Box office blowout: Memorial Day weekend moviegoing sets new records
Garrett Hottle
LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) The Memorial Day holiday delivered more than just burgers and backyard fun it brought a historic boom to the box office.
Cinemark Theatres reported its biggest Memorial Day weekend of all time, driven by the premieres of Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The company says it ranked among its top ten highest-grossing weekends ever.
The surge in ticket sales was matched by an explosion in concession revenue. Cinemark also broke internal records for food and beverage purchases, including its premium XD and D-BOX motion seat formats.
“What is seeing a movie on the big screen without a Coke and a warm, buttery popcorn?” Caitlin Piper, Communications Director for Cinemark explained.
And Mission Impossible may feel extra familiar locally. Some scenes in the franchise were reportedly filmed in the Palm Springs area in a previous installment in the film franchise.
From the valley to venues nationwide, the weekend marked a strong rebound for theatrical releases and a reminder that the big screen still packs a punch.