Brad Pitt’s return as Cliff Booth is heading for a much smaller theatrical release than Netflix hoped. Regal and Cinemark, two of the largest cinema chains in the United States, have both declined to screen The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth on their IMAX screens, leaving AMC as the only major chain carrying the film when it opens on November 25, 2026.
According to TheWrap, the film will play on about 550 screens worldwide, roughly 200 of them in the United States. IndieWire put Regal’s domestic IMAX inventory at about 100 screens and Cinemark’s closer to 20, meaning the two refusals cost the film roughly 120 screens. Collider reported that the film has lost access to approximately 43 percent of the IMAX screens operated by America’s three largest chains.
The Theatrical Window Is the Problem
The dispute comes down to Netflix’s short theatrical window. The film gets a two-week exclusive IMAX engagement starting November 25, before arriving on Netflix on December 23, just 28 days after its cinema opening. Cinemark chief executive Sean Gamble told analysts on the company’s earnings call that the proposed release model was not constructive for the broader theatrical ecosystem, and that the chain books films on a case-by-case basis with a long-term lens.
Regal offered a similar explanation. Brooks LeBoeuf, the chain’s senior vice president of US content, told TheWrap that Regal’s premium screens are among its most valuable assets, and that the level of commitment distributors make to the theatrical marketplace shapes how those screens are allocated.
Hunger Games Takes the Screens Instead
Both chains are instead holding their IMAX houses for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which opens November 20. Gamble confirmed that Cinemark’s pre-sales for the Hunger Games prequel are through the roof, and described Lionsgate as one of the chain’s major studio partners.
The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth is directed by David Fincher from a script by Quentin Tarantino, with Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role. The story opens in Los Angeles in 1977, eight years after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II co-star. Tickets went on sale November 2 at the film’s official site.
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