Exhibition giant Cinemark posted strong second quarter revenue and earnings gains on the strength of its summer box office on Friday.
Overall revenue rose 28 percent year-over-year to $941 million, as admissions revenue jumped 27.7 percent to $467.1 million and concession revenue rose 29 percent to $377.7 million. Cinemark posted its biggest domestic Memorial Day weekend ever as tentpoles like Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning played at its multiplexes.
Cinemark also pointed to a nearly 16 percent increase in attendance to 57.9 million patrons during the three months to June 30, 2025 as other tentpoles like Thunderbolts, Sinners and How to Train Your Dragon passed through its theaters.
“Amid this positive trajectory, Cinemark’s execution stood out once again in the second quarter, with outperforming results that are indicative of our advantaged market position and the continued impact we are deriving from our strategic initiatives,” Sean Gamble, Cinemark’s president and CEO said in prepared remarks during a morning analyst call.
He also talked about plans to add more premium screens to Cinemark’s U.S. and Latin America circuits amid the Hollywood box office recovery. That includes a deal to add 20 high end ScreenX theaters via a partnership with South Korea’s CJ 4DPlex that followed the earlier installation of new D-BOX motion seat auditoriums.
“We continue to lean into growing the volume of upgrades we provide our guests that appeal to audiences who want a further enhanced and differentiated experience,” Gamble told analysts about his company’s individually branded PLF screens.
Asked to discuss a recent media report that Cinemark and rival mega exhibitors were in early discussions about launching a joint premium large format brand to compete against the giant screen experience offered by Imax, Gamble told analysts: “There are numerous fantastic PLF experiences that are available to movie goers across the U.S. and around the world, including Imax, which is a tremendous experience.”
“Clearly, when the industry conversations about PLF have taken place, which aren’t new, by the way, they’ve largely been focused on how to most effectively market all large screen formats to grow the pie and unlock incremental upside, not as a challenge to Imax in general,” Gamble added.
His comments come against the backdrop of Imax riding the premium gold rush at the local multiplex by continuing to roll out Hollywood movies shot with Imax cameras, and backed by the marketing muscle of the major studios. Gamble argued the industry needed to market all premium screen formats, and not get hung up on the competitive challenge from Imax.
“It really boils down to the particular theater, the size of the screen, the market, what’s in the market, the demographics, all those things in terms of what’s the optimal path to choose one (PLF) versus another,” he told analysts. Talk of PLF screens is complicated by mega circuits like Cinemark having their own individually branded PLFs, as well as operating Imax screens and and emerging formats ScreenX and 4DX.
The second quarter financial results came as Cinemark, the third-largest theater circuit in the U.S. behind AMC Theatres and Regal Entertainment Group, continues to recover at the box office coming out of the pandemic and possibly return to pre-COVID levels of releases. Getting there will be helped by new players like Apple and Amazon MGM Studios, as well as independent studios like A24 and Neon, adding more to the overall Hollywood movie pipeline.
Gamble cited the successful recent box office for the Formula One movie F1 being a major theatrical win for Apple Original Films and distribution partner Warner Bros. But he also pointed to no movement as yet by Netflix to grow its occasional short theatrical runs for movie titles: “We don’t have any awareness of their plans to shift gears at this stage.”
Gamble also talked up possible mergers and acquisitions activity to continue growing his company’s market share, indicating Cinemark was actively in the market kicking tires with an eye to potential deal making. “It boils down to what opportunities are out there and what are high confidence types of potential M&A situations,” he argued.
The phrase “premium-large format” (or PLF) couldn’t sound more technical. But mention Imax — and its winning streak on Wall Street — and all eyes light up. That wasn’t always the case.
For years, Imax was best known as the giant screen housed in museums that showcased astronauts taking space walks or an African safari in stunning fashion. Now, weekend after weekend, Imax’s well-oiled publicity machine issues notes announcing how much of a film’s overall gross comes from the company’s screens, both in the U.S. and overseas, lifting the company’s profile on Wall Street.
