12:09 PM EDT, 04/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- North America's box office will likely rise 7% year-on-year to $9.1 billion in 2025 regardless of the economic uncertainty, Wedbush said in a note Wednesday.

Based on upcoming releases at CinemaCon, major studios showed a "compelling" and "genre-balanced" 2025 and 2026 that will drive people to theaters, Wedbush analysts said.

"The theater business has historically been resilient in recessions, with attendance driven by content quality and viewed as a relatively inexpensive escape from reality," they said.

"We are more concerned about content quality than with overarching economic pressure on attendance," they added. They expect a further increase of 7.5% in 2026 to $9.8 billion.

Wedbush kept Imax ( IMAX ) as its top pick for the sector, expecting it to gain further market share thanks to IMAX ( IMAX ) screens.

The analysts also said they are warming up to Cinemark (CNK) and AMC (AMC) as their shares have fallen below their price targets on "perceived economic weakness, despite favorable industry tailwinds in a typically recession-resistant space."

Wedbush retained its outperform rating on National CineMedia ( NCMI ) , saying that the box office rebound should create some safety for advertisers looking for strong returns.

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