WARNER BROS. WILL RELEASE ITS ENTIRE 2021 FILM SLATE SIMULTANEOUSLY ON HBO MAX AND IN THEATERS

We saw Warner Bros. last month announce that Wonder Woman 1984 will arrive on HBO Max together with its long-awaited theatrical release on 12/25.

Warner Bros. has now official confirmed that it plans to bypass traditional theatrical windowing and release its entire 2021 slate of film titles day-and-date on HBO Max with the normal theatrical release. Each film will be available for streaming on the service for a 31-day window. This includes Dune, The Matrix 4, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.

So what does this mean to us viewers in the near time, probably not too much, but longtime there maybe implications to all of us and theater owners alike.

With studios struggling with their finances for films already in the can and those to come, their inability to recoup those very significant outlays is weighing heavily on their accountants minds. With COVID removing virtually all box office returns, paying staff and productions costs becomes a serious issue as interest on loans for those movies mount. So Warner Bros. have decided to release their 2021 movies simultaneously to both the theaters and HBO Max streaming in order to hopefully generate some form of reasonable return approximating to that obtained from a normal non-pandemic theater viewing audience return.

One has to wonder whether this new “mode” will stick around after the pandemic has passed? Also how will it affect the release of related physical media? First, it has been clear this year that with the lack of original 4K movies, all studios have worked hard to re-release many of their libraries in 4K to help bolster their income. I am sure that this additional income from physical media has not gone unnoticed by the movie houses and they will see that there was somewhere to turn when things get dire……physical media. So I cannot imagine any loss of support for the medium. However, physical media release dates may get impacted for better or worse depending upon just how well streaming and theater revenues do.  Secondly I wonder just how many more studios will follow Warner Bros. “lead”?

The final question on my mind is will this dual release model become a norm? If it does I cannot imagine it not impacting box-office ticket sales once the pandemic is over. Also how many other movie houses will there be joining this model? If many do and there is a migration to home viewing of new release via streaming then the impact on movie theaters box office returns may also be dire causing many to either never open again or close as time passes.

There is very little that really compares to viewing a movie on a huge screen with good surround sound in a well maintained cinema. Even my own HT setup while providing a really involving and highly enjoyable AV experience doesn’t provide that CINEMA feel created from being part of a mass viewing experience.

Whatever the outcome of all these changes we will all have to adjust to them.