Case in point: The second quarter of the current fiscal year marked Imax’s best quarter in terms of domestic movies ticket sales as it stays on course to achieve guidance of $1.2 billion for the full year. Over the July 11-14 weekend, the 400 or so Imax theaters in North American accounted for $19.1 million of Superman’s opening gross, or a record 15.6 percent.
Yet lost in the noise was that the PLF screens overall, including Imax, turned in 40 percent of the total opening number of $125 million. That means the country’s approximately 900 other PLF screens ponied up about $26 million. (PLF’s produced up to 30 percent of Jurassic World Rebirth’s opening gross; that film didn’t have access to Imax). They just don’t often get their moment in the publicity spotlight.
It’s no wonder why competing PLF screens might want to band together and promote themselves over Imax, but it’s a tricky proposition, considering that mega circuits including AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres and Regal Cinemas all have their own individually branded PLFs, in addition to operating Imax screens and, in some cases, emerging formats ScreenX and 4DX (the latter is hugely popular in Asia and Latin America, and is gaining momentum in the U.S.).
To start touting their own and other PLFs could result in consumer confusion. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that AMC, which operates the most Imax screens in North America in addition to being the sole destination for Dolby Cinemas domestically — also a high-end, coveted PLF — has no interest in joining such a coalition. And so far, there’s no indication that Cinemark and Regal are part of any coalition. Neither responded to a request for comment.
Imax CEO Richard Gelfond confirmed this in his own comments during a recent investors call. “[AMC Theatres’ Adam Aron] basically felt that it was remote that any consortium was going to be put together in any way,” the CEO said. “We also spoke with a number of the other big exhibitors that were in North America, and they reassured us that they’re either in the Imax business or want to be in the Imax business.” (In 2024, Imax generated 42 percent of its revenue domestically, 35 percent overseas and 23 percent in China.)
Gelfond added that Imax had been indexing a 15 percent market share for premium film releases on their opening weekend in 2025. “That’s a real ‘aha’ moment for exhibitors who haven’t been in the Imax business before, and they’re kind of scurrying to come up with a strategy,” the CEO told analysts. “A lot of people have tried to create competitors to Imax over the years, but the fact is, our brand and relationships with filmmakers are unmatched, and our technology is superior, and audiences know it.”
Proponents of Dolby Cinemas would argue with Gelfond’s assessment. Like Imax has done for years, the format is starting to work with filmmakers — such as the team behind Jurassic World Rebirth — throughout a film’s journey, from providing special cameras and other equipment to assisting with marketing. (4DX would pitch a fit at Gelfond’s comments as well).
But at least one well-informed distribution source says there are indeed exhibitors in the U.S. — this person wouldn’t name names — who are at least discussing the idea of banding together so as to remind folks that Imax isn’t the only game in town.
But one high-placed exhibition source offers an alternate version of events. While it’s true that PLFs were one of many topics addressed when exhibitors met up this past spring at CinemaCon, the nature of the conversation is now being exaggerated, the source says. Theater operators merely had a discussion as to how to maximize digital and premium large formats as the reach of 4DX, Screen X and others expand. Whether it ultimately leads to some sort of coalition remains to be seen.
This story appeared in the July 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Chinese director Guan Hu’s WWII tentpole Dongji Rescue, a sweeping historical action drama based on the true story of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru — one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the Pacific Theater — is heading to European cinemas. British specialty distributor Trinity CineAsia acquired all regional rights to the film and will release it in the U.K. and Ireland on Aug. 22, followed by other European markets from Aug. 29.
Dongji Rescue dramatizes the events surrounding the 1942 torpedoing of the Lisbon Maru, a Japanese ship covertly transporting 1,800 British POWs. After the vessel was mistakenly struck by an American submarine off China’s Dongji Island, more than 800 survivors were rescued by Chinese fishermen in an extraordinary act of wartime bravery.
Co-directed by Guan and actor-turned-filmmaker Fei Zhenxiang from an $80 million budget, Dongji Rescue has been hailed as one of the most technically ambitious projects ever mounted in China. Shot in Imax with over 40 percent of its runtime taking place underwater, the film employed advanced robotics, large-scale water tanks and full-scale ship re-creations, while authentically reconstructing WWII-era fishing village architecture on Dongji Island.
