John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, father of WarnerMedia, has ended an increasingly buoyant setting for movie fans who long for the appearance of Christopher Nolan Beginning, saying the film will not air before it is screened in theaters.
The CEO was asked Thursday during a conference call with analysts about the feasibility of launching major titles like Beginning on HBO Max and eliminating his theatrical careers. During the closing months of movie theaters due to COVID-19, that type of distribution pattern has been tested by studios like Universal and Disney. But no distributor has proven it in titles at the budget level of the highest end of Hollywood blockbusters, given the hundreds of millions of revenue they would likely lose.
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“Is it going to happen with a movie like Beginning or something like that Wonder Woman? Stankey said. “I would be very surprised if that were the case. In fact, I can assure you with BeginningThat will not be the case. “
In an interview on CNBC immediately after the earnings call, Stankey said a movie with the profile of the event of Beginning It cannot be released sporadically in various markets. “It needs to launch across the country,” she said. “So if you have a major metropolitan area, for example Los Angeles, that is totally out of control and you have other parts of the country that are in full control, it doesn’t necessarily give you the option to open it in half the country. It just doesn’t work very well that way. “
Beyond those distribution mechanics, Stankey added: “It is a movie, an experience, that should be seen in theaters. It was designed to be that way. As a result of that, it has to appear that way. Certainly Christopher would like it to be so. This is how he wants the work he has done to be seen by moviegoers and that is why it is going to be something that appears in a theater. “
Managing the pandemic, which has created dense clouds of uncertainty, has been anything but easy. But Stankey said the HBO Max addition, which launched on May 27, is useful for the company’s overall bandwidth, and said the models are changing to allow the broadcast to be the spearhead of the movie. Max’s first original offerings include comedy A American pickle with Seth Rogen, in August. Max’s best-reviewed original at launch was the documentary Out of record.
“The longer this happens, there will be some content in the margins that we will see and say that it may be better to distribute it in another construction or in a different construction. I love that we have that option now. I love the reality that we have been able to build a platform where we can get leverage and capabilities from any content we create, theatrically or otherwise. “
Stankey recalled his earlier comment on theatrical windows and said “there will be some changes” in launch windows across the industry as the pandemic accelerates underlying trends. Still, he reaffirmed that “there is some content that will be more enjoyable and better to watch in theaters than in the living room.”
Just before Stankey’s remarks, top AMC exhibitor said he is now pausing to reopen his theaters until Warner Bros indicates he is ready for release. Beginning.
