Theatrical in Latin America isn’t in decline — it’s at a crossroads. In a world where the feed dictates what matters, cinema’s real strength isn’t in competing with streaming or AI. It’s in reclaiming what only theatres can deliver: synchrony, emotion, and cultural ignition. At CineLATAM, AGM’s Chief Strategy Officer Adam Cunningham showed why the region is uniquely positioned to lead in this new era.
The Real Threat Isn’t Streaming
The global conversation often frames streaming and AI as cinema’s biggest threats. But the real challenge is deeper: attention itself. Infinite content has flattened cultural moats like distribution and celebrity. What remains scarce — and valuable — is time spent together, focused on one story. Theatrical delivers that scarcity in a way no algorithm can replicate.
LATAM: Headroom, Not Decline
Latin America is still climbing back to pre-2019 levels, but the numbers reveal untapped upside rather than structural weakness. Mexico and Brazil represent enormous scale, yet remain under-screened in many areas. Premium formats like IMAX and 4DX regularly sell out, proving audiences are ready to pay for experiences that feel exceptional. Add in mobile-first discovery habits powered by WhatsApp, TikTok, and YouTube, and the region shows all the signals of a market primed for ignition.
From Ritual to Ignition
Cinema in LATAM thrives as a group ritual — from weekend clustering to holiday surges. But ritual alone isn’t enough. To win in the attention economy, theatrical must harness ignition: the cultural sparks that spread before marketing can catch up. Tracking real-time signals like pre-sales velocity, PLF occupancy, and WhatsApp referrals turns campaigns into systems that move as fast as the audience.
What’s Next
AGM believes the path forward isn’t about buying more visibility. It’s about designing for ignition, programming to peaks, and making premium capacity work harder. With decades of global theatrical expertise, paired with proprietary AI tools that track and interpret attention in real time, AGM helps studios and exhibitors not only identify cultural sparks but scale them into ecosystems. By combining data, creativity, and cultural fluency, we deliver solutions that convert attention into momentum — and momentum into revenue.
Discover exactly how AGM’s expertise and tools help studios and exhibitors thrive in the new attention economy.
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