Lede

The cinema is not dying because of Netflix – it is dying because too many chains still treat a night out like a bus ride with popcorn.

Hermit Off Script

I was eyeing Zootopia 2 at CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall (Seoul, South Korea) in ScreenX, and the room itself roasted the UK for me. The chairs actually let you lift your legs like a civilised mammal. The gap between seats felt like it was designed by someone who had met a human spine. No stupid sightline roulette where a taller bloke in front turns your IMAX ticket into an audiobook, like what happens to me sometimes at Cineworld IMAX on Broad Street in Birmingham. There was a little table for drinks and food – basically the kind of comfort you would have at home if you were rich, except the only thing missing was a pause button for a quick break. And the place was full. Barely a few empty seats. So here is the boringly obvious survival plan for cinemas: do not stop innovating. New formats, bigger screens, proper immersion – even virtual-style screens where you see only the picture and nothing else. Make comfort top-notch, too, because if fewer people go, give them more space and stop packing them in like luggage. Build 10 great screens instead of 1 good one and 10 sad ones that cannot compete with a decent telly. And cleaning should be more than a top hotel, every time. Then maybe people will choose to go to the cinema with friends and family instead of waiting at home for streaming.

Zootopia 2 (2025) | Trailer

Zootopia 2 (2025): Roast movie synopsis

Zootopia 2: the snake case that earns your cinema ticket.
A rabbit and a fox chasing a snake should not feel this fresh – yet somehow it does.

Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde stride back into Zootopia like two legends who have solved crime forever, only to get handed a new case that laughs in their faces. To crack it, they go undercover and end up in parts of the city that do not care about their reputations, their badges, or their tidy little teamwork routine. Judy charges in with righteous force, Nick glides in with fox-brain finesse, and the film keeps flicking their partnership like a stress toy – stretch, snap, learn, repeat. The jokes land, the pace moves, and the big win is this: it remembers Zootopia is not just cute animals doing bits, it is a city built on difference, suspicion, and the hard work of trusting someone who is not you. It is a sequel that actually behaves like one – bigger, sharper, and still weirdly warm.

Cast and credits

Director: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Writers: Jared Bush
Main cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Shakira, Idris Elba (and others)
Composer: Michael Giacchino
Production company/studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Runtime: 1h 48min
Release year and platform: 2025 – theatrical release

ScreenX explained – three-wall panoramic cinema

Description: A 270-degree multi-projection format where selected scenes expand from the main screen onto both side walls, synced and blended to feel like one wraparound image.

Cinema room technical standards – the global baseline: The minimum specs cinemas use to deliver consistent picture and sound – DCI for the system rules, SMPTE for engineering standards, ISO 2969 for audio alignment.

ScreenX (what it actually is, technically)

• It is a multi-projection setup: one main front image plus two extra projected images mapped onto the left and right walls.
• It is not “always on”. The film is authored so only selected sequences expand onto the side walls. The rest plays normally on the front screen.
• The side images are not just a zoom. They are purpose-made extension visuals, aligned in time with the main picture so motion and cuts stay coherent.
• The trick is calibration: geometry mapping (so straight lines stay straight), edge-blending (so joins are not visible), and colour/brightness matching (so the side walls do not look like a different projector arguing with the main one).
• The auditorium itself matters: the side walls need to be suitable projection surfaces, and light spill has to be controlled, otherwise the “wrap” turns into a washed-out distraction.

Cinema room standards used “everywhere” (the common rulebook)

These are the boring standards that make a cinema a cinema, not a big DIY projector in a shed:

1. Picture brightness and uniformity (SMPTE / DCI baseline)

• The standard 2D screen luminance target is 48 cd/m2, corresponding to 14 ft-L, measured on-axis at the centre of the screen.
• Uniformity is specified too: the sides and corners are expected to stay close to centre luminance (nominal 85 per cent, with a minimum often cited at 75 per cent at edges/corners in guidance tied to SMPTE screen luminance work).
• Why you care: films are graded with this target in mind. If a cinema runs dim, the movie looks flat and muddy even if the projector is “fine”.

2. 3D brightness guidance (DCI recommended practice)

• DCI publishes recommended practice for 3D peak white luminance (example guidance includes around 24 cd/m2, or 7 ft-L, for legacy lamp 3D setups).
• Translation: 3D is more complex to keep bright. If the cinema is cheap about it, your eyes pay the bill.

3. Digital cinema packaging and playback (DCI + SMPTE)

• Movies arrive as DCPs (Digital Cinema Packages). The industry standards for how those files are structured and played are covered by SMPTE digital cinema suites (SMPTE 428 for projection elements, SMPTE 429 for packaging), and DCI references those standards for “standard DCP”.
• Why you care: this is what keeps audio, picture, subtitles, and security keys consistent across cinemas.

4. Sound alignment (ISO 2969)

• ISO 2969 specifies how the cinema “B-chain” (the theatre playback chain) should be measured and configured to ensure consistent perceived loudness and frequency response from room to room.
• In plain English: the same film should not sound bright and harsh in one cinema and dull and boomy in another – at least, not if they are actually aligning the room properly.

ScreenX is a clever visual add-on, but the real magic is still the boring stuff: hit the baseline luminance, keep uniformity, align sound to ISO 2969, and stop letting calibration drift for months.

