Adam Aron backed David Ellison’s planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, saying AMC trusts the new owner to deliver on promises that could keep movie theaters supplied with more films.
Aron said he believes Ellison will stick to a pledge that the combined company would release 30 films a year, a volume that would amount to 15 titles each from Paramount and Warner Bros. He also said he expects Ellison to respect calls to keep films in theaters for 45 days before they are available for premium purchase at home and later on streaming services.
“Adam Aron and AMC are big fans of David Ellison,” he said, adding that the company respects Ellison’s “talent as a filmmaker and a movie executive” and believes in the promises he has made to increase the number of movies being made by Paramount and Warner Bros. Aron said he was “enthusiastic that David will fulfill his promises” and that, in the end, the arrangement would prove “a good thing for our company and our industry.”
The endorsement landed as executives and theater operators across Hollywood question whether 30 films a year is realistic. Exhibitors worry that if releases thin out, some of the box-office momentum that has returned since the pandemic could fade again. That concern has weight this year: domestic box office revenue is up more than 20% compared with the same period last year, and theater owners are trying to turn a recovery into something steadier.
Aron said he hopes Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy still have a chance to keep doing great work at the studio. He also said the theatrical business has “finally turned a corner,” even as AMC continues to work down debt taken on during the pandemic. The company had as much as $6 billion in debt in 2020 and has reduced that to $4 billion, but attendance still fell 2.1% last year compared with 2024.
The support for Ellison comes amid broader industry concern over the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that could reshape the supply of studio films just as theaters are regaining footing. Aron’s comments suggest AMC sees the promise of more releases as more important than the uncertainty around who controls the studio pipeline. For exhibitors, that is the core issue now: whether a more concentrated studio business will feed theaters enough movies to keep the recovery alive.
Aron also said Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met with a group of movie theater chiefs in Las Vegas in what he described as an introductory meeting rather than a discussion about dealmaking. Netflix and AMC have recently worked together on several projects, including a Halloween weekend showing of an animated hit. At CinemaCon 2026, that mix of cooperation and caution made Aron’s message clear: the theater business may be healthier, but its next chapter still depends on whether studios keep enough films coming.
