Sony film chief Tom Rothman says Hollywood’s push for theaters is not over, citing record weekend as he weighs Tom Holland’s future

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group president Tom Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter that Sony is seeing strong momentum for theatrical releases, pointing to the studio’s record-setting weekend performance as evidence that movies in theaters still have audience pull.

The remarks were made in a wide-ranging interview focused on what comes next for Spider-Man and the broader slate of Sony’s franchise business, including the future of Tom Holland in the role that has anchored Sony’s Spider-Man movies. Rothman framed the current moment as a rebuttal to prior arguments that the theatrical window was finished, saying, “All the geniuses who said that theatrical movies were dead, they're not necessarily right.”

Rothman’s comments also looked beyond Spider-Man, with the interview addressing how Sony thinks about sequels and franchise continuation across multiple properties. The discussion included “Jumanji,” a title that has become part of Sony’s tentpole lineup, and Rothman’s approach to maintaining franchise brand recognition with future installments and related creative decisions.

The interview additionally referenced the Beatles as part of Sony’s longer-running strategy around music and story properties, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage of the conversation. Rothman did not frame the topic in terms of a single project in the details provided here, but the inclusion indicates that Sony views music-based IP as an ongoing category within its entertainment pipeline.

Sony’s view of theatrical performance, as described by the interview, is connected to the industry debate over whether audiences have permanently moved away from theaters due to streaming and home viewing options. By tying his point to the studio’s own weekend result, Rothman positioned Sony’s current business outcomes as the practical counterexample to those claims about theaters’ decline.

For viewers, the practical effect of the interview is that Sony’s franchise planning, and how it prioritizes theatrical releases, appears to remain central to its slate decisions rather than treated as an optional distribution channel. For industry observers, the comments suggest that studio executives continue to treat theatrical openings as a key test of broad audience demand, even as streaming remains a major part of the entertainment ecosystem.

The Hollywood Reporter interview also underscores that key casting and franchise questions, including Holland’s Spider-Man future, remain part of Sony’s public-facing conversation with trade media. How those planning decisions translate into release timing, marketing emphasis, and the relative weight of theatrical performance will be determined in subsequent announcements tied to upcoming projects.