released “Coraline” twice before to great success. In 2022, the film opened for one day in 800 theaters and grossed $1.2 million in box office sales. Last year, the film extended its release to five days and grossed $7.1 million, making it the highest-grossing classic film release in Fathom history.
According to Comscore data, that $7.1 million figure is about 10% of “Coraline”'s original domestic take in 2009 and 42% of its opening weekend.
Additionally, 53% of the audience who attended the film's screenings last year were 34 years old or younger.
“A new audience is seeing the film for the first time, even though it's 15 years old,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events.
Fathom reports that pre-sales for this year's screenings of “Coraline” are selling seven times as many tickets per location as the same period last year, with two-thirds of those ticket sales being for the 3D version of the film.
Because Fathom has a large footprint through its parent companies and national marketing, it does the heavy lifting for smaller theater chains.
“[Fathom has] built a lot of relationships,” said Phoenix Theater's Hohman. “They did the licensing and they created the marketing behind re-releasing these classic films that, you know, we just can't do ourselves. It's a national campaign. So I think they just provide a lot of value.”
