jimisawesome

They couldn't tell everyone because the first agent they called the entire town would know and it would be 2nd and 3rd hand rumors going around. And sorry but boo hoo to talent and their agents in this case, if they can't look at the current environment and see the writing on the wall that is on them for being that removed from reality. These agents should have been preparing their clients for this kind of move and not just from WB but from all the studios. How did this take them off guard? How is it they think the marketplace goes back to normal come date X? How is there no Bloomberg terminal in any of their offices with alerts for not just the studios but the streamers and theaters too? On the talent side if they where so concerned why didn't they start asking questions when the Apple Bond rumors where going on in October? Anyone can file a lawsuit but what lawsuit is going to be successful? The contracts will either have specific language around pandemics/theater closures or it will have a force majeure/ Act of god clause. Theaters being closed by order of the government for the most part of a year due to a respiratory virus is exactly what force majeure clauses where made for. As for burned bridges, I have a feeling for the most part a check will put all those flames out. Outside of Nolan where are any of the other people going to go to get the budget and freedom? Sony and Paramount only release so much.

My questions where to a specific statement that a person made that theaters will reopen. They seem confident in this so they should be able to answer them. The entire AT&T is stupid side from Chris Nolan to agents to people here that seem very confident in this answer that theaters will reopen on some day and everything goes back to exactly the way it was in 2019. It's my side the WB made the best decision they could given the information we have at this time that is saying we don't have the answers except that movie theaters start to go bankrupt without cash now. My side so far has been the only side publicly pricing in a single cent of downside risk and not the things go back to normal, AMC gets saved for pennies on the dollar and only the name changes. And WTF? There are plenty of people talking about restaurants industry collapse. Again, already in 1 in 6 restaurants have closed this year. There will be plenty more next year too as shut downs continue and like 5 senators even pretend to give a shit.

Ok, so when do they open at full capacity? Who pays the ongoing costs for AMC and the other theater chains during this time?

They can? With theaters closed in CA, NY, Toronto and Chicago and reduced capacity everywhere else?

If this was any other crew it would be worth entertaining Tom being unreasonable but this is a UK crew they are notorious for being PITA especially to American producers and directors. Also, Cruise has the opposite reputation and is in general seen as a fairly easy guy to work with.

If you look at the Disney release schedule I am not even sure its about profits so much as contractual obligations and/or not wanting to piss of Kevin Feige. Over half of their schedule are Fox movies which they can't move to D+ or hulu easily. 3 of the 9 Disney movies are Marvel and another is Spielberg.

Yes Tenet and wW84 are huge help to the theaters right now. Theaters need cash now not in 2021. AMC goes bankrupt now not 2022. Releasing Avengers the return of Iron Man and Captain America in Nov does not save the industry because theaters won't be in business then. Disney could not even bother to sacrifice something like Free Guy to help keep the lights on now. Disney's 2021 lineup is not exactly the 2019 line up. Most of the 21 movies they are releasing next year in theaters are Fox movies that will contractually go to HBO as their first TV rights so they can't move them to D+ or Hulu. The Marvel Movies coming out next year are not exactly BP, IM and Cap. My point being there is no Avengers or Star Wars in this lineup or any other announced 2021 lineup that would demand people into theaters. If there is this strong desire to go to movies to go to movies which people keep claiming, WB decision does not matter as people will go see Dune in theaters.

Those 4 or 5 movies never where shown in theaters while WB is giving the option to see them in theaters. And it was not like they where random 4 or 5 movies it was their biggest animated movie of the year, a movie that plenty of people here thought would hit a billion and the biggest musical of all time. The list of movies Disney is placing straight to D+ include plenty of movies that would be big hits if released in theaters such as Enchanted 2.

Thank you. I have asked these questions and every time its just hand waived away.

You are all over the place. What does budget size have to do with anything being discussed? Big Budget movies are the only movies people go to the theaters to see so if the big budget era is over that is another strike against theaters staying in business. But, the reality is the big budget era is not over as of yet as there are Star Wars movies coming up, there is an Indiana Jones movie coming, Black Adam, The Batman, Aquaman 2, 2 MI movies, countless Marvel movies to name a few to say nothing of what is in the can. Late Summer, Early fall ok how do theaters survive until then? Oh they will survive because they will survive seems to be your answer. 1 in 6 Restaurants have already closed this year so yeah I expect an absolute bloodbath in the Restaurant industry.

