Theatrical Future/PVOD Thread

[RevFreako]

WB definitely should’ve consulted the filmmakers before they made the move. I also don’t get why it has to be all of 2021. Worst case scenario is that society is overwhelmingly vaccinated by July. Those movies in the back half of the year will really have no reason to be on Max the same day as theatrical release. It seems like a very knee jerk reaction.

At least give the blockbusters a week in theatres to give people a chance to see them before a-holes on the internet start spreading screenshots and clips everywhere.

And give someone like Nolan the chance to take it publicly and spin it negatively before WB announced the plan? Nope, not if you're WB. Sure, it would have been nice to give them notice, but the conversation would not have changed the plan.

Also, your "worst case scenario'" is pretty optimistic.

 

[Nick]

WB made the right move for them. They got the GP excited for getting big movies straight to HBO Max. Legendary, Bron, etc will look like the bad guy if they sue and win and the movies don't get released on HBO Max. Warner already won the opinion of the general public, which matters a lot these days.

 

[HalfGlass]

The Disney investors call on Thursday is rumored to have a bunch of announcements for Disney+ and the studio. I’m thinking we see a half measure for Disney...maybe a few theatrical releases that are mid-range potential earners for them (Cruella, Pinnochio, etc) and Black Widow going direct to Disney+ with no additional fee. Minimizing backlash from Hollywood stars and agents. But that’s it...because they have leverage to keep people invested in the platform. If Disney really wanted to, they could release 5-6 Marvel/Star Wars shows next year, each ending with the next starting up shortly after. Not saying they will, but they could.

HBO Max doesn’t have any large shows in the pipeline for 2021 with audience draws like that.

 

[RevFreako]

The Disney investors call on Thursday is rumored to have a bunch of announcements for Disney+ and the studio. I’m thinking we see a half measure for Disney...maybe a few theatrical releases that are mid-range potential earners for them (Cruella, Pinnochio, etc) and Black Widow going direct to Disney+ with no additional fee. Minimizing backlash from Hollywood stars and agents. But that’s it...because they have leverage to keep people invested in the platform. If Disney really wanted to, they could release 5-6 Marvel/Star Wars shows next year, each ending with the next starting up shortly after. Not saying they will, but they could.

HBO Max doesn’t have any large shows in the pipeline for 2021 with audience draws like that.

Just as an aside, I think the live action Pinocchio is cancelled, per reports on the GDT stop motion version.

EDIT: nope. still on.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Frankly, I dont think Chris Nolan is stupid, he's simply pissed he wasn't notified or negotiated regarding this, as Im sure many others are as well. A director who profits off of films in theaters is never going to publicly advocate for a change in model, regardless if they believe it or not.

Its the fact WB never told anyone and just did it essentially, that is pretty messed up EVEN IF I 100% agree with what WB did for next year.

 

[RevFreako]

Frankly, I dont think Chris Nolan is stupid, he's simply pissed he wasn't notified or negotiated regarding this, as Im sure many others are as well. A director who profits off of films in theaters is never going to publicly advocate for a change in model, regardless if they believe it or not.

Its the fact WB never told anyone and just did it essentially, that is pretty messed up EVEN IF I 100% agree with what WB did for next year.

He's welcome to be pissed. I wouldn't be happy either if I were in his shoes. Doesn't change the fact that not informing him - of something he was powerless to do anything about, btw - was the right move.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

He's welcome to be pissed. I wouldn't be happy either if I were in his shoes. Doesn't change the fact that not informing him - of something he was powerless to do anything about, btw - was the right move.

Oh he’s very welcomed, as is WB. Just gonna have to see who pays the price more, losing talent would be major for WB, there’s no other way around it. I’m not going to a WB film for the sake of a WB film, I’m typically going because of the talent invovled. They’re all just taking their anger out on WB and are trying to sabotage them in doing so.

Now, Nolan isn’t thinking this way, but where’s the benefits for movie goers with this disconnect between the filmmakers and the studios? No positives for that, cause either one studio will take all that talent or talent will simply be wasted, a feud amongst everyone in Hollywood will not save the theatre industry and if anytbing make more problems for itself so I hope both the talent and studios tread lightly

 

[Nick]

The only talent WB has to really worry about is the talent related to the DCEU. As long as they hold on to that, no one else *actually* matters and there will always be new talent who would love to be given the chance. Remember, Tom Holland literally came out of a casting call for Spider-Man.

