SAN ANTONIO — The promise of a heroine delivering movie theaters from a villainous year of financial woes is a great storyline.
"I think in December, we all have high hopes on Wonder Woman," Tim Handren said.
Handren is the CEO for Santikos Entertainment. Seven of the company's nine theaters remain open during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The impact of state-regulated theater capacity, customer apprehension, and lack of new movies to show created nine months no one saw coming.
"We've not had a single month where we covered our costs," he said. "We've lost money every single month."
He said 80% of the movies due on the big screen got delayed. Some have gone directly to streaming services.
"We've had probably 90 to 95% loss in revenue for the industry," he said.
According to the National Association of Theater Owners, nearly 70% of local cinemas will shut down for good or file for bankruptcy by the spring without Congress's financial assistance.
The holiday box office bet is Wonder Woman 1984, scheduled to hit theaters on Christmas Day. But Warner Bros is splitting the Amazon princess's arrival between theaters and streaming app HBO Max.
"So, I don't think streaming kills the theater experience," Handren said.
He's read through opinions suggesting Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max is 'death by streaming' to movie theaters. The CEO disagrees.
"Does that kill us?" he said. "No, it doesn't."
Handren said movie-goers still crave the theater experience. He does not think the at-home viewing can duplicate that.
According to the company leader, HBO Max's current subscription membership does not pose a threat to the movie theaters. At Santikos Entertainment, he said they are fielding hundreds of requests for theater rental to watch the film. He described the response as incredible.
While the movie may bring the most profitable payday in months, Handren is banking on another deal.
"Symbolically, I think that we can draw a lot of parallels to what Wonder Woman stands for in the movie biz," he said. "She's not going to save 2020."
Handren said Santikos would announce a deal securing the company's financial viability for the next three years.
He declined to share details about the venture beyond the three months it took to bring it to fruition.
Members of his management team found out Thursday during a meeting about the state of Santikos going into 2021. The official announcement, he said, would happen next week.