Exhibitors own the theatre. They get the film for  exhibition from the distributor. They can make the following types of  revenue sharing arrangements with the distributor.

Percentage : A fixed percentage of the collections (say 40-60 per cent ) are passed on every week to the distributor.

Theatre Rentals : A theatre has a maximum financial capacity, say Rs. 10 lac per week. The thumb rule is 50 per cent of the maximum capacity to be retained. The exhibitor keeps aside 50 per cent of full-house capacity and the remaining is given to the distributor.

Illustration : The collections are 15 lac. The exhibitor keeps Rs. 5 lac and passes on Rs.10 lac to the distributor. If the collections are Rs. 6 lac, the exhibitor keeps Rs. 5 lac, and the distributor gets Rs. 1 lac. If there is less than 50 per cent collections, say of Rs. 4 lac , the exhibitor will get Rs. 5 lac  nevertheless, but will not be paid immediately. It will be accounted for, and the accounts will be settled after the film is pulled off.In case, there is a shortfall in the per week payment of Rs. 5 lac for the exhibitor, it will be made good by the distributor.

Theatre capacity is expressed in terms of revenue it can generate.

This is widely used method in metros. It provides good money to the theatre-owners, since they are paid a fixed quantum of peak capacity. The exhibitor is not affected by the success or failure of the film.

These days theatre-owners are ready to share revenues or overflows by accepting a smaller hire charge.

Fixed rental : In this revenue sharing system, the exhibitor takes the risk and pays the distributor a fixed amount every week, whatever the collections. If the capacity of the hall is Rs. 3 lac, then the fixed hire could be Rs.1.5 lac per week. There may be a surplus, which can be shared with the distributor on mutually agreed terms. This method is useful in the interiors, but there are unscrupulous distributors who accept payment in cash, but declare a lesser amount while setting with the producer.

In this business, the project finance that comes from the distributor is actually from cash flows that he receives from the exhibitors.

In film finance, the contribution from distributors may be 30-40 per cent. The rest comes from credits ( on account of artists and labs ), music rights and satellite and video rights. This contributes 35-45 per cent, thus taking the total contribution to 65-85 per cent. The remaining 15-35 per cent comes from the financiers. These financiers are likely to be made world right controllers.