Secret Cinema Books Record 'Pirates' Pre-Sales
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- TodayTix acquired Secret Cinema in 2022 for a reported $100 million, with co-founder Merritt Baer now leading the company after previous CEO Max Alexander and founder Fabien Riggall departed.
- Secret Cinema signed a 10-year lease for a Greenwich Peninsula venue near London's O2 stadium, with "Pirates of the Caribbean" booked as the inaugural production next spring.
- "Pirates of the Caribbean" presales are the biggest in Secret Cinema history, according to Baer, who said the production will feature flying, water, and sequences in collaboration with Disney Theatrical Group.
- "Grease" returns to Secret Cinema starting July 22, with Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson playing Teen Angel; last year's run was Secret's highest-selling summer run ever.
- Under Baer's new model, audiences can opt for seated tickets and dip in and out of action rather than following pre-assigned storylines — "Grease" staged the film on about 30 screens inside a nearly 50,000 square-foot space with live musical numbers, developed in collaboration with Paramount.
- Secret Cinema has three to four productions in active development with major studios and is in active conversations about permanent venues in U.S. and other international cities, with announcements expected within a couple of years.
Why it matters: By trading pop-up secrecy for a 10-year Greenwich Peninsula lease and a studio-friendly format that lets seated theatergoers dip in and out, TodayTix is converting Secret Cinema from a cash-strapped guerrilla outfit into a venue-anchored, multi-year experiential business — Disney, Paramount, and three to four other studio partners now have a scalable U.K. pipeline, and 'Pirates' presales are the first test of whether the bigger, broader audience can sustain it.
