SAG-AFTRA strike ends: What comes next for the box office?

The Hollywood actors' strike has seemingly ended after SAG-AFTRA came to a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Wednesday, November 8, with a vote expected to ratify this agreement to come later this week. Assuming the guild approves, and all productions go back to work in full, what comes next for movie theaters and will this have enough momentum to fill seats?

IMAX (IMAX) CEO Richard Gelfond joins Yahoo Finance to break down his reaction to the strike ending and how it will affect the slate of movies in production — and already slated for release — going forward.

"Films that are not yet in production, it's a little bit more complicated because you have stars who had different commitments for different periods of time and you've got to juggle things," Gelfond explains. "I think the '24 slate is going to be fine and the '25 slate is going to be phenomenal." Gelfond named Dune: Part 2, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Deadpool 3 as blockbusters that will get people motivated to be back in IMAX theaters.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

- Here in studio, at Yahoo Finance, we've got Richard Gelfond, the CEO of IMAX. Richard, great to see you. You see the news come across, what was your immediate reaction? What went through your mind?

RICHARD GELFOND: My immediate reaction was ecstasy. I was actually at a benefit and I started high fiving random people, and they thought I had too much to drink. But then I explained the reason was joy that finally that cloud lifted up.

I think it could have been settled sooner. I think as in these things always people get really dug in. And as the ideal settlement is, no one is completely happy, but they're always afraid to make that leap.

But my understanding now is that all most-- on the film side anyway, I don't know that much about the television side, that the films that were in production are basically going back into production quickly. So films like "Deadpool" that were partially shot, they had known for a while that they were going to resume. So there's a pretty quick resumption to that in what's going on.

And other things like reshoots are happening quickly. I think films that are not yet in production, it's a little bit more complicated because you have stars who have different commitments for different periods of time, and you've got to juggle things. But I think the '24 slate is going to be fine. And I think the '25 slate is going to be phenomenal, from what I know already.

- Richard, when we talk about what's needed to get people back into the theaters, and you have a unique perspective at IMAX because it's much more of an experience something that the consumer is willing and wants to spend money on. At this point, now that we do have the actor's strike resolved, when you look ahead to the 2024, 2025 film slate, which ones are at the top of the list for you in terms of where there's that hype, where there's that expectation that we're going to see people come back in large amounts?

RICHARD GELFOND: Well, it's still early to say. But I think "Dune: Part Two" which is coming out in March, there's a lot of expectation for that. And as you know, it's Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, fantastic cast. And people at IMAX have seen part of it and have very high expectations for that.

I think you've got to say "The Joker" later in the year is going to be fantastic. And as you know, that's with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix. And then "Deadpool" coming out during the year, certainly high expectations.

And then later in the year, the prequel to "Lion King." And when you look ahead to '25, you've got the new "Superman" DC reboot coming out, you have "Formula 1" with Brad Pitt coming out then. I mean '25 kind of-- oh, "Avatar" coming out again. How could you forget "Avatar"

- Again.

RICHARD GELFOND: There's a lot out there.

- There is a lot out there. And that brings me to the whole sequel discussion and what we were just talking about with [INAUDIBLE]. Now when you take a look at what happened at the box office this past weekend, yes, it was just the debut weekend, but the Marvel franchise seems like it has fallen out of favor with viewers. Is that fair to say or is it still too soon?

RICHARD GELFOND: Well, it's definitely too soon. I mean, it's made $20, but $30 billion, I forget. I get my billions confused. But Bob Iger himself said that maybe it had gotten spread a little too thin between television and too many releases. And I think that's one of many factors.

But I also think it's always dangerous to jump to conclusions too quickly. So after the opening weekend of "Avatar" people were betting against Jim Cameron. And then when they heard what Chris Nolan was working on, they said, oh, a movie about a physicist, that's not going to work. And almost $1 billion later, that was wrong. And I wouldn't bet against Kevin Feige. Yeah, my money's on him.