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Entertainment Social Arena #4 - Movie Magic Drives Entertainment
Highlighting the surge in "Cinetainment," where social entertainment venues blend cinema, streaming IP, and experiential attractions. Major theater chains are investing over $2.2 billion to modernize with attractions like amusement arcades, bowling, and immersive social experiences. Companies like Es Vedra Cinemas are rebranding venues (e.g., Hooky) to incorporate entertainment, IP-based attractions, and social dining. Streaming giants like Netflix are expanding into location-based experiences, opening ‘Netflix House’ venues featuring themed zones, immersive games, and VR experiences, with plans for multiple locations by 2027. Movie studios such as Paramount and NBCUniversal are developing IP-driven venues with live experiences, themed dining, and immersive attractions based on blockbuster franchises. The sector also sees increasing adoption of XR and VR technology, with companies like Sandbox VR, Zero Latency, and Sony leveraging licensed properties for immersive entertainment. These trends reflect a strategic shift toward blending physical, digital, and IP-driven experiences, presenting new investment opportunities in the evolving social entertainment landscape.
This is the Entertainment Social Arena, issue Number 4, movie Magic Drives Entertainment. By Kevin Williams, exploring Cine-tainment. The appearance of social entertainment venues based on movie and streaming properties has gathered momentum in recent years. Cinema entertainment venues have come to be defined as cine-tainment sites but also include an extensive e-tertainment element. As all in social entertainment have been seeing a major investment insurgence, we look at the new drivers in the scene. Recently, the eight biggest theatre chains in the US and Canada announced that they plan to invest more than $2.2 billion to modernize. Theatre owners have been adding attractions like pickleball and ziplines, in addition to upgrading their auditoriums, but there were also plans to invest heavily in social entertainment components to these and other venues, an attempt by the movie theatre business to address flagging box office and supercharge their offering by including an entertainment element.
Speaker 1:Many of the plans by cinema chains to enter the cinetainment scene have been evolving. This was illustrated by the reveal that Es Vedra Cinemas, the parent company behind several cinema venues, has decided to rebrand one of their Evo Entertainment sites to the new hooky branding. The first example of this sees the previously new Evo Entertainment Hutto Texas facility. The previously new Evo Entertainment Hutto Texas facility that saw construction start in June 2024 for a May 2025 opening rebranded to Hooky. The rebranded 54,000-square-foot facility comprising eight screening rooms, including an IMAX room, along with a 5,500-square-foot amusement arcade, a 12-lane bowling setup and full-service kitchen supporting QR ordering. S Vedra Cinemas worked with branding agency Helms Workshop to create the hooky brand, which is intended to be rolled out nationally. The company spun from the owners of the remaining Evo Entertainment chain, elevate Entertainment Group EEG in February 2025, while Esvedra retained the newly rebranded Hookie along with Violet Crown Cinemas and Showbiz Cinemas venues. As part of the separating agreement, the Hookie brand has been linked to a new development at Nashville Yards Entertainment Complex in Tennessee, which had previously been earmarked for a 48,000 square foot EVO entertainment site. At the same time, eeg has started to accelerate their own rollout plans with a new concept for food hubs in support of the entertainment venues. This is just one example of the accelerated investment in this sphere.
Speaker 1:But not all projects are adding amusement to a cinema. Some are looking towards a unique venue based on movie and streaming properties. The explosion in developing physical entertainment spaces based on IP from movies and streaming has grown in importance. The recent CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas and CineEurope 2025 in Barcelona saw discussions on further developments in this direction. Not just the big movie studios are looking at this approach, but the ascending streaming service providers have focused on looking at bringing their popular properties to life as entertainment venue offerings, igniting a brand new aspect of the social entertainment landscape. One of these was the launch of Netflix House, an experiential entertainment venue concept by Netflix. One of these was the launch of Netflix House, an experiential entertainment venue concept by Netflix, one of the world's leading entertainment services with over 300 million paid memberships across TV series, films and games, set to open at Galleria Dallas in the fall of 2025, their entry into the LBE space. The venue will occupy a 110,000 square foot space, previously a Marshall Fields store, and will feature themed restaurants, interactive games and retail merchandise from popular Netflix shows. This will be quickly followed the same year with the opening of the Philadelphia site at King of Prussia Mall, occupying a 100,000 square foot space. We have learned that these venues will comprise zones branded Netflix Bites Restaurant and Bar Area, netflix Replay Immersive Attraction and Amusement Area, along with a themed Top 9 mini golf course, two Dumb Theater Screen Room with unique experiences based on IP Wednesday Squid Game, along with Stranger Things and One Piece as escape rooms. It was also confirmed that Sandbox VR will be installing VR arenas at the sites running IP-based experiences like those already in operation called Netflix Virtuals. We discuss further later in the report.