Wu Lei and Zhu Yilong in Dongji Rescue.
Trinity CineAsia previously released Guan’s acclaimed drama Black Dog, which won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard prize in 2024, as well as his big-budget war epic The Eight Hundred, which was China’s second-biggest film of 2020.
Dongji Rescue stars Zhu Yilong (Lost in the Stars), Wu Lei (Nirvana in Fire), Ni Ni (The Flowers of War) and British newcomer William Franklyn-Miller, who plays a British army medic hidden by villagers during the disaster’s aftermath. The film also features Michael Gaston, Ni Dahong and Li Jiuxiao.
Trinity CineAsia will hold a U.K. premiere for Dongji Rescue on Aug. 15 — the 80th anniversary of V-J Day — at London’s Odeon Leicester Square, with the directors, producers and starring cast set to attend.
“Dongji Rescue is based on a true story which has particular relevance in the U.K., of course, as it involves British POWs in a desperate shipwreck, but also a specific resonance that can connect with everyone everywhere — a humanistic, intimate story on a large historic canvas, à la Dunkirk or Atonement, and we’re looking forward to audiences being wowed and moved to tears at the same time,” said Cedric Behrel, executive director of Trinity CineAsia.
William Franklyn Miller and Wu Lei in Dongji Rescue.
7th Art Pictures
Dongji Rescue is produced by 7th Art Pictures and supported by Enlight Pictures, Tao Piao Piao and China Film Group. The film opens in China on Aug. 8.
Added Liang Jing, producer and head of 7th Art Pictures: “We are delighted to collaborate with Trinity CineAsia — who previously distributed Black Dog and The Eight Hundred for us — to bring this touching story, buried in the dust of modern history, to global audiences, especially to the British audience, so that the descendants of British soldiers who survived that disaster know: we are still here, we still remember this story!”
Dongji Rescue‘s official story summary is as follows: “October 1942, most of China is living under the shadow of imperial Japan. Following the Fall of British Hong Kong in December 1941, many British service personnel were taken prisoner. The Lisbon Maru — a Japanese merchant ship covertly carrying around 1,800 British POWs in the Far East — is torpedoed by mistake off the coast of China’s Dongji Island by an American submarine, unaware of the lives hidden below deck. Guided by the code of the islanders — ‘those in peril at sea must be saved’ — two young fishermen, brothers Abi (Zhu Yilong) and Adang (Wu Lei), risk everything to hide a British army medic (William Franklyn-Miller) in their village after being spotted drifting in the sea. A brutal manhunt by the Japanese forces to find the missing soldier ensues. As the ship begins to sink, and the truth about the POWs stranded at sea comes to the surface, the villagers set out on a perilous mission to rescue the British soldiers and reclaim their land.”
U.S. and global box office and total cinema revenue will not reach pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2029, according to accounting firm PwC’s annual closely watched media and entertainment outlook report released late on July 23.
In the U.S., pre-pandemic total cinema revenue is not forecast to be reached by 2029 despite a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9 percent. PwC had recorded nearly $11.7 billion in U.S. total cinema revenue in the pre-pandemic year 2019 after $11.8 billion in 2018. The firm projects the figure to rise from $8.9 billion in 2024 and $9.6 billion in 2025 to $10.1 billion in 2026, $10.3 billion in 2027, $10.6 billion in 2028 and $10.8 billion in 2029.
Asked by The Hollywood Reporter about how pre-COVID box office levels are not expected to be reached by 2029, Bart Spiegel, PwC global entertainment and media leader, says: “Unfortunately, this full recovery is unlikely within the forecast period. However, we project that by the end of 2029, the industry will be on the brink of a full rebound. In other words, 2030 may be the year global box office revenues return to pre-pandemic levels.”
Pre-COVID, U.S. box office in 2018 amounted to $10.8 billion before a 2019 drop to $10.7 billion. PwC forecasts the 2024 figure of $8.1 billion to grow to $8.7 billion this year. For the 2025-2029 period, it predicts a CAGR of 3.86 percent to push box office revenue to nearly $9.8 billion by the end of that period.