You have spent the last 5 months suggesting that going to the theater was Russian roulette but with 5 chambers loaded but now you are upset that Studios are going well people like dubalb will not be showing up to the theater any time soon maybe we need to come up with new plans going forward and your surprised? While a few others and myself where screaming theaters need product to keep the doors open. WB has been basically the only major studio giving theaters product. So I have some questions for you. What do the next 12 months look like? When are you going back to the theater? When do you expect the public as a whole to go back to theaters? Who is paying to keep theaters afloat until that time? Who else besides WB is releasing A level product in that time? When is capacity going to 100% in CA, IL and NY? When will NY allow theaters to open up again? And how many months will it be after they allow indoor dining and bars to reopen? All of these questions really lead to this one. When will the movie business return to a 2019 environment? So yeah, I am fine with what WB is doing because I don't see the world moving back to 2019 and I think people are navie if they think there is not a massive change in the business environment that will destroy not just theaters but malls and strip malls and commercial real estate. That companies need to make plans for the now not for this dream world where AMC is saved for "pennies on the dollar" and people go back to movies because theaters have almost died before and came back. Or that everyone is secretly just waiting to run back to the theaters that they abandoned years ago. I wanted theaters to be saved because going to the movies is one of my favorite things but reality is no one with the ability to save theaters cares. Insert image from URL

Honestly most of these rumors in the trades seem like fan fiction written by agents. What theater chain is going to even threaten to try this with WB right now? Pull a stunt like this and see how fast the encryption key changes and good luck staying solvent with nothing to show until mid Feb and nothing big until April. And who could even do this that would make any difference? AMC can't afford to take this chance. Regal is shut down. Cinemark is doing the best of the 3 but they are not exactly thriving. Marcus is a distance 4th and everyone else has a tenth of the screens of 3rd place Cinemark or less so they won't make a difference. I don't buy most of the talent being all that upset either. Where was any outrage when Universal shoved down a 14 day window? Because there is just so much difference between a 14 day window and a 0 day window.

Those complaints are all valid. Its at least 45 minutes too long the 3rd act is a mess and kind of stupid and the Effects are not great and they take place in the dark to hide this. The first movie was much more enjoyable and had the iconic battlefield set piece which nothing in this movie comes close to having. It was a cheat how Chris Penn returned but all of his scenes and interactions with Gaddot where worth it and this is easily the strongest part of the movie. I was disappointed by the movie but I am not sure I was the intended audience I think this was aimed more at kids and if you have kids under probably about 14 they will probably really love it. I saw this in an Imax and I honestly do not see where that criticism comes. There is less of a need to see this in Imax than the first one or an Aquaman there just was not a set piece or sequence that screamed big screen like the battlefield sequence of the first one.

Their weaker slate? You mean Mulan that before covid several people here predicted over a billion dollars? Or Soul which was their big Pixar movie of the year? Or moving Hamilton by far the biggest musical in history and one of the biggest cultural touchstones from a 2021 theatrical release to D+? That weak slate? They announced a sequel to a megahit staring Amy Adams to D+ because that totally would happen in normal times. And its still early these movies can still move and move onto D+ say in Feb after certain legal actions are made. yeah I am sorry I must be a shill because I dont agree with you. If I am a fan boy of anything its AMC Theaters and since you are Staning my post you know I have repeatedly have mentioned they are going broke and no one in Hollywood is doing shit to save them. No AMC no profit in theatrical release for any of the studios. The evil At&t gets this and admits they won't do anything with their announcement, I respect the honesty. Everyone else is lying by giving out these summer dates but you know not actually doing anything to save theaters. The first time in my life I have taken shots at talent has been the last few days, I never thought actors are over paid, I don't care about their speaking out etc etc etc. But, when they want to criticize but not put any skin in the game yeah that is my line apparently. Or WB sux and Disney rules.

