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Four studios now not honoring theaters' exclusive 'clearance' requests

  • Four Hollywood studios have now backed off from supporting the movie-exhibition practice called "clearance," which has drawn scrutiny (and lawsuits) from the Justice Dept.
  • Movie theaters by tradition have asked studios to support the practice, allowing some of them exclusive access to showing some movies in a market.
  • But with Lions Gate (LGF) and Universal (NASDAQ:CMCSA) joining Paramount (VIA, VIAB) and Fox (FOX, FOXA, which has stopped honoring clearance starting with this weekend's X-Men: Apocalypse), a majority of major studios are now lined up against.
  • That means some films may see wider or different distribution as theaters show them who wouldn't previously have been able to. And it may act as a check against increasingly powerful theater chains, including AMC, Regal (NYSE:RGC) and Cinemark (NYSE:CNK). Last year, iPic Entertainment sued AMC and Regal, charging that clearance was designed to drive business away; that case is scheduled for an October trial.
  • Disney (NYSE:DIS), Warner Bros. (NYSE:TWX) and Sony Pictures (NYSE:SNE) haven't yet indicated any change in stance toward the practice, though.

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