Speaker 1:In a surprise move in June, during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it was revealed that Netflix will increase rollout for the first number of Netflix house entertainment venues, with new plans looking in 2027 of opening an additional Las Vegas venue on the Strip Boulevard, las Vegas, after opening Netflix Philadelphia and Netflix Dallas later this year. Initially focused on repopulating abandoned department store-sized spaces a major development and commitment to a project that has yet to open a first facility, let alone gauge the audience reaction to the implementation of this ambitious concept. At the Cannes event, the details of the composition of these LBE venues were revealed. Netflix has been active in the social entertainment scene, promoting their shows such as with the Army of the Dead, viva Las Vengeance, a VR experience that toured and is now resident at Area 15 in Vegas, as well as the squid game, the Experience which opened in New York. Most of these marketing promotions have been temporary, with over 40 live experiences rolled out. Netflix experimented with elements that will now be deployed in Netflix House, such as having opened in 2023 a three-week pop-up version of the Netflix Bites full-service restaurant in Los Angeles, the temporary F&B concept moved to Las Vegas inside the MGM Grand Casino and may explain the addition of the area to the rollout of the Netflix House concept as a permanent facility. This marks what some have called a strategic pivot by the corporation known for its streaming service and recognized IP. That the Netflix operation has accelerated the rollout even before their first facility is opened underlines the investment being placed in what is seen as the defining of the Fidgetle business from a movie and streaming perspective.
Speaker 1:During the build-up for CinemaCon 2025, it was revealed that a new venue based on the Paramount Pictures IP of Top Gun was being developed by Paramount Global partnering with hotel and live entertainment corporation Advent Allen Entertainment. The concept is set for flagship deployment in a purpose-built facility located on the site of the Strat Hotel in Las Vegas, embracing the fighter jet theme of the movie, with live experiences and themed dining, along with a unique jet fighter simulator attraction as raised by our sister publication, the Stinger Report. The concept of a jet fighter simulator attraction igniting memories of the failed Magic Edge venue concept from 30 years ago. See previous coverage for more on the trials and tribulations of that concept. Returning to the more traditional cinema sector, investing in cinetainment, we have seen Cinemark throw open the doors of their first Gamescape facility in El Paso, texas. A mixture of amusement attractions, f&b and cinema auditorium. The 38,000 square foot venue with 18 lane bowling, laser tag and seven screening rooms estimated to cost $20 million and is a new concept for the cinema chain to pivot into cinetainment. As the site readies to throw open its doors, it was revealed the plans for a second venue. Real estate group Woodbury Corporation announced that they plan to develop a gamescape space as part of their new Crossroads mixed-use space in Omaha, nebraska. Speaking of Cinemark and the operation held a few weeks after CinemaCon 2025, their management conference for theater operators and on display were some of the new thinking in the foyer and cinetainment sector. One presentation turned many heads with motion actuator giant D-Box presenting an example of their race sim investment. The company presented their ASRX Sim Racing Pod, a standalone racing simulator with actuators and an immersive curved screen, all in a pay-to-play package, self-operated. The platform, which was also seen at CinemaCon 2025, was presented as part of a new entertainment concept that Cinemark, advanced, sim Racing and Dbox will reveal shortly. Watch this space.
