Thursday: Movie Stocks Stumble; Paramount Skydance Update; 45 Day Window Outlook
Movie stocks nosedived across the board today, as the markets reeled in reaction to President Trump's global trade tariff announcement.
It's Thursday, April 3rd. Welcome to Movie News Pro. Here's what you need to know.
Today's Headlines
Movie stocks nosedived across the board today, as the markets reeled in reaction to President Trump's global trade tariff announcement. CNBC reports that the S&P 500 suffered it's worst loss since 202o. Our take: Warner Brothers dropped 13%; Roku dropped 15% and Disney dropped 9%. We'll have more on the film industry's performance in our sector index analysis below.
Deadline reports that 3 of 6 major studios have agreed to Bring back the 45 day window for theatrical releases, according to AMC CEO Adam Aron. Our take: Longer theatrical windows are the key right now to helping theaters survive. Shorter windows allow audiences to skip the theater altogether, and wait for films to hit their TV.
If you've been wondering what's up with the Paramount merger with Skydance, you're not alone. Deadline reports that the Paramount Skydance merger is still expected to happen, but it will need more time. Our take: This isn't the rubber stamp that many expected from the FCC and the current administration. However, we still haven't heard of anything to derail the deal.
Box Office Rankings: Tuesday, April 1st
1) A Working Man
2) Snow White
3) The Chosen: Last Supper
4) The Woman In The Yard
5) Princess Mononoke
What Changed: Snow White falls out of the top slot and Studio Ghibli's re-release of the animated classic Princess Mononoke sneaks into the top 5.
MNP Streaming Index (Thursday, April 3rd - Market Close)
Current Value: $94,054.95
Today's Change: $-7,765.55(-8.46%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$5,945.05 (-6.08%)
What's Happening: Carnage across the board: Apple down 9%; Amazon down almost 9%; Comcast down 2.4%; Disney down 9%; Fox down 9%; Alphabet down 4%; Netflix down almost 2%; Paramount down 3.5%; Roku down 15% and Warners down 13%.
Current Holdings: Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Fox, Alphabet, Netflix, Paramount, Roku, Warner Brothers Discovery.
Our Take: A horrendous outing for the index. Our index lost 8% of its value in one day. Some may look at this as a buying opportunity. Others may dump more stock and head for the exits as other countries consider counter tariffs.
MNP Studio Index (Thursday, April 3rd - Market Close)
Current Value: $93,809.50
Today's Change: -$6,179.35(-6.65%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$6,190.50 (-6.24%)
What's Happening: Lionsgate (-7.67%), Sony (-5.88%) and Paramount (-3.53%) all dropped significantly.
Current Holdings: Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony
Our Take: Not pretty. The studios were looking for good news coming out of CinemaCon. However any positives from the trailers, announcements and presentations were drowned out by forces outside their control.
MNP Theater Index (Wednesday, April 2nd, 11:06 AM EST)
Current Value:$93,971.30
Today's Change: -$3,864.10 (-3.99%)
Total Gain/Loss: -$6,028.70 (-6.09%)
What's Happening: Cinemark traded up (0.81%) today, surprisingly. All other holdings were down, including Cineverse (-7.91%) and AMC (-4.00%).
Our Take: A dismal day to be sure. However, movie theater stocks may be perceived as a safe haven in a potential global trade war. U.S. consumers might eschew big vacations this summer, reaching for local entertainment options (movies and restaurants) instead. This is a potential trend to keep an eye on.
Film Festivals/Conferences Today
Cleveland International Film Festival, March 27-April 5
Cinemacon, Las Vegas - March 31- April 3rd
Watch This Tonight
Perfect Days (2023), Directed by Wim Wenders
Winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and also Best Actor award at Cannes in 2023. The film takes inspiration from Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu. The soundtrack is killer.
Disclaimer/Transparency
MovieNewsPro is a film industry news monitoring service. All stories have been previously reported elsewhere and are not exclusive stories to MNP. All information is believed to be accurate at the time of reporting. MovieNewsPro uses a full array of technology to gather information, including machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence throughout its business monitoring, editing and reporting process. MovieNewsPro sector indexes (Streaming, Studio and Theater) are virtual indexes - there are no actual funds invested. Sector index total value dollar amounts are based on an initial hypothetical investment of $100,000 on March 17th, 2025. We are not licensed investment advisors and our information should not be used as investment advice.
