Regal and Cinemark Refuse IMAX Screens for Fincher's 'Cliff Booth'

Regal and Cinemark have declined to book David Fincher's "The Further Mis-adventures of Cliff Booth" on their IMAX screens, IndieWire has learned. The Netflix film, starring Brad Pitt, begins an IMAX-exclusive theatrical run on November 25, Thanksgiving week, but will reach only about 550 screens worldwide.

For now, the film will play on AMC's IMAX screens worldwide, plus a few smaller circuits that carry the format. AMC controls roughly 200 IMAX screens in the United States, the majority of the American footprint. Regal holds about 100, and Cinemark closer to 20.

Why are the chains opting out?

Those theaters will likely hold "Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" for a second weekend instead of a Netflix title that reaches streaming quickly. "Cliff Booth" drops on Netflix on December 23, in time for Christmas, barely four weeks after its theatrical debut.

Normally, IMAX dictates what titles play on its screens, and theaters have little choice in the matter. This time was different. IMAX came aboard as a partner late in the game, and it allowed theater chains to opt out of "Cliff Booth" if they preferred to stick with "Hunger Games." That is what Regal and Cinemark appear set to do.

What does this change for Netflix?

The setback is a small one for the streamer, but the IMAX window mattered to its planning. Netflix moved "Cliff Booth" to Thanksgiving specifically so it could claim this IMAX-exclusive window, and premium large-format screens are always contested territory.

The film was not the studio's first choice for the slot. Netflix had originally slated Greta Gerwig's "Narnia" movie there. That film moved to February so it could enjoy a longer theatrical run and a clearer window at IMAX screens, away from the holiday crush.

The same fight, another streamer

The "Cliff Booth" standoff is not the only dispute over screens and streamers this week. Puck, which first reported the "Cliff Booth" news, added that Regal, Alamo Drafthouse and AMC are all among the chains opting not to play Amazon's "Ali G: Who Iz I?" as part of an "extended release" Amazon is planning for the film.

That Sacha Baron Cohen comedy opened in just 150 select theaters last weekend as a brief theatrical stunt. It reaches streaming even sooner than "Cliff Booth," and Amazon never reported box office data for it. The comedy intends to continue its run, but the major chains now refuse to hold it. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment on how many screens the film will play on this weekend.

The pattern is clear. Theater chains will take a streamer's money for a launch weekend, but they will not surrender scarce premium screens to films that vanish onto a subscription service within a month, and both Netflix and Amazon are learning that lesson in the same week.