> so it doesn't matter much how MP negotiates the price, since they don't get much of that anyway But it does matter. Because there's always the potential for

> so it doesn't matter much how MP negotiates the price, since they don't get much of that anyway But it does matter. Because there's always the potential for the theater to go from barely getting any ticket revenue to actively losing money for every ticket sold. Concession sales then start subsidizing box office revenue to pay distributors, eating away at your one profit center. Take two scenarios for how distributors, the ones that take most of the ticket revenue, make money: Scenario A, the status quo: 1000 tickets a day x $10/each x 95% of ticket revenue = $9,500/day going to the distributor Scenario B, assuming MP is a raging success, has captured the majority of the movie-going market, and is able to muscle the theater to give it a 50% discount on ticket rates: (200 non-MP tickets x $10/each + 800 tickets x $5/each) * 95% of ticket revenue = $5,700/day in revenue going to the distributor Even though the distributor still keeps the majority of box office revenue by percentage, that's a substantial discount to what they're used to and they're not going to just let the theater pass that loss off to them completely. So now, instead of just 95% of box office sales, they want 95% with a minimum guarantee, or want concession added into the percentage distribution, which could work out to paying substantially out of concession profit if your ticket sales don't hit that minimum (basically moving the risk back onto the theater, which is exactly what theaters so enthusiastically tried to avoid by moving from fixed-fee distribution to percentage-based distribution). While MP would also theoretically increase foot traffic to the theater, and thereby making up the loss in revenue per ticket by a higher quantity of lower revenue tickets being sold, there's only so much unused capacity during peak time already that there's a physical limit to how much additional volume an existing theater can absorb. If MP increased viewership during off-peak times when the theater's are mostly empty (like midday, midweek showings), then it might be beneficial to both the distributor and theater owner. But otherwise, one of those parties tends to come out of it worse than before MP.