How often have you wanted to watch a specific film, only to find it isn’t playing at your local cinema because the latest blockbuster is occupying three whole screens with 12 to 15 showings a day? It makes you wonder why cinemas operate this way.

During the Summer blockbuster season, a little more variety would be so welcome. But after digging into it, the cinema schedules are supposedly dictated by the Hollywood studios. Contractually, cinemas are often tied to showing a film a minimum number of times per day. There is even something known as a “clean screen agreement,” which prevents a cinema from splitting a single screen between two different titles. The dynamic feels decidedly one-sided, with cinemas heavily restricted by distributor demands. Naturally, cinemas don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them, but they certainly seem to get the raw end of the deal at times. I was quite surprised to learn about the “clean screen agreement” and it now makes sense why this doesn’t happen.

Considering the blockbusters that flop or fail to attract footfall, they end up playing to empty cinema screens, with small footfalls for certain showtimes. While having frequent screenings is convenient, seeing rows of empty seats makes you think it would make far more sense to consolidate those showings. Reducing the frequency could fill more seats per screen, free up room for alternative films, and still generate solid box office revenue.

Naturally, studios counter that they invest hundreds of millions in marketing. Therefore, they expect cinemas to offer numerous screenings to attract casual moviegoers. This encourages audiences to see a film on the big screen rather than waiting for it to appear on streaming services.

Fortunately, some cinemas still offer variety through special screenings, limited runs and dedicated film seasons. My local cinema does this and also hosts special events. Navigating studio contracts is undoubtedly challenging for them and I now appreciate the difficulties they face. While the summer rush often restricts us to blockbusters, the silver lining is that after peak season schedules open up true variety returns to the big screen.