 

[Grabnar]

The only talent WB has to really worry about is the talent related to the DCEU.

I think this is really important to note for WB in particular; Dune and Tenet were never going to do Avengers money which is why they're comfortable eating some of the loss to put it on their streaming service to drive subscriptions. Wonder Woman HAS to go up simply due to the DCEU not being as culturally entrenched as the MCU; any time they waste is them losing ground to Disney in the public consciousness.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Thinking about it more, I don't get why they didn't just do a shortened theatrical window, like Universal did. Most of a film's theatrical money comes from the first few weeks anyway, so why not collect that money, increase Max subscribers with a three week after theatrical release strategy, and keep filmmakers happy by giving their movies some temporary theatrical exclusivity?

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The only talent WB has to really worry about is the talent related to the DCEU. As long as they hold on to that, no one else *actually* matters and there will always be new talent who would love to be given the chance. Remember, Tom Holland literally came out of a casting call for Spider-Man.

Well Mamoa backed Fischer on his claims on Justife League, hasn’t stopped Mamoa from working but it makes me wonder.

I think long term losing Nolan is not great either. He’ll always have a following, movie still made $300 mill in a pandemic

 

[RevFreako]

Well Mamoa backed Fischer on his claims on Justife League, hasn’t stopped Mamoa from working but it makes me wonder.

I think long term losing Nolan is not great either. He’ll always have a following, movie still made $300 mill in a pandemic

I'm not normally a "there's a dozen lined up to take your job" guy, bit Hollywood is not a place, with few exceptions, where the difference between making it and missing it is talent. If Nolan won't play ball, someone else will.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Well Mamoa backed Fischer on his claims on Justife League, hasn’t stopped Mamoa from working but it makes me wonder.

I think long term losing Nolan is not great either. He’ll always have a following, movie still made $300 mill in a pandemic

Yeah, losing Nolan would be a massive blow. Inception, Dunkirk, and Interstellar (internationally) were some of Warner's biggest hits of the last decade, and without the pandemic, Tenet would've made at least 500-600M. Pissing off your most reliable partner when most output the last 2 years has underperformed or bombed is NOT what you want to do.

 

[joelbryant11]

And give someone like Nolan the chance to take it publicly and spin it negatively before WB announced the plan? Nope, not if you're WB. Sure, it would have been nice to give them notice, but the conversation would not have changed the plan.

Also, your "worst case scenario'" is pretty optimistic.

Fauci said anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get it by April.

 

[RevFreako]

Fauci said anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get it by April.

And forty percent of the country straight up won't get it.

 

[Clive]

Speaking as someone in the industry, I think you guys are vastly underestimating how important it is not to piss off talent and agents on all levels. The public doesn't give a hoot about HBO MAX when they still can't get it on their Roku.

 

[rageofthegods]

I'm not normally a "there's a dozen lined up to take your job" guy, bit Hollywood is not a place, with few exceptions, where the difference between making it and missing it is talent. If Nolan won't play ball, someone else will.

They're not gonna get first, second or fourth pick on projects or packages after this either, are they?

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

They're not gonna get first, second or fourth pick on projects or packages after this either, are they?

Worst case scenario for Warners is that they lose all their talent to other studios for a subscriber bump that doesn't bring their service to Netflix or Disney+ levels. We'll probably start seeing these effects once the current talent's obligations to Warner Bros are complete.

For the parks, ideally, imagine what Universal could do with James Wan and Legendary.

 

[Legacy]

I think long term losing Nolan is not great either. He’ll always have a following, movie still made $300 mill in a pandemic

I’m sure people had similar thoughts about Francis Ford Coppola.

 

[TheGentTrent]

Worst case scenario for Warners is that they lose all their talent to other studios for a subscriber bump that doesn't bring their service to Netflix or Disney+ levels. We'll probably start seeing these effects once the current talent's obligations to Warner Bros are complete.

For the parks, ideally, imagine what Universal could do with James Wan and Legendary.

I wouldn't count on Legendary and Universal ever working together again. Their last deal ended real bitterly.