Warner Brothers announced they're running an experiment in 2021- all theatrical releases will simultaneously be released on HBO Max:
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www.theverge.com
Some caveats- they'll only be available for a month before coming off for a time. They'll still be released to theaters.
With Disney having done Mulan for an extra charge on Disney+ (seems WB's plan isn't for an extra cost), could this be the beginning of the end of major theatrical releases? I've wondered why the studios haven't been doing this like Disney did- for a movie I want to see, I'd pay $30 to not have to deal with the movie theater. While few things match the big screen with a big vat of $20 movie popcorn, there's astonishingly few things I want to see like that. I don't think movie theaters will end, but the market will contract. While this is forced by COVID-related restrictions, the technology has been there for some time and I think would have eventually happened anyway. We've sometimes mentioned how our own systems sound superior to a poorly set up movie theater run by an indifferent corporation, none of us enjoy having to watch a movie with some yahoo yammering on their phone or being otherwise distracting. This would let you pause for the ever important pee break (or second beer) and avoid all the hassle.
I do wonder about the fragmentation of services- if you don't have HBO Max, you can't see these releases. If you don't have Disney+, you wouldn't have seen Mulan. So that may slow some of this because I don't think most people are going to subscribe to everything to see all the hit movies. You know some chain will use Hulu, another will go Netflix, etc. Some other might go Disney's route- subscribe to their proprietary service for their new movies (and back catalog). So it could get even more expensive than a $12 ticket to a particular movie.
Warner Bros. will release all of its new 2021 movies simultaneously on HBO Max
For a period of one month in the United States.
www.theverge.com
Some caveats- they'll only be available for a month before coming off for a time. They'll still be released to theaters.
With Disney having done Mulan for an extra charge on Disney+ (seems WB's plan isn't for an extra cost), could this be the beginning of the end of major theatrical releases? I've wondered why the studios haven't been doing this like Disney did- for a movie I want to see, I'd pay $30 to not have to deal with the movie theater. While few things match the big screen with a big vat of $20 movie popcorn, there's astonishingly few things I want to see like that. I don't think movie theaters will end, but the market will contract. While this is forced by COVID-related restrictions, the technology has been there for some time and I think would have eventually happened anyway. We've sometimes mentioned how our own systems sound superior to a poorly set up movie theater run by an indifferent corporation, none of us enjoy having to watch a movie with some yahoo yammering on their phone or being otherwise distracting. This would let you pause for the ever important pee break (or second beer) and avoid all the hassle.
I do wonder about the fragmentation of services- if you don't have HBO Max, you can't see these releases. If you don't have Disney+, you wouldn't have seen Mulan. So that may slow some of this because I don't think most people are going to subscribe to everything to see all the hit movies. You know some chain will use Hulu, another will go Netflix, etc. Some other might go Disney's route- subscribe to their proprietary service for their new movies (and back catalog). So it could get even more expensive than a $12 ticket to a particular movie.
