We’re kicking off a holiday weekend and entertainment companies are hoping to reach large audiences ahead of the treacherous summer season. Theme parks, streaming services and multiplexes are hoping the next few months will be lucrative, and Walt Disney (DIS 1.81%), Netflix (NFLX 1.40%)and AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC 3.76%) feel that there is no time like the present.

There’s a new Disney World and Disney+ series for the House of Mouse. A popular series is back with a new season – part of a new season, anyway – on Netflix. AMC hopes the reboot of a classic action franchise will kick off a promising summer season. With shares down 43%, 72%, and 83%, respectively, from last year’s highs, they’re taking advantage of the good news. Let’s check out the upcoming attractions on Friday.

Image source: Disney.

Disney

Many firsts will happen when Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind officially opens at Disney World’s Epcot on Friday. It will be the park’s first roller coaster and Marvel-themed ride. Epcot will now be the recipient of the last two new rides to open at Disney World. The unique roller coaster ride will be a crowd puller this summer.

For those who stayed at home, Disney has something for you on Friday too. Obi Wan Kenobi — the widely anticipated one war of stars Spin-off series – Debuts on Disney+. The first two episodes will be released on Friday, with weekly installments to follow. It was a war of stars Spin-off that put the streaming service on the map. The Mandalorian was the first big hit on Disney+. Compelling content keeps subscribers close, and the media giant knows the expectations are high for its premium streaming platform.

Netflix

Speaking of subscriber retention, stranger things is back on Netflix. The first half of the fourth season of the popular series will be released on Friday. The second half hits the platform on July 1st.

Netflix is ​​evolving. It used to boast of consumers’ ability to devour an entire season when it comes out, and tapped traditional media for their weekly spoonfuls of content. Now it splits a popular show into two volumes. The same thing happened recently with the final season of ozark.

It makes sense for Netflix right now to delay the season of a popular series. It stunned the market last month with a rare sequential drop in subscribers in the first quarter. It is setting investors up for an even bigger sequential decline in the current quarter. Kicking off a new season of one of its most iconic shows — and holding back the second half of episodes until the start of the third quarter — can’t be a fluke.

AMC entertainment

The original top gun had all the Hall & Oates sing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” but multiplex operators are hoping they can stop singing it to their audiences. Box office receipts were terrible this year, down 43% from 2019. The comparisons get even worse as we go back to 2018 and 2017.

Despite strong openings for The Batman and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessConsumers don’t go to the local movie theater to see something that isn’t an action-packed blockbuster. Top Gun: Maverick opens this weekend and promises to hit all the right notes. It’s an action movie. It will tap into the nostalgia vein. More importantly for AMC and other box office stocks, it’s the first of many big films coming to screens this summer.