In terms of admissions, PwC lists 777 million for 2023, a drop to 734 million for 2024 and an estimated rebound to 778 million for 2025. It projects a 2.3 percent CAGR for the U.S. to 823 million in 2029, compared with 1.3 billion in 2019. By then, the average admission price will climb to $11.86, or “over $2 more than the $9.16 charged in 2020 and 2021,” the report explains.
Total U.S. cinema revenue in 2024 fell to $8.9 billion from $9.1 billion in 2023, “but the drop was anticipated and not as steep as had originally been feared,” highlighted the PwC report. (Yet it hit the bottom line of studios as well.) “The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes of late 2023 had slowed down production — and there were fewer ‘tentpole’ titles than would normally have been anticipated.”
For the global box office, PwC forecasts the 2024 figure of $29.7 billion to grow to $33.5 billion this year. It then predicts continued growth to $37.7 billion by the end of the Outlook report period in 2029, compared with $39.4 billion in 2019.
“It’s important to remember that industry revenues are ultimately driven by price times volume. In this case, while ticket prices are rising, admissions (volume) are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels,” Spiegel says. “Instead, the growth in global box office revenue is being fueled by higher ticket prices. These ticket price increases are driven by several factors, including enhanced infrastructure and facilities, technological advancements, and rising content costs.”
The accounting firm notes that transition has hit Hollywood many times in the past, highlighting: “In recent years, the U.S. film sector has been disrupted. The streamers overturned traditional business models, the pandemic hit the box office, and the 2023 strikes stymied the post-COVID-19 recovery. But U.S. industry history reveals that the sector has experienced challenges many times before, with everything from the conversion to sound to the anti-trust legislation of the 1940s, the arrival of TV as a mass medium in the 1940s and 1950s, and the VHS revolution of the 1970s. In each case, the sector recovered. It is doing so again now.”
Here is a closer look at some of the U.S. cinema sector trends highlighted in PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook.
Franchise Films and Tentpoles
Growth in U.S. box office revenue this year “is again being driven, as in pre-COVID-19 years, by franchise movies building on existing IP — with Disney re-established as the pre-eminent player,” the report notes. The studio had three of the top five hits in the U.S. market in 2024: Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2.… Each of the five major studios — Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount — had sizable hits. Universal’s Wicked, Despicable Me 4 and Twisters; Warner Bros.’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die and It Ends With Us; and Paramount’s Gladiator II and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were all strong successes.”
PwC also points out that “blockbuster titles like Captain America: Brave New World, the live-action Snow White and live-action How to Train Your Dragon, motorsport drama F1, the latest reboot of Superman, Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, Mission: Impossible – the Final Reckoning and Avatar: Fire and Ash should ensure that 2025 is a reasonably robust year. In 2025, it is expected that 110 films will be produced and released in more than 2,000 sites in North America, up from 95 in 2024.”
Meanwhile, “an observation that has continued to be made over the last decade is that so-called mid-budget movies, which include award-contending dramas, are struggling at the box office,” PwC mentions. “These are the pictures that spectators seemingly prefer to watch at home.”
Concludes PwC: “The U.S. remains a very polarised market with a handful of ‘tentpole’ movies accounting for a vast amount of the profits.”
Windows Experiments
Experiments with day and date releasing, making big blockbusters available on streaming platforms with little or no period of exclusivity in cinemas, “have now been largely discarded,” the PwC report highlights. “This reveals a shift in the studios’ mindset and an acknowledgement that releasing in cinemas first is still regarded as the most reliable way to drive ancillary sales. Streamers involved in film production, like Amazon MGM and Apple, are also committing to 45-day theatrical windows for their bigger titles.”
Netflix remains focused on its streaming platform, though. “Netflix’s Oscar contender Emilia Pérez was given only a very brief theatrical release (primarily to ensure awards qualification) before being launched to stream on the Netflix platform,” notes the Outlook. “Emilia Pérez’s box office revenue was, relatively, low at around $15 million globally. The film secured 13 Oscar nominations despite not being seen widely on the big screen.”
