Filmmaker Steven Spielberg participated in the CinemaCon 2026, held April 13-16 in Las Vegas, where spoke about the current situation of the film industry and its projections for the future.
According to Spielberg, it is necessary for film releases to remain in theaters longer before being introduced to the platforms streamingsince a longer stay on the billboard could strengthen the traditional cinema experience compared to immediate consumption on digital platforms.
“The public will find what they want to see, whether they are big or small films, but Studies must help us by considerably expanding the windows of exclusivity“, said.
He added: “Today I have to be ambitious. Do I hear 60 days? Do I hear 120 days?”, when asking how many days movies should be showing in movie theaters.
In that sense, he also highlighted Universal’s recent policy change, which has extended theatrical exhibition windows to longer periods than previous models, and considered that these decisions can contribute to reinforce the permanence of cinema in theaters.
The director too highlighted the importance of maintaining the diversity of content within the industry to not depend on already established franchises and intellectual properties.
“If we only do well-known and branded intellectual property, we will run out of gas. There is nothing more important than offering the public visual stories, and they can be of any type, but we need to tell more original stories,” he said.
Among other topics, Spielberg reflected on his careerespecially in the science fiction genre, and highlighted that since he was a child he was interested in these topics and found in cinema a space for the exploration of ideas.