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Four-walling
Four-walling is renting the auditorium itself for a flat fee: the renter takes the box office and the risk, and the cinema takes a guaranteed payment whatever the attendance.
The risk changes hands
In a normal booking the cinema carries the risk: it programmes a title, shares the takings, and an empty house is its problem. Four-walling inverts that. Someone pays a fixed fee for the room, keeps whatever comes through the box office, and absorbs the loss if nobody comes.
Four regular customers for this. Community and faith groups putting on a screening for their own audience. Small distributors who want a theatrical showing without negotiating terms — including awards-qualifying runs, where the point is that the film played, not that it sold. Companies doing a private hire. And content owners testing a title in a market.
For the cinema the appeal is certainty, on slots that would otherwise be weak: a Tuesday morning, a second screen on a quiet week. The fee is known before the day.
What the agreement has to cover
- Who keeps concessions. The single most-argued point. Usually the cinema — but say so in writing.
- Staffing and who pays for it. A four-wall still needs projection, front of house and cleaning.
- Content delivery and format. The renter is responsible for a playable package arriving in time, and for any key it needs.
- Technical check before the day. Non-negotiable. Renters routinely arrive with a file that is not a DCP.
- Ticketing. Whether it sells through your system — which is easier for you, and gives the renter a real box office.
- Licensing and rights. The renter warrants they have the right to show it. Get that in the contract.
- Cancellation terms. The fee is the point; make clear when it becomes payable.
Frequently asked questions
What should a four-wall cost?
It is priced off what the slot would otherwise earn plus the cost of opening for it, so it varies enormously by site, screen and time. Build it from your own numbers rather than from a published rate.
Do we keep the concession revenue?
Normally yes, and it is often the larger part of what the cinema makes on the booking. Put it in the agreement explicitly.
Can a four-wall screening be sold through our own ticketing system?
Yes, and it usually should be — the renter gets a real box office and a seat map, and you get the data and the concession pre-orders.
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