Yessterday came news that changed the industry – that Warner Bros. Pictures will be releasing their entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max the same day the films hit cinemas.
Of course there are conditions – the films will only be on the service for a month at a time and will then be pulled to otherwise observe a traditional release strategy. Also this only applies to the United States where HBO Max is available, everywhere else will be a traditional theatrical run.
One big question now is will other studios follow suit? Disney is holding an investor day next week and if such a change were to happen it will likely either be announced during or just before that. Universal already has a short-window PVOD deal in place with two major exhibitors and will very likely stick with that. Sony has no platform of its own, while Paramount is about to relaunch CBS All Access as Paramount+ and may try to boost its fortunes there. Recently they’ve been selling film product to Netflix and Amazon.
Next there’s the obvious concern of this decision on exhibitors. In the 24 hours since the announcement, stocks in exhibition companies like Cinemark (-21%), AMC (-17%) and IMAX (-8%) have plunged. The exhibitors have started responding to the news as well, Cinemark saying rather diplomatically in a statement:
“In light of the current operating environment, we are making near-term booking decisions on a film-by-film basis. At this time, Warner Bros. has not provided any details for the hybrid distribution model of their 2021 films.”
Cineworld, who owns Regal Cinemas, says they look forward to the vaccination process and adds that when pandemic settles down Warners will re-assess its plans:
“We believe that at such a time WB will look to reach an agreement about the proper window and terms that will work for both sides. Big movies are made for the big screen and we cannot wait to reopen our cinemas in Q1 in order to offer our customers, as always, the best place to watch a movie.”
Both of those are a lot softer than the approach from AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron who is not happy:
“These coronavirus-impacted times are uncharted waters for all of us, which is why AMC signed on to an HBO Max exception to customary practices for one film only, Wonder Woman 1984, being released by Warner Brothers at Christmas when the pandemic appears that it will be at its height.
However, Warner now hopes to do this for all their 2021 theatrical movies, despite the likelihood that with vaccines right around the corner the theatre business is expected to recover.
Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers, to subsidize its HBO Max start up. As for AMC, we will do all in our power to ensure that Warner does not do so at our expense. We will aggressively pursue economic terms that preserve our business.”
Aron’s hardline stance is more like the Aron of earlier this year who took a similar approach to exclusivity windows across the board. Subsequently he latter made a deal with Universal which shrunk the 90-day window to 17 days with a PVOD release then available that AMC would partly profit in.
Aron says another key reason he’s against the HBO Max decision is that he believes cinemagoing will be back to normal sooner rather than later:
“We are nonetheless encouraged that vaccines protecting society at large against the coronavirus are very much at hand… [and] it is our expectation that moviegoers soon will be able once again to delight in coming to our theatres without any worry.”
That’s a rosier assessment than most to the pandemic with the movie business not expected to recover substantially until the end of 2021 at the earliest. WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has made it very clear to Deadline he’s still a big believer in the theatrical experience:
“We’re here for the long term, in terms of theatrical exhibition and obviously in investing heavily in motion pictures and also investing heavily in the marketing of those motion pictures.”
Though HBO Max is intending a global rollout in 190 countries, most of the efforts in that regard won’t happen until late next year when the service will replace HBO branded streaming services in Central & East Europe and the Nordics. It will also be available in Latin America.