Theatrical Future/PVOD Thread

[Scott W.]

On the HBO Max front and the lack of the service being in the UK, it seems like some of the new content is heading to Sky along with plenty of their backlog.

I've recently cancelled my Sky as I found out it was cheaper to just stream on their alternative streaming service plus I get a discount through my wive's work. Having a rolling contract instead of an 18 month contract is also nice.

But what's strange is that at full price, I was paying about £120 a month and now I'm paying £45 but the service allows 6 devices with 2 devices streaming at the same time. My dad is paying the same as me before I cancelled and I know that we can share the account and it works.

Does HBO Max allow sharing like people have been doing with Netflix for years?

The analytics might show great numbers for new movies but the money generated is going to be way down.

 

[Nick]

On the HBO Max front and the lack of the service being in the UK, it seems like some of the new content is heading to Sky along with plenty of their backlog.

I've recently cancelled my Sky as I found out it was cheaper to just stream on their alternative streaming service plus I get a discount through my wive's work. Having a rolling contract instead of an 18 month contract is also nice.

But what's strange is that at full price, I was paying about £120 a month and now I'm paying £45 but the service allows 6 devices with 2 devices streaming at the same time. My dad is paying the same as me before I cancelled and I know that we can share the account and it works.

Does HBO Max allow sharing like people have been doing with Netflix for years?

The analytics might show great numbers for new movies but the money generated is going to be way down.

Yes, it allows like 5 or 6 accounts. I already see people on my Facebook feed talking about giving their Netflix access in exchange to share HBO Max access.

A lot don’t want to/can’t afford to pay, but they will find a way to watch the content even still.

 

[Scott W.]

Yes, it allows like 5 or 6 accounts. I already see people on my Facebook feed talking about giving their Netflix access in exchange to share HBO Max access.

Wow.

I can maybe understand that being a method to get people attached to the platform but if that stays for next year, it’s not a good idea.

 

[Nick]

Wow.

I can maybe understand that being a method to get people attached to the platform but if that stays for next year, it’s not a good idea.

All the major streamers have the multiple account setup though. Even Amazon just added the feature. I feel like it’ll be hard to move away from it now and justify it considering customers are now used to it.

 

[rageofthegods]

Yeah, I mean, if distribution changes model to go one way and actors still want to act and get paid, they either do it or they don't.

It's that part I'm calling into question.

The issue with Kilar is his background heavily rooted in streaming. He led Hulu between 2008-2013 then created a failed streaming service (ever heard of Vessel? No one has). He's not qualified to lead one of the largest, most important media conglomerates in the world when his perception of SVOD services is outdated. Kilar has thrown out significant Warner execs over the past few months who could've helped build HBO Max's programming goals. People with a strong understanding of the current television landscape like Kevin Reilly and Bob Greenblatt were among those let go, and as WarnerMedia continues downsizing and reconsolidating labor into HBO Max, their longterm strategies make no sense.

AT&T should've promoted someone internally instead of hiring Kilar externally. At the very least, they could've pulled a Disney/Chapek and test Kilar on a smaller-scale operation before promoting him to CEO.

I wouldn't say hiring Kilar was a bad move, they wanted a tech guy and they got one of the biggest tech guys out there. But Warners is a studio, not a tech company, and things like not consulting with their talent on how their movies are distributed underscores how he never really had to think about this stuff before. Hulu, afaik, didn't create their own content when Jason was there, they just licensed.

Just for a comparison, look at how Uni has handled all of their PVOD releases after TWT, versus Warners. Each time it happens, Uni PR gets the key creative talent involved - the directors, the actors - to go to the media and talk about why they're doing it. E.g. Apatow and Davidson talked about it on a livestream, Jon Stewart talked about it in an interview with the Atlantic, etc. Even if there was some arm-twisting behind the scenes, it's clear that they're at least trying to present a unified front. Meanwhile, movies that almost certainly would've benefitted from a PVOD release on their intended release dates (The Forever Purge - election year, Candyman - movie about police brutality this year) got moved to next year, probably because the creators wanted a theatrical release (we have confirmation this was the case with Candyboi).

Warner's brand among creative talent is "the director's studio," and if they want to maintain that view of themselves, they can't play fast and loose with their partners like this.

 

[Nick]

It's that part I'm calling into question.



I wouldn't say hiring Kilar was a bad move, they wanted a tech guy and they got one of the biggest tech guys out there. But Warners is a studio, not a tech company, and things like not consulting with their talent on how their movies are distributed underscores how he never really had to think about this stuff before. Hulu, afaik, didn't create their own content when Jason was there, they just licensed.

For just a comparison, look at how Uni has handled all of their PVOD releases after TWT, versus Warners. Each time it happens, Uni PR gets the key creative talent involved - the directors, the actors - to go to the media and talk about why they're doing it. E.g. Apatow and Davidson talked about it on a livestream, Jon Stewart talked about it in an interview with the Atlantic, etc. Meanwhile, movies that almost certainly would've benefitted from a PVOD release on their intended release dates (The Forever Purge - election year, Candyman - movie about police brutality this year) got moved to next year, probably because the creators wanted a theatrical release (we have confirmation this was the case with Candyboi).

Warner's brand among creative talent is "the director's studio," and if they want to maintain that view of themselves, they can't play fast and loose with their partners like this.

I’m not saying that for sure this will work, could turn out to be a misfire and Studios look back to theaters primarily in 2022. But 2021 is going to be a very big year as far as deciding the future of how we consume movies.

