ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The movie business saw multiple highs and lows throughout 2025, and as Mitchell Theaters owner Brian Mitchell tells it, theaters in Southwest Kansas were not immune to those trends.
“2025 was a lot like 2024, it had its ups and downs. The fall ended up being slower than what we'd wanted to see, but the holidays came through for us and gave things a bit of a boost, especially with 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Zootopia 2,' which is STILL going really strong,” Mitchell said. “The Christmas holidays also saw some great releases, including 'Avatar: Fire and Ash,' which is still holding strong, and 'Anaconda.' All in all, I would say 2025 was pretty good for us as a whole. The first quarter of the year was slow for us, which we anticipated, but it looks like this year will see a boost for the first quarter of this year, especially since the holdovers from the holidays are still going pretty strong. 'The Minecraft Movie' and 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' and those video game movies did really well for us and brought in a bunch of younger moviegoers, which was great. Horror movies also seemed to do pretty well, which surprised me somewhat. There were some remakes and original movies that came and went, like I always say, if you've got a good mix of movies for people to choose from, that's when we do best.”
With 2025 having ended up solidly, Mitchell said he is looking forward to 2026.
“Even just this month, we've got some movies we expect will be gangbusters, like 'Primate' and 'Mercy,' which stars Chris Pratt, and one movie that's getting a lot of social media word-of-mouth is 'Iron Lung,' which is scheduled to come out at the end of the month, and we have been bombarded by emails requesting that movie, so we've got it booked,” Mitchell said. “Going into February, we've got 'Wuthering Heights' and 'GOAT' and 'I Can Only Imagine 2.' We've also got 'Scream 7' coming out, and I think March will end up being really big for us since that's when we've got 'Hopper' coming out, along with 'Project Hail Mary.' A big release for April for us will be 'The Super Mario Galaxy.' We're definitely seeing a much more lively start to 2026 than we did in 2025. Since COVID-19, the movie theater business hasn't fully recovered from that, and I honestly don't think it ever will since the business has changed and people's habits have changed. However, we do still have plenty of moviegoers out there, so I would say things are rather leveling off, and I think some of the movies this year will bring out a lot of people. I don't think 2026 will bring us back to pre-COVID-19 levels, but I think it'll still be a pretty solid and successful year with everything we've got in the pipeline.”
Mitchell said he feels 2026 will be pretty steady throughout the entire year.
“It used to be the holiday/Christmas season and summer season were the big months, but something that's happened in the industry the past few years is that realization of if there are good movies playing year-round, people will come,” Mitchell said. “That's led to movies being spaced out somewhat throughout the year to keep bringing people back, which I think is great. That makes for a better moviegoing environment because there's a variety of choices all year round. Granted, the summer season and the holiday season will always be big since that's when children are out of school and families have more free time, but people like to watch movies all year round.”
Mitchell also praised the variety of films set to be released throughout 2026.
“I've always said I love it when we can offer a wide variety of options – if you like the video game movies, we've got that, if you like the romantic comedies, we've got that, or if you like more action/horror movies, we've got that,” Mitchell said. “There are also more comedies coming out recently, and it's always great being in a movie theater and laughing with other people. Between COVID-19 and the labor strikes, there was a lot of damage done to the industry, and things are slowly coming back, which is good. We're proud to have a good pipeline of movies coming in. I know there's been talk of Netflix buying Warner Bros. and some of those potential deals, and there are also a lot of angel studios putting out great movies like Amazon and Apple. There are a lot of tech companies getting in the movie business as well as more independent studios, and it just shows how much the movie industry is changing as time goes on.”
Mitchell also gave his thoughts on those deals.
“It kind of reminds me of when Disney bought 20th Century Fox – deals like that usually end up with fewer total movies coming out, but a lot of times, those movies have bigger budgets and end up being more blockbusters,” Mitchell said. “I know there have been some opinions expressing doom and gloom over what these kinds of deals could mean, but like I said, the industry changes and changes over time due to business practices and potential revenue streams and other circumstances. I can't fully say what's going to happen, but I personally don't see it being a doom and gloom situation like some are projecting. We have Video On Demand and simultaneous theater and VOD releases, and I think theaters and streaming can coexist. I know Disney has longer theatrical windows because they recognize that revenue stream, and I know some movies get released on VOD because they finish in theaters more quickly, which just happens sometimes. With VOD, however, you also have to deal with the piracy issue and all of that mess, which has been an issue for a LONG time.”
Overall, Mitchell said, he hopes to see a lot of moviegoers throughout 2026.
“Like always, I want to thank all of our customers for choosing our theatres for their moviegoing experience, and I also want to thank our staff for being so amazing and working so hard to take care of our patrons,” Mitchell said. “I also want to remind everyone again Mitchell Theaters is with Fandago now in regards to people being able to purchase tickets online, and we're really excited about that. If you've got a free afternoon or evening and you're looking for something to do, come out and see a movie!”