What does not make sense

• Charging “premium” money for seats that feel like plastic punishment.
• Treating legroom as a luxury upgrade rather than the bare minimum.
• Competing with home viewing while offering less comfort than a sofa and less cleanliness than a kitchen floor.
• Building one flagship screen, then surrounding it with bargain-basement rooms that sabotage the brand.
• Acting shocked when people choose streaming, when the cinema experience refuses to evolve.

Sense check / The numbers

1. Zootopia 2 runs 1h 48min (108 minutes) and was released in cinemas on 26 November 2025 (US), with a 28 November 2025 UK release under the Zootropolis name. [Disney Movies] [Disney UK]
2. By mid-December 2025, Zootopia 2 had passed the USD 1 billion mark globally, a blunt reminder that people still show up when the outing feels worth it. [Reuters]
3. ScreenX is built around 270-degree projection across the side walls in sync with the main screen – it is literally designed to make your living room feel small. [Filmmaker Magazine]
4. CGV opened a four-screen ScreenX at Yongsan I-Park Mall, featuring a ceiling screen and a 200-seat auditorium, leaning into comfort and spectacle rather than excuses. [Yonhap] [Maeil Business Newspaper]
5. UK cinema admissions in 2024 were 126.5 million, still 28 per cent below 2019 (176.1 million) – the recovery is real, but the gap is not a rounding error. [BFI]

The sketch

Scene 1: “The Premium Seat Museum”
Panel: A cinema manager proudly points at a rigid chair behind a velvet rope.
Dialogue:
Manager: “Behold – the Premium Experience.”
Customer: “My spine just filed a complaint.”
Scene 2: “ScreenX Enters The Chat”
Panel: Three walls light up with a chase scene, the audience in recliners, drinks on tables.
Dialogue:
Audience: “Oh. So THIS is why we leave the house.”
Streaming App (tiny voice): “Rude.”
Scene 3: “The Missing Button”
Panel: A giant remote control labelled “PAUSE” sits outside the cinema doors like forbidden fruit.
Dialogue:
Customer: “All I want is a two-minute pause.”
Cinema Chain: “Best I can do is a sticky floor.”

What to watch, not the show

• Chains sweating debt and rent, then cutting the very things that make cinemas lovable (staffing, cleaning, refurbishment).
• Premium formats used as marketing glitter, instead of a whole-building standard.
• A split strategy – one flagship room, many neglected rooms – that trains customers to stay home.
• Streaming conditioning people to comfort and control, while cinemas cling to discomfort and rules.
• The long game – invest in seats, sightlines, sound, and hygiene, or become a nostalgia business.

The Hermit take

If the cinema wants my money, it has to beat my sofa, not insult it.
Comfort is not a perk – it is the ticket.

Keep or toss

Keep.
Keep the big-screen ritual, the communal laugh, the shared gasp.
Toss the cramped seating, sloppy upkeep, and half-hearted “premium” pretending.

Sources

• IMDb listing – Zootopia 2 (tt26443597): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26443597/
• Disney Movies – Zootopia 2 details (runtime, synopsis, credits): https://movies.disney.com/zootopia-2
• Disney UK – Zootropolis 2 official site (UK title and date): https://www.disney.co.uk/movies/zootropolis-2
• Reuters – Zootopia 2 box office reporting (Dec 2025): https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/disneys-zootopia-2-set-join-1-billion-box-office-club-2025-12-12/
• BFI – Official BFI statistics for 2024 (admissions and 2019 comparison): https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/official-bfi-statistics-2024
• Yonhap via Korean Vibe – CGV four-screen ScreenX at Yongsan (200 seats): https://m.korean-vibe.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065589611234268
• Maeil Business Newspaper – Four-sided ScreenX at CGV Yongsan (200 seats, pricing): https://www.mk.co.kr/en/culture/11225454
• Filmmaker Magazine – ScreenX explained as 270-degree cinema: https://filmmakermagazine.com/76652-introducing-screen-x-cinema-in-270-degrees/
• Disney (Canada) – Zootopia 2 official site logline: https://www.disneymovie.ca/zootopia2/home/

Sources for ScreenX

• ISO 2969 overview (B-chain electro-acoustic response goal):
  https://www.iso.org/standard/62269.html
• CJ Newsroom – What is ScreenX:
  https://newsroom.cj.net/screenx-transforms-entertainment-experience/
• Cineworld – ScreenX overview:
  https://www.cineworld.co.uk/static/en/uk/blog/screenx-everything-you-need-to-know
• Cinemark – ScreenX explanation (three-screen concept, selected sequences):
  https://www.cinemark.com/movie-news/articles/what-is-screen-x-advantages-differences-from-other-formats
• DCI – Recommended Practice (3D luminance guidance):
  https://www.dcimovies.com/recommended-practice/
• SMPTE (PDF) – On-screen light measurement notes referencing 48 cd/m2 and uniformity:
  https://www.smpte.org/hubfs/er0992-2014.pdf?hsLang=en
• SMPTE blog – Digital cinema standards (428/429 overview):
  https://www.smpte.org/blog/understanding-standards-digital-cinema-format
• DCI – Digital Cinema System Specification (DCSS) referencing standard DCP and SMPTE ST 429-2: https://dcss.dcimovies.com/latest/dcss.html