Theater owners are already taking a victory lap in the fight for where movies screen

A year of chaotic movie releases made the future of theaters look uncertain. But as cinemas reopen, hybrid releases that studios so warmly embraced amid COVID-19 are now having to answer in earnest to theater owners and talent attached to high-stakes films.

During this week’s CinemaCon, the National Association of Theatre Owners’ annual convention, prominent figures from the film and exhibition industry rebuked the simultaneous release models and insisted that theaters and exclusive windows will survive after being pummeled during the pandemic. Speaking during this week’s event in Las Vegas, NATO boss John Fithian said that exclusive theatrical release windows “remain vital to the survival and success of the theatrical experience,”...