Cineplex (CGX), AMC: Movie Merchandise Sales Move Outside Theaters

Between 20 July and 11 August 2026, Cineplex (CGX), AMC Entertainment (AMC), Cinemark (CNK) and IMAX (IMAX) each described movie theater merchandise as a business in its own right on their fiscal Q2 2026 earnings calls. AMC expects more than $100 million of it for the full year, and Cineplex and IMAX have opened selling channels outside their own buildings [1][2][3][4].

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Why one visit used to cap what a theater earns per guest

Exhibitor revenue comes from two places: ticket sales and what people buy at the concession stand. The industry measures the second part as revenue per patron, meaning how much one visit is worth. That figure has a natural ceiling, because there is only so much a person can eat and drink during a two-hour film. To lift it, a theater has to raise prices or sell something else.

The something else is licensed merchandise: popcorn containers, toys and collectibles carrying film characters or replicating props from a specific title. It differs from food in two ways. It does not have to be consumed during the screening, so a customer can take it home, and it does not depend on the auditorium, so someone who never bought a ticket can buy it as long as there is stock and a channel. All four companies took the first step this quarter, turning merchandise into a category with scale. Two of them disclosed the second step, selling it away from the theater. The work involved is retail work — assortment, allocation, inventory and online fulfillment — and it has nothing to do with showtimes or seats. Because the licensing follows the film slate, which every exhibitor plays, the same move is available to comparable companies.

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From zero to $100 million, and a popcorn bucket that sold out in seven minutes

AMC supplied the scale. CEO Adam Aron said the business generated nothing four years ago because the company was not in it; for full-year 2026, US and European movie-themed merchandise together should exceed $100 million [2]. CFO Sean Goodman explained where it lands in the accounts: food and beverage per patron is being driven by movie-themed popcorn containers, while other revenue picks up new streams such as retail popcorn, which lets the company raise revenue per patron without raising prices [2].

Cineplex reported far smaller numbers but described the method most clearly. Merchandise sales were around $4 million in the second quarter, and CFO Gordon Ellison said growth comes from broadening the basket and raising incidence, with price increases reserved for passing through food cost inflation [1]. Because theaters kept selling out, the company added an online platform so customers can buy off-premise [1].

IMAX showed how fast the off-premise channel can move. Its first popcorn bucket, a replica of the 70mm camera used to film The Odyssey, sold out in under two hours on IMAX.com; a second drop five days later sold out in seven minutes, the Chinese release sold out in 63 seconds, and more than 10,000 units have gone through the company's own channels [4]. Taken together, the three disclosures point at the same thing: this incremental demand requires neither a price increase nor a buyer sitting in an auditorium.

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Part of the revenue line stops tracking attendance

An exhibitor's operating focus has always rested on showtimes and attendance, which set box office and concession sales alike. Merchandise shifts part of the revenue onto a different set of capabilities: choosing the assortment, allocating it across sites, turning inventory and fulfilling online orders. Cinemark attributed its record $25 million of merchandise sales in the quarter to the strength of the film slate, to consumer demand, and to its own execution on curating assortment, targeting product allocation across the circuit and optimizing inventory [3]. None of that depends on the auditorium, so a company that does it well can sell the same licensed goods to people who never bought a ticket, at the cost of carrying the inventory and fulfillment burden any retailer carries.

That is also where the judgment stops. In Cinemark's own account, slate strength and execution sit side by side [3], and the IMAX buckets that sold out were tied to one title, The Odyssey [4], so the disclosures do not separate the channel's contribution from the slate cycle. None of the four companies disclosed a merchandise gross margin, and neither Cineplex's online platform nor IMAX.com has a separately reported sales figure. Two things are worth watching: whether merchandise and other revenue keep growing in a quarter with a weaker slate, and whether any company starts breaking out off-premise sales.

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Companies exposed to this change:

• Marcus Corporation (MCS): Runs theaters in the US Midwest alongside a hotel business and plays the same films, so the merchandise category is equally available to it. Nothing in the record shows it selling away from its buildings, which leaves that revenue tied to admissions.
• Reading International (RDI): Operates cinemas and holds the associated real estate, and merchandise remains part of what a visitor spends in the building. Without its own off-premise channel, the ceiling is still what one visit can absorb.
• Funko (FNKO): Makes licensed pop-culture collectibles, so exhibitors moving from concessions to licensed goods represents a new type of buyer alongside its existing retail and e-commerce channels. Whether such arrangements exist, and on what terms, is not disclosed.

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Sources

[1] Drillr · Cineplex (CGX) · 2026-08-11 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

And so just to add on to that, because of the demand for merchandise in the theaters. We've also added an online platform so consumers can buy the merchandise content if it is sold out at the theater.

[2] Drillr · AMC Entertainment (AMC) · 2026-07-20 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[3] Drillr · Cinemark (CNK) · 2026-07-30 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[4] Drillr · IMAX (IMAX) · 2026-07-23 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

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