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The first of more than 150 cinemas will reopen in England this weekend in a final attempt to cash in on the festive joy of cinema, but Warner Bros plans to stream new films, including Dune and the upcoming Matrix sequel, at the same time as the movie premieres next year. threatens to undermine a post-Covid box office resurgence.
Hollywood studios have taken advantage of theater closings during the pandemic to experiment with digital releases, infuriating theater owners who rely on the once sacrosanct model of big screen exclusivity for months to run their finances. .
The Warner Bros move is unprecedented. The 17 films it will release next year, from The Suicide Squad and Godzilla vs Kong to Tom & Jerry, will air on its HBO Max service for the first month, when they also open in theaters.
The company has described the decision as a one-year plan, limited to the US, to maximize profits as the Covid pandemic is expected to occur, but cinema attendance is significant for the foreseeable future.
However, other Hollywood studios will almost certainly seek to adopt similar plans, which if successful would mark the moment when the phenomenon of global streaming broke the traditional cinema model.
Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, the world’s largest film firm and owner of Odeon in the UK, said he would “aggressively pursue economic terms that preserve our business” as the value of AMC’s shares fell after the Warner Bros. ad
“Warner Bros says it’s a one-year plan, it’s not meant to kill theaters, so I wouldn’t say it’s the death of cinema, but it’s not useful,” said David Hancock, the cinema. research director of the intelligence firm Omdia.
“There are enough movies to keep people in theaters, the movie experience is strong and powerful enough, but if the plan were to go beyond a year, it would change the economy for theater owners.”
If simulcasting with big-screen premieres became the norm, theater owners would likely have to search for closed sites in less viable locations and control expansion. “They would have to adapt to demand,” Hancock said.
The pandemic has already pushed the finances of film companies to the limit. This year UK admissions are forecast to hit the lowest level since records began, which in turn will fuel the UK’s worst box office in three decades.
British theater owners are desperate to reopen, with Vue and Odeon planning to open around 100 of their nearly 200 UK sites combined in the coming weeks. Others, including Everyman, Showcase and independent operators, will bring the number of holiday reopens to more than 150. However, Cineworld, the UK’s largest operator, has kept all of its 127 sites closed since October, when the upcoming thriller was released. James Bond’s No Time to Die was moved to next April.
With almost no major new films to attract viewers and closure restrictions that keep cinemas closed in much of the UK, including Wales, parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and large film markets in England, including Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, the reopening economy is marginal. maybe.
“We’ve done the analysis and from a purely economic perspective he’s marginally in favor of openness,” said Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Vue, the UK’s third-largest chain. But there are other variables. We want to reopen for clients, for our studio partners and our staff who are tired of being on leave. All together they aimed to try to open where we could. “
Of course, there is a superhero-sized reason to open up in the form of Wonder Woman 1984’s premiere on December 16, the only bona fide blockbuster that was unmoved by the pandemic.
As well as breaking preconceived notions about a female-directed and directed superhero film, the first film grossed $ 820 million globally and £ 25 million in the UK. “The reopening is really about Wonder Woman,” Hancock said.
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Aside from a few notable exceptions, like A Christmas Carol, starring Martin Freeman, mostly Christmas classics like Home Alone and Die Hard are featured. Odeon says pre-sales indicate Will Ferrell’s ever-popular 2013 holiday comedy Elf may top the UK box office in reopening week.
Richards remains optimistic about the future of traditional cinema, identifying the release of Bond next spring as the beginning of a return to normalcy.
“Five years from now we will look back to April 4 when James Bond: No Time to Die opens as a watershed moment,” he said. That’s when the great movies start to make a comeback. We will continue as the vaccine comes out and we hope not to face the shutdown again now. The cinema will return to normal ”.
