This weekend’s ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ movie releases are expected to bring a boost to the box office, but at least one expert is warning against quick investments in film.
The “Barbenheimer” meme craze is expected to garner US$200 million at the U.S. box office, as moviegoers flock to theatres for the unusual double feature.
Alicia Reese, vice president of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, warns that this weekend’s ticket sales won’t necessarily be reflected in the stock market, particularly when it comes to movie theatre chain AMC.
“[AMC is] not a stock that I would recommend,” she told BNN Bloomberg on Friday. “I think there could be some volatility in there and if you want to play with volatility, that’s certainly an interesting aspect.”
Reese said she expects IMAX to outperform expectations because ‘Oppenheimer’ was filmed specifically for IMAX theatres, but she predicted AMC would underperform.
Another factor to consider when it comes to the movie business is the ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, she said, as prolonged labour actions are expected to hurt stocks moving forward.
“If the actors are striking for month than a month, we’re going to have some long-term release slate impacts next year,” Reese said. “If it’s a month or less, I do think they can make that time up.”
Reese said production companies are keen to get the job action resolved in short order, so that promotion of the upcoming movies – including ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,’ ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Dune: Part Two’ -- isn’t impacted.
“November is really the major the cut off,” she said. ‘You really need those press junkets to get those opening weekends going.”