On this week’s episode of The Boxoffice Podcast, hosts Daniel Loria and Shawn Robbins look at the latest opening weekend forecast for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Can the new Marvel movie cross the $200 million mark over its domestic debut in theaters? The hosts also look ahead to the latest tracking figures for Memorial Day weekend, where Top Gun: Maverick will open alongside The Bob’s Burgers Movie to kick off the summer box office. The world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick has exhibitors raving about the movie—but can the film connect with a younger generation of moviegoers? In the feature segment, Daniel speaks with Ross Melnick, professor of film and media studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Melnick’s new book, “Hollywood’s Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World,” looks at how the American conception of the movie theater was exported around the world. In a wide-ranging conversation going over 90 years of theatrical exhibition history, Loria and Melnick draw parallels between film history and today’s multinational expansion of the movie theater business. Give us your feedback on our podcast by accessing this survey: https://forms.gle/CcuvaXCEpgPLQ6d18 Episode Resources:Cinema TreasuresWhat to Listen For
00:00 Intro
04:08 Doctor Strange domestic opening forecast
12:29 Cinema Treasures
15:18 It happened in about a 15-year period
19:15 MGM and Paramount building cinemas overseas
26:24 The export of the American concept of a movie theater 
35:44 Decline in building the massive movie houses
41:04 The perception of privatized spaces