Speaker 1:The growth of cinetainment-style venues has seen much action amongst merger and acquisition of those developers of cinema business supported with a strong entertainment element. The ability for existing theatre chains to add an entertainment component is restricted by available space if not considered from the start. One of those new theatre operators that incorporated entertainment from the start can be seen with the light chain of venues. It was reported that the group was acquired by hospitality entrepreneur Luke Johnson and Risk Capital Partners, along with a co-investment from Melcorpo, investing more than £15 million £20.29 million over the next two years with the aim of doubling its size, currently operating 13 sites. This effort to grow the Cinnatainment offering has seen their venues increase their entertainment attraction offering. The Light, huddersfield recently opened revealed a partnership with Batfast, the projection ball-tracked sports game platform installed. This follows Batfast partnering with Sixes and their sports social entertainment Sportainment, competitive socialising venue, along with their new moonshot Baseball Site, but has also collaborated with venues such as Gravity Max, roxy Lanes, tenpin and many others. We will go into much more detail regarding the emergence of the sportainment sector impact on social entertainment incoming exclusive coverage.
Speaker 1:Regarding other cinetainment venues, we have seen a resurgence of chain venue development Sites such as Roadhouse Cinema Chain and their new Roadies Lanes Games plus Gastropub and Railyard Gaming plus Gastropub venues Combining a strong social entertainment, also B&B theatres and several new openings of amusement entertainment alongside their cinema business. New investment into this sphere from other chains like Film Alley opening in Breckenridge, little Rock, Arkansas, part of a chain of five entertainment infused theaters in the large or Megaplex, opening their first sinertainment venue at downtown Daybreak in South Jordan, utah. The venue comprising an 18-lane bowling space supported with amusement and dining areas. All supporting the venue comprising an 18-lane bowling space supported with amusement and dining areas. All supporting the cinema component of an eight-screen theater. This part of the 18-facility chain. While some look towards traditional amusement and bowling technology to augment their movie business, we have seen some of these venues employ XR technology and now we have new XR technology turning the tables to offer new ways to consume the movie-going experience. Emerging newcomer Cosim have added film screening to their roster of live sports and performance presentations screened on their immersive CX system, a premium wide-field LED dome LED screen technology based on their planetarium business, now operating two theatres LA, dallas, with two to come Atlanta, detroit, atlanta Detroit what has been defined as shared reality SR. The immersive screen experience is supported by VIP dining and cocktails to create a new level of audience engagement. Now the operation has licensed a specially curated presentation of the 1999 sci-fi blockbuster film the Matrix.
Speaker 1:Warner Brothers Cosm has become one of the fastest moving immersive experience venue developers, also offering at their sites flexible event spaces within the 30,000-square-foot venues. The operation announced the plans for their fifth venue being Cleveland, in a partnership with Bedrock and Rock Entertainment Group REG. The new venue will anchor Bedrock's mixed-use rock block development in downtown Cleveland. Cosm had previously worked with Bedrock on plans for their fourth venue in Detroit and the third venue in Atlanta. Building on IP, while the cinema sector is looking to offer entertainment alongside the screened movie properties, we now see those movie studios' major IP bridging the divide between physical and digital fidgetal with properties based on popular blockbusters turned into immersive experiences with social entertainment vibes. Much of this charted during the Licensing Expo 2025 event recently covered in our sister publication, the Stinger Report.
Speaker 1:Properties that have been developed into their own standalone venue experiences have gathered momentum in recent years. One of those XR experiences included Army of the Dead, based on the Netflix property. The corporation has doubled down on a fidgetal future, announcing details of their Netflix house LBE concept crammed with licensed entertainment. As we discussed previously, one of these venues will be in Las Vegas, a territory crammed with new IP license developments. The new Area 15 hub saw the opening of the John Wick experience, a mission room adventure with F and B themed around the Lionsgate property. While also located in the hub is Universal Horror Unleashed an all-year-round immersive horror experience based on the NBCUniversal IP. Ahead of the Vegas opening, the developers' Universal Destinations and Experiences division revealed plans for a second venue based on the horror concept to open in Chicago in 2027.
Speaker 1:Nbcuniversal Movie IP has fully embraced the LBE landscape, from immersive experiences to amusement product placement. The recent Jurassic World Rebirth movie release has seen, in the first five days, a record box office of $145.3 million, being the sixth movie in the Jurassic Park Jurassic World series. And we have seen amusement development based on this property from Raw Thrills with their Jurassic Park Arcade Environmental Cabinet release in 2020. Raw Thrills has become a powerhouse developing popular pieces based on movie IP, other examples being the launch of their Top Gun Maverick Arcade based on the Paramount Pictures IP. This is a movie property we have already mentioned previously, planned to be turned into a LBE immersive entertainment venue. The deployment of XR investment as leverage for brands into the Fidgetle landscape has been a key element of this new investment.
