1. The single most important concept: four-walling

. The single most important concept: four-walling

Everything in this document depends on understanding one distinction.

Private theatre rental (the consumer product). AMC, Regal, and Alamo all sell auditorium buyouts off a menu. AMC advertises rentals starting around $99 for a title off their pre-cleared list (AMC Theatres investor release), with real-world full-auditorium pricing landing far higher depending on title, size, and daypart (AMC rentals page). Regal runs two tiers, a full Private Screening buyout and a Private Watch Party for up to 30 people (Regal groups and events). Alamo launched at $150 plus a ticket per guest and a concessions minimum (Business Insider); one recent attendee reported roughly $875 for rental, screening rights, and staffing plus a ~$400 F&B minimum (r/AlamoDrafthouse).

The catch: you cannot sell tickets to a private rental, and you can only play what's on their list. It's a party, not an event.

Four-walling (what you actually need). You rent the auditorium for a block of hours, you license the films yourself from the rights holders, and you sell tickets to the public. You keep the box office; the theater keeps concessions and charges you rent plus staffing. This is how repertory marathons, festivals, and one-night-only programs are actually run.

Practical consequence: your first phone call is not to a theater and not to a studio. It's to the theater's events or programming contact to ask a single question: "Do you four-wall, and will you play an outside DCP with an outside license?" If the answer is no, that venue is dead for this project regardless of price.

Ranking of venue types for this project:

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