Cinema Appeal
“U.S. exhibitors have been trumpeting research that suggests the public is re-embracing the theatrical experience,” PwC points out. “The National Association of Theatre Owners cited a report into cinema-going habits compiled by UCLA, which revealed that seeing a movie during opening weekend ranks as the number one preferred activity among 10–24-year-olds. This counters prevailing anxiety about the loss of a younger audience too preoccupied with TikTok and Instagram to go to cinemas. Market research also suggests that for certain genres — horror and comedy in particular — younger cinema-goers like to watch with their peers and to enjoy the shared experience.”
Theater Amenities
Cinema operators’ upgrades to luxury seats is “one factor driving admissions for more-affluent customers,” according to PwC. Loyalty and subscription programs offering discounts have also been on the rise. For 2024, the firm reports 119 million loyalty club members, up from 106 million in 2023.
“PLF is continuing to make gains,” the Outlook report also emphasizes. “In North America, 950 theatres now have large-format screens — a 37 percent increase from five years ago and a clear sign that cinema-goers are looking for a spectacular experience that can’t be replicated at home. A record number of at least 14 Hollywood and international releases shot with Imax cameras will hit cinemas in 2025 — and will be shown on the Imax global platform at the company’s 1,700 locations.”
Sony’s Alamo Deal Could Spur Theater Buys
Sony Pictures’ 2024 acquisition of exhibitor Alamo Drafthouse made Sony the first studio giant to move back into owning cinema assets. “Anti-trust legislation that had been in place for over 70 years, from 1948 to 2020, meant that Hollywood studios were previously prevented from owning their own movie theatres,” highlights PwC in its report. “There is the possibility that other U.S. studios will follow suit. This means they can again become fully vertically integrated — controlling production, distribution and exhibition, just as they did during their heyday from the 1920s to the 1940s.”
Superman has transformed into a bonafide crowd pleaser at the box office in a much-needed inaugural win for the Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios, which is run together by James Gunn — also the film’s director — and producer Peter Safran.
The big-budget tentpole was all but assured of staying atop the domestic box office in its second weekend, but estimates were all over the place as to how it would hold up.
But, buoyed by strong word-of-mouth and reviews, it declined a less-than-expected 54 percent to $57.2 million for a pleasing 10-day domestic tally of $235 million through Sunday.That’s a narrow decline for the struggling superhero genre and the same as Marvel’s summer 2024 billion-dollar blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine. Overseas — where the franchise has always faced challenges because of the comic book character’s pro-American traits — Superman earned another $45.2 million for an international tallyof $171.8 million and $406.8 globally in a major win for DC and Warners, which has passed up Disney to rank No. 1 in domestic marketshare for the year to date.
The male-skewing superhero pic is facing fierce competition internationally from Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth and Apple Original Film’s first box office hit, F1: The Movie. In a double win for Warners — which is assisting Apple in marketing and distributing the Formula One action-drama — F1 zoomed past $460 million at the worldwide box office over the weekend after finishing Sunday with a domestic total of $153.6 million domestically and $307.2 million overseas.
After years of rival Marvel Studios largely dominating the superhero landscape, DC is smiling. In only its second weekend, Superman has already passed up the entire lifetime run of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which topped out at $383 million globally earlier this year. And it’s only days away from overtaking Marvel’s other 2025 entry, Captain America: Brave New World, which earned a meek $415 million worldwide.
Superman stars David Corenswet in the titular role, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Rounding out the cast are Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.
Marvel hopes to begin to turn its fortunes around when Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters a week from now, on July 25. That means Superman only has a few days left to itself before facing direct competition, in addition to losing Imax screens and other premium-large format auditoriums to Fantastic Four, which is tracking to open to $130 million to $140 million.
Elsewhere at the box office, holdover Jurassic World Rebirth remained a powerful competitor in its third weekend as it crossed the $600 million milestone globally. It stayed safely parked in second place domestically with an estimated $23.4 million for a North American total of $276.2 million. Overseas, it came close to matching Superman in adding another $40.3 million to its coffers for a dino-mite foreign cume of $371.8 million and $647 million globally.
