ALL INPredictions
Last updated Nov 29, 2025
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Jason @ 00:21:33Wrong
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Theatrical moviegoing will eventually recover strongly after COVID, and major tech platforms will acquire U.S. theater chains: Amazon will buy one major chain and Netflix will buy another, integrating theater access with their subscription offerings.
they're gonna come back strong, they're gonna come back stronger. I think Amazon will buy one chain. I think Netflix buys the other.View on YouTube
Explanation

Two key parts of Jason’s prediction have not come true as of November 29, 2025:

  1. Amazon and Netflix buying major U.S. theater chains

    • Major U.S. exhibitors like AMC, Regal (Cineworld), and Cinemark remain independent theater chains; none has been acquired by Amazon or Netflix. Recent coverage of AMC still describes it raising capital and operating as its own chain, not as an Amazon subsidiary. (marketwatch.com)
    • Amazon has only taken individual locations/leases, not a chain—for example, it acquired the lease of the former ArcLight Culver City location as its first movie theatre, which reopened as the Culver Theatre in 2022. That is a single site, not a chain acquisition. (en.wikipedia.org)
    • Netflix likewise operates individual prestige venues (New York’s Paris Theater and Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre) rather than owning a major circuit. (en.wikipedia.org)
    • Amazon’s large deal in filmed entertainment was the acquisition of MGM, a studio and library business, not a theater chain. (en.wikipedia.org)

    Because no major U.S. theater chain has been bought by either Amazon or Netflix, the acquisition portion of the prediction is clearly false.

  2. “They’re gonna come back strong, they’re gonna come back stronger” (post‑COVID theatrical recovery)

    • North American box office peaked pre‑COVID at about $11.4 billion in 2019. (comscore.com)
    • After collapsing in 2020–2021, it rebounded but has not surpassed or matched pre‑pandemic levels. 2023 domestic box office was about $9.0 billion, the best post‑COVID year but still well below 2019. (forbes.com)
    • 2024 domestic box office was about $8.56 billion, again under both 2019 and 2023. (forbes.com)
    • Early 2025 and key weekends (e.g., Memorial Day 2025) show strong spikes and significant recovery, but reporting still notes that U.S./Canada ticket sales remain roughly 20–30% below pre‑pandemic 2019 levels. (lemonde.fr)

    Theatrical moviegoing has recovered meaningfully with big hits and record individual weekends, but by the straightforward metric of total annual box office it has not come back “stronger” than before COVID; it remains below 2019.

Because (a) Amazon and Netflix did not buy major U.S. theater chains and (b) box office has not surpassed pre‑COVID levels, Jason’s combined prediction is best judged as wrong.