5 things to look out for at the movies in 2019 - from the movie ticket subscription wars to the likelihood of another record-breaking box office year

This year's news that Disney would acquire assets from 21st Century Fox, including its movie studio, likely caused other entertainment CEOs with existing studios salivating at the idea of nabbing a second. The question on everyone's mind is: Which studios will be next to team up?

As far as we hear, there are no serious talks yet. But the studios that always come up in conversation are Sony and Paramount. Both have been on the low side of studio earners in the last handful of years. However, with Sony finding a box office resurgence in its Spider-Man properties and Paramount signing a multi-picture deal with Netflix, you could see both companies as being on the rebound and attractive as acquisition targets.

In December, Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's Landmark Theatres, the largest independent theater chain in US with 252 screens in 27 markets, was sold to Charles S. Cohen's Cohen Media Group for an undisclosed amount. News of a sale was expected, as the chain had been rumored to be sold to everyone from Amazon to Netflix to Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios. Less discussed is how the Cohen Media Group could shift the theatrical window all on its own.

Landmark is an outlier as a big chain in that it's willing to show Netflix movies theatrically, even though the streaming giant continues to show most of its titles in theaters and online at the same time. Cohen has already indicated that won't change on his watch. If the company wanted to, it could push for a shorter theatrical window (typically the 90-day period a movie shows in theaters before going to streaming or another ancillary market). Cohen Media Group is also an independent distribution and production company (it released past Oscar nominees "Faces Places" and "Frozen River"), which gives it control of both the making and release of movies.

The North American box office has already passed 2016's record $11.37 billion record, and the worldwide box office looks like it will also hit an all-time record, but it could be just the beginning.

On paper, there are arguably more anticipated releases in 2019 than this year, including "Captain Marvel," "Avengers: Endgame," Tim Burton's Disney movie "Dumbo," the DC Comics movie "Shazam!," Jordan Peele's "Us" (the follow up to "Get Out"), "Aladdin," "Dark Phoenix," "Men in Black International," "Toy Story 4," "The Lion King," "Spider-Man: Far From Home," and "Star Wars: Episode IX," So, the 2019 box office could surpass this year's.

There was a lot of news in 2018 about Apple's plans for TV, but its plans for the movie side are still cloudy.

We know it's teaming with independent producer/distributor A24 ("Moonlight") on a multi-year deal to release a slate of films. But you would think that's just one branch of Apple's massive plan for original content. Is Apple going to flex its muscles and try to produce blockbusters? Will it do theatrical runs? If so, will it respect the window like Amazon or go the way of Netflix? I'd like to think we'll get a clearer picture in 2019, but whatever these answers are, it's going to be another major change in a business that has had a lot recently.