Sean Gamble is not as much of a risk-taker as his surname suggests. Before Netflix sits down at the big boy table as owners of Warner Bros., the Cinemark CEO would like to see a little “more action,” he says.
On a Wednesday conference call timed to Cinemark’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings, Gamble faced a few questions about Netflix’s stated theatrical plans should the streamer’s $83 billion acquisition of WB, including its legendary film studio, go through. Gamble and the rest of the industry have good reason to be skeptical about Ted Sarandos‘ dedication to the theatrical exhibition industry considering how Netflix — and streaming in general — has upended the business.
Gamble said that “for a long while” he’s been “optimistic” that Netflix would eventually see the light — in this case the value of theatrical beyond even box office — like fellow techies Amazon and Apple have. To shirk theatrical is to not just forego half the ticket revenue (with the theater getting the other half), but to lose out on what Gamble called “a real, meaningful lift to engagement and retention and interest in those platforms.”
With an entire industry pushing back on Netflix’s pending acquisition (and rooting for Paramount’s hostile takeover attempts), Sarandos and his co-CEO Greg Peters have gone on a media tour meant to make nice with theater owners and the groups that represent them. One major concession for the folks with concession stands: Netflix will commit to the standard 45-day theatrical window for Warner Bros. films, Sarandos said last month.
The remarks gave Gamble “some element of encouragement,” he said, with the italics representing his emphasis.
“We, much like our industry at large, [are] a bit apprehensive in placing too much stock into those comments, given how contradictory they now are to many of the other disparaging remarks that [Netflix has] made over the recent years,” he said, “even as recently as middle of last year, when when there was references to the industry being outmoded as an idea.”
The window is “a good starting point,” Gamble said, but added: “It also begs the question of, ‘Forty-five days to what?’” To PVOD? To Netflix?
“There’s going to need to be more action versus comments,” Gamble said, “and firmer assurances to give everybody comfort that what’s being said is real.”