Columbia and Screen Gem’s R-rated horror reboot I know What You Did Last Summer came in third with an estimated $13 million, in line with modest expectations. (Rivals think it will come in slightly lower when Monday’s actuals are released). Overseas, it launched to $11.6 million for a global start of $24.6 million.
While Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Brande and Sarah Michelle Gellar reprise their roles from the original film and subsequent sequel, the new installment is anchored around a host of franchise newcomers, including Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon and Gabbriette Bechtel.
Set three decades after the 1997 original film of the same name, the storyline — much as the first movie — follows a group of friends who try to cover up an accidental death for which they were responsible, only to find themselves being pursued by a menacing killer one year later. Soon, they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997, played by Hewitt and Prinze.
Critics haven’t exactly embraced the reboot, which currently has a 38 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave the film a C+ CinemaScore, which isn’t unusual for a horror title. Its audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 68 percent.
Paramount’s Smurfs opened in fourth place with $11 million, in line with tepid expectations. It started off with $22.6 million overseas for a global total of $36 million, including $2.4 million earned last weekend in Australia.
The animated family film likewise hasn’t impressed reviewers — its RT critics’ score is an even-worse 22 percent, but it did earn a B+ CinemaScore from moviegoers. The voice cast features an all-star lineup led by Rihanna in her first turn as a Smurf, followed by Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Maya Erskine, John Goodman, Kurt Russell and Jimmy Kimmel.
Directed by Chris Miller, Smurfs is the first installment in the theatrical franchise in eight years. The music-infused movie follows Smurfette, played by Rihanna, leading a mission that takes them into the real world, including Paris, Munich and the Australian Outback, where the Smurfs meet up with feathered, Minion-like creatures named Snooterpoots. Their leader is voiced by Natasha Lyonne.
F1: The Movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, rounded out the top five chart domestically with $9.6 million. The pic dropped a mere 26 percent in its fourth outing. Overseas, it earned another $29.5 million for a worldwide total of $460.8 million — a number no one could have imagined considering that Formula One movies haven’t historically been an easy sell in the U.S. (although that’s changing).
A24 and filmmaker Ari Aster’s divisive Western Eddington opened in sixth place domestically with $4.3 million, slightly behind expectations despite plenty of buzz and an all-star cast led by Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal.
A new documentary about rapper legend Eminem is headed for a limited run on the big screen.
AMC Theatres has come aboard to distribute Stans in the U.S., and has committed to playing the doc in more than 135 of its domestic locations beginning Aug. 7 and ending Aug. 10. Overseas, Trafalgar Releasing will release the doc at the same time in more than 1,600 theaters across 50 markets.
The pact follows in the wake of AMC directly distributing Taylor Swift’s concert pic The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé.
The Eminem-produced doc (trailer, below) opened the inaugural London edition of the SXSW festival earlier this year, and is inspired by the artist’s 2000 iconic song “Stan,” about an obsessive, unstable fan who takes his admiration for the rapper too far.
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In London, director Steven Leckart described how he flipped the music documentary format on its head. Stans film follows not just the musician’s artistic trajectory but that of his most loyal superfans, with the doc “offering an entertaining and vibrantlook at the modern nature of fandom and how social media has irrevocably changed the relationship between artists and their audience.” (The term “Stan” was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017).
Leckart said after the premiere during a Q&A: “I was raised on hip-hop in the ’80s and ’90s, and I grew up on MTV. So I witnessed [Eminem’s] rise’s first hand and I was a fan, but I think I just kept coming back to the song ‘Stan’ and really thinking about how unconventional it was and still is.”
He continued: “I just saw an opportunity to make an unconventional doc … We’ve seen a glut of docs that are just so straightforward and standard. And so this is a beautiful opportunity to do something different.”
Other producers include Paul Rosenberg, Stuart Parr, Antoine Fuqua, Tony DiSanto, David Schiff with DIGA Studios in association with Shady Films, Fuqua Films, Interscope Films, and MTV Entertainment Studios. Bruce Gillmer, Amanda Culkowski and Michael Maniaci are Executive Producers for MTV Entertainment Studios.
Stans will be available on Paramount+ internationally later this year. Stans: The Official Soundtrack, which will feature previously unreleased tracks, is already available for pre-order.
