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The nation’s third largest theater chain saw sales jump 50% and losses narrow sharply last quarter, underscoring the rebound of moviegoing despite a sluggish release schedule in August and September.

Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus insisted today that dual Hollywood strikes are nowhere near as threatening to exhibition as Covid was amid hand-wringing that a second massive hit to movie theaters is unfolding.

Marcus Corporation CEO Greg Marcus says he’s encouraged by the recent diversity and consistency of theatrical films and is “not ready to throw in the towel yet” on the notion of box office returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Marcus, the fourth largest U.S. movie chain, said a trickle of films for the three months ended in September impacted earnings but were offset by the recovered Marcus Hotel & Resorts, which surpassed pre-pandemic revenues. Both businesses were up from last year but theaters saw a slowdown from Q2 to Q3.

A handful of smaller films will start to test audience enthusiasm for movie theaters without big tentpoles. It’s been a rocky summer for specialty releases, and an uphill climb as arthouses emerge from Covid jitters with franchise films sucking up oxygen and screens. But superheroes are on hiatus.

Greg Marcus said first-quarter sales for Marcus Theatres surged from a year ago; that the film slate, while improving, is still not back to where it was pre-Covid; and that while studios have committed to theatrical windows, big streamers have not despite — in his view — overwhelming arguments for cinematic release.

Marcus Theatres is transforming an auditorium at its Gurnee Mills theater outside Chicago into a sports bar with high-def monitors and food and drink starting with March Madness as chains experiment with new ways to attract patrons.

Greg Marcus, CEO of Marcus Corp., was shocked when Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters went dark. “I happened to notice that. It caught my attention,” he joked. “I said, ‘What? Arclight is not reopening?’ Arclight’s reopening. I’ll take that bet with anybody who wants to bet me on that. Those theaters are so productive nationally that they will reopen. I just don’t know who will control them. We certainly welcome those discussions.”

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorThe CEO of the nation’s fourth-largest exhibitor warned studios not to “leave a good party in pursuit of a bad one” but called the debate over PVOD overblown.Greg Marcus, chief of Marcus, said consumers are likely to drift away from watching video-on-demand relesaes when things normalize post-pandemic. “The market for PVOD may not be particularly deep when the consumer has all options available,” he said on a conference call to discuss quarterly results.