Speaker 1:We have seen current immersive technology employed to create these experiences. One of those developers is Sandbox VR, with over 60 international facilities based on their multiplayer free-roam VR arena experience. Having surpassed $200 million in lifetime sales, with $1.7 million in annual revenue across US venues, with plans to roll out some 200 franchised locations by 2027, having raised additional investment of $6.8 million towards this growth, the company licenses movie and show IP for their immersive game experiences, such as the Squid Games series or the Rebel Moon franchise and, most recently, stranger Things Catalyst, all from Netflix. It is interesting to observe that Netflix has only looked at commercial entertainment VR development, with none of these properties released as consumer VR titles. This relationship has cultivated to Sandbox VR, working on the streaming service's new LBE facility concept, netflix House.
Speaker 1:As we stated above, sandbox VR will be installing unique VR attractions on-site, to be called Netflix Virtuals, offering a selection of specially curated VR game experiences based on IP. Based on IP. This will be the latest deployment of unique VR game experiences based on Movie IP deployed in studio-owned LBE properties. A few years ago, we saw the launch by Sony Pictures of their concept venue Wondiverse, a location-based entertainment facility that comprised a mixed entertainment and hospitality offering, first opened in Oak Brook Center, chicago, during 2024, along with including amusement, bad boys, race sims, zombie land, bumper cars and uncharted escape room attractions based on movie and game properties from Sony, the corporation also installed off-the-shelf VR amusement from Hologate, based on the Ghostbusters property, and invested in their own free-roaming VR attraction based on the Jumanji property developed by the reformed the Void operation, a venue concept that saw a difficult birthing and critical reception. One of the leading developers of VR free-roaming arena attractions is Zero Latency, who have also embraced IP properties to offer across their 120 venues, having seen more than 5 million players with plans for 35 more sites in various stages of deployment. With plans for 35 more sites in various stages of deployment.
Speaker 1:Licensing IP from video game publishers Ubisoft with Far Cry VR and, more recently, the new Space Marines VR based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a property crossing board games, video games and now planned movie streamed series. Continued immersive amusement and attraction investment, proven a powerful vehicle for movie properties. Leading developer Hero Zone VR has revealed that they will be licensing and releasing Terminator 2 Judgment Day in partnership with Studio Canal. Canal+, the VR developer, proposes to release in September the VR game based on the property, made available across their 450 installed free-roam arenas. This is the second time that the highly influential Terminator IP has been used as a vehicle for VR technology, most notably, the free-roam VR attraction Terminator Salvation, released in 2018 by Developer Spaces in a partnership with Cinemark. Several pop-up installations of their incarnation of the dystopian sci-fi universe saw US release at the time, though would never go on to achieve the aspirations of the developer.
Speaker 1:Other XR platforms that have turned to the marketability of including licensed game and movie properties in their library is MR Developer Immersive Game Box, known for several games based on movie properties in their library.
Speaker 1:Is MR Developer Immersive Game Box, known for several games based on movie properties, ranging from licensing, with Netflix releasing their own immersive enclosure interpretation of Squid Games, as well as Floor is Lava, along with licensing from Sony, ghostbusters and Angry Birds.
Speaker 1:Most recently, the company has announced a partnership with Warner Bros Discovery Global Experiences to release a Batman adventure for their platform. Warner Bros Discovery have seen success from their video game movie properties, recently with a Minecraft movie seeing a $162.8 million box office from its April release to July. Having again worked with Raw Thrills to create an amusement release based on this IP, with Minecraft, dungeons, arcade in the amusement scene, while also partnering to create a travelling pop-up immersive experience. The restructuring of the movie studio universe, playing a part in fuelling the investigation into new areas of business, with developments such as Skydance Media merging with Paramount, the restructuring and the splitting of Warner Bros Discovery and the separation of Lionsgate from STARS what was described by one observer. These developments are turning IP into lifestyle, allowing characters and movie representations to be turned into real experiences, many within digital environments. We can expect to see many other studios and production houses leverage their IP into the social player space.
