Marcus Theatres, the US cinema circuit owned by Milwaukee-based Marcus Corporation, had record third-quarter revenue of $145.0m in the three months to 30 September, up 20.9% on a year earlier, according to results filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 29 October. Same-store attendance rose 16.8%, and the division’s operating income climbed to a record $22.2m, up $9.9m, as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey drove what the circuit’s president called the best summer in its history.
Key facts
- Marcus Theatres revenue, July to September 2026: $145.0m, up 20.9% and a third-quarter record
- Division operating income: a record $22.2m, up $9.9m; adjusted EBITDA $32.3m, up 46.3%
- Same-store admission revenue up 21.8%; attendance up 16.8%; average ticket price up 4.3%
- Concession spending per person up 3.8%
- Top five titles: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Toy Story 5, Minions & Monsters, Moana
Attendance did most of the work
Same-store admission revenue rose 21.8%. Most of that came from a 16.8% rise in tickets sold; the rest came from a 4.3% rise in the average ticket price, which the company put down mainly to pricing changes. Spending on food, drink and merchandise per visitor went up 3.8%, which Marcus credited to film-themed merchandise and pricing.
Marcus also flagged a quirk in the comparison with the national box office. In the third quarter of 2025 it played films from streaming companies that do not report grosses to Comscore, so those takings sat in its own year-earlier revenue but not in the national total. That cost it 2.8 percentage points of growth when set against reported US box office.
Jeffry Tomachek, president of Marcus Theatres, credited Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which he called “the top performing domestic film of all time”, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, along with a broad slate of family titles. Toy Story 5, Minions & Monsters and Moana completed the circuit’s top five for the quarter. Early fourth-quarter performers named by the company include Verity, Other Mommy and Street Fighter.
The group picture
Across Marcus Corporation, which also runs a hotels and resorts division, revenue rose 13.1% to $237.8m, the highest for any quarter in the company’s history. Operating income rose 33.2% to $30.3m and net earnings 15.6% to $18.8m, or $0.60 a diluted share. The year-earlier net figure included a one-off $3.0m insurance gain. The hotels side grew revenue only 2.0%, to $82.0m, and its operating income fell by $1.0m after storm damage at one property, so the cinema business accounted for all of the group’s improvement.
For the first nine months, group revenue was up 10.4% at $623.9m and operating income more than doubled to $38.1m, even though the period had five fewer operating days than in 2025 because of a change to the company’s financial year.
The results fit a wider pattern. Gower Street Analytics has raised its 2026 global box office forecast to $35.7bn, and in India PVR INOX reported its own record July to September quarter on the back of the same two Hollywood titles. More company results are in our Money & Policy coverage and our box office section.
What comes next
Marcus pointed to The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday for the holiday period, saying pre-sales for Avengers: Doomsday were already strong. Its list of 2027 titles it expects to perform well runs from Shrek 5 and Frozen 3 to Avengers: Secret Wars and The Legend of Zelda.
Our reading
Marcus describes itself as the fourth-largest US circuit, with 975 screens at 77 sites in 17 states, run from Milwaukee, so its numbers are a fair read on cinemagoing away from the coastal premium markets. The figure that matters is attendance. Tickets sold rose four times faster than the average price, which suggests that at Marcus, at least, this year’s growth is coming from more people going rather than from each visit costing more.
The caveat is concentration. Two titles led the quarter, and Marcus’s own note on unreported streaming grosses shows how much the comparison base can move. The holiday slate is deep, but the fourth quarter will show whether the circuit can hold this level without another Spider-Man.