Why PVR-INOX’s popcorn exit signals a deeper multiplex reset

For decades, multiplex economics in India followed a familiar rhythm: big opening weekends paid for empty weekday shows, and a handful of blockbusters carried the year. That model is now firmly broken. Content volatility has intensified, audience behaviour has fragmented across formats and platforms, and yet the fixed costs of running theatres, from rentals to staffing and utilities, remain prohibitively high.

Hence, theatrical exhibition today is less about riding the blockbuster cycles and more about building resilience through pricing, ancillary revenue streams, and balance-sheet discipline.