 

[quinnmac000]

Universal remains the only major studio pumping out wide releases to those remaining movie theaters which aren’t being smashed down by lockdowns (like in California — God knows when we’ll be able to go to the movies again).

By those two latter results, it’s clear that Uni invested more in P&A on Croods 2 than those two niche titles. Uni had the top 4 titles this past weekend, with Blumhouse’s Freaky in 3rd with $460K, -42%, and a $7.7M total in weekend 4. Overall, with Focus’ Come Play and Let Him Go, Uni had six spots in this past weekend’s top 10 chart.

At the start of this pandemic, Universal was viewed as Public Enemy No. 1 studio by exhibition with their Trolls World Tour experiment, and later, AMC crushed window-PVOD share deal. Now, they look like angels and saints next to the audacious move put forward by WarnerMedia this past week to put their entire 2021 theatrical release schedule on their streaming service HBO Max and in theaters at the same time

Universal Continues To Dominate Paltry Pandemic Post-Thanksgiving B.O. As Town Reels From Warner-HBO Max Windows Bombshell

If there’s one weekend at the box office that studios and exhibitors typically have had no thanks for, it’s the post Thanksgiving period, typically the first weekend in December, when business drops by as much as 50%. Last year the Black Friday weekend went from $180.9M led by Frozen 2 to $90.3M...

deadline.com

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Just another moment where if you said one year ago “Croods 2 will be the highest grossing film of the holiday season” I’d have rudely laughed in your face.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Yeah, I mean, if distribution changes model to go one way and actors still want to act and get paid, they either do it or they don't.

Its not just that. Big names bring in big investors. The only reason Marlon Brando was paid such an insane sum for "Superman" is his name brought in 3 times as much as investors. In Hollywoodese the high paychecks (or %) isn't actually about the money. It determines or pecking order - as in who gets offered the best scripts first. As for streaming - you won't see companies burn through billions like Netflix and Disney does. Eventually. With 70m subscrptions (we will assume everyone pays even thpugh we know they dont) Thats enough to afford... 4 normal priced films ($100) per month. Not bad. But.... as much as 50% of those subscribers are freebies... so now it's 2 medium sized movies, or 1 big one,, per month. And of course if you wanna go all out like Avengers... well, thats 1/2 a movie a month. Now, not all movies cost $100 million or more, and not all cost less. But $100 million was the average for 2019..

 

[Nick]

Its not just that. Big names bring in big investors. The only reason Marlon Brando was paid such an insane sum for "Superman" is his name brought in 3 times as much as investors. In Hollywoodese the high paychecks (or %) isn't actually about the money. It determines or pecking order - as in who gets offered the best scripts first. As for streaming - you won't see companies burn through billions like Netflix and Disney does. Eventually. With 70m subscrptions (we will assume everyone pays even thpugh we know they dont) Thats enough to afford... 4 normal priced films ($100) per month. Not bad. But.... as much as 50% of those subscribers are freebies... so now it's 2 medium sized movies, or 1 big one,, per month. And of course if you wanna go all out like Avengers... well, thats 1/2 a movie a month. Now, not all movies cost $100 million or more, and not all cost less. But $100 million was the average for 2019..

The Verizon 1 year deal is over. So people either decided to renew or not. There's not many freebies left standing. Also, Disney is a company that would theatrically only put out 8-9 movies a year normally, so looking at it from a "monthly" stand point isn't entirely correct thinking from how Disney usually spends money.

 

[Viator]

Legendary is going to file legal challenges at Warner Bros. Pictures over the subject of the lack of transparency on the subject of the Hybrid model; as they were informed only 30 minutes before the announcement.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

There’s so much bad/negative PR I feel surrounding this and if this goes on a bit then that will only make matters worse and show what a gamble this was for Warner Bros.

But, I think most people (including myself) will not care. It is interesting to keep track of though

 

[RevFreako]

Legendary is going to file legal challenges at Warner Bros. Pictures over the subject of the lack of transparency on the subject of the Hybrid model; as they were informed only 30 minutes before the announcement.

To be fair, this is the season for dead-horse lawsuits.

 

[quinnmac000]

Warner Bros' Streaming Push Rattles A-List Stars and Producers: 'Box Office Bonuses Mean Sh--'

"The whole deal-making process has to shift now," one producer says

www.thewrap.com

called it

 

[JungleSkip]

Oh those poor A-listers. How will they be able to afford their fifteenth home?

 

[RevFreako]

Oh those poor A-listers. How will they be able to afford their fifteenth home?

Frankly, I'd rather not hear anyone who ever bemoaned "overpaid celebrities" complain about the power shift in thr movie industry.

 

[MrBlonde]

Oh those poor A-listers. How will they be able to afford their fifteenth home?

At least A-listers event fade. Once corporations have full control/leverage, they don't tend to let it go.

 

[JungleSkip]

At least A-listers event fade. Once corporations have full control/leverage, they don't tend to let it go.

The idea that corporations don't already have full control of the industry is hilarious

 

[Nick]

To be fair, this is the season for dead-horse lawsuits.

Except, this lawsuit actually, ya know, has a crap ton of merit behind it.

 

[RevFreako]

Except, this lawsuit actually, ya know, has a crap ton of merit behind it.

I think they have an argument for the eight, ten, however many movies are being released. After that, the table shifts.