The real reason WB is the bad guy and all this talent is crying is because most of these directors think they are auteurs and above TV. TV is what they think streaming is. Oh sure sometimes they will slum for some "prestige TV" mini series they slap their name on but on the whole they think they are above TV. An example of this is control freak Nolan that got WB to have a ton of chain theaters break out 70mm projectors for him because he cares about presentation so much well when it comes to disk he does not care at all letting subpar transfers to his films get his approval despite this being the way basically everyone will see that work from that point on. You would think there is less of a stigma when Marty does a netflix movie because only they are stupid enough to give the budget to make the Irishman and even more insane control freak Fincher seems to love it. This here exactly. He should be happy that he got another 165 million to burn after BR2049. Or at least happy he know has an excuse why another mega budget film of his bombs instead of having to go to TV.

AT&T fuckign sucks but Disney is awesome for moving movies to Disney+? AT&T stock is up since the announcement. More importantly WB has been forced to face reality, theaters are dead in the North American market the movies that are in the can its about minimizing losses at this point. Taking the write down to boost HBO Max is better than just watching their entire slate make 30 cents on the dollar worst case projections. Sorry but boo hoo talent has proven themselves to be insane with their head up their --- this week. You have that insane Jenkins interview with Sorkin as my first 2 exhibits. They can all go enjoy their freedom at Disney having producers make their movies. If you are not in pure panic mode right now as a studio your ass should be fired. None of the studio heads can give a date when Empire 25 reopens so any plans or projections they have are worthless. Theaters might not reopen in NY until next September or later depending on the whims of the day of Cuomo, I am sorry I mean his totally science driven response that opens up indoor dining and bars first.

Huh? WB is now the bad guy for being the only studio to release an A level movie to theaters since the shut down? Sorry the only studio that will have released 2 A Level movies to theaters since the shut down. Strike that again. They are the only studio to release a B level or C level film since the shutdown. And they are the bad guys? Its WB fault Disney put Mulan on Disney+ at the last minute instead of theaters making Tenet the only A level product until WB's releases WW84 in theaters on Dec 25th? If only WB was nicer like Universal that shoved down a 2 week window down AMC throat when they where in a desperate rush to find financing. I am sure WB pushing Tenet to 2021 would have made those loans just so much easier to land the promise of no product for over a year.

I am not seeing anything on Bloomberg about Denis Villeneuve buying bonds for AMC and Regal. Maybe all these directors and talent crying so much can you know actually do something to save Cinema. Lucas is worth a few billion, Spielberg 3.7 billion, Cameron is over a billion, Nolan a quarter billion. They have more than enough to paper over the theaters until they get back on their feet.

You have the option to go to the theater to see all of the WB movies on the day they are released on HBO Max. How can you say no one else is doing this? Paramount has sold basically their entire pipeline of projects save A Quit Place 2 and Top Gun to streaming. MGM tried to sell Bond to streaming. Universal used COVID to force a 2 week window down AMC throat. Disney moved Hamilton, Mulan and Soul to streaming before WB made this announcement and is rumored to announce more former theatrical releases to D+. Even Sony sold projects to streaming. All this in an environment where AMC's ceo has said they will run out of money in January and filed SEC filings with ongoing concern language. Regal CEO has said similar along with many local and regional chains. This alone makes up more than half of the theaters and screens in NA. That theaters have gone above and beyond trying to stay open with Safe Cinema and upgrading filtration and eating capacity for social distance and the thanks they get is the entertainment press all but saying you are playing Russian roulette if you see Tenet and probably going to die (see AV Club). Or you have "pro science" governors opening up Indoor dinning and Bars while not even giving criteria or a timeline for theaters reopening and yet Hollywood is giving him an award. And what thanks did theaters get? Yeah entertainment press all but saying you will die if you step foot in a theater and they won't review movies that are theater only (see AV and they are not the only ones). Funny enough some of the biggest critics of what WB is doing here are the same ones that continue to say its Russian roulette to go to the theater. So, it would have been ok if they pulled a paramount and sold their slate to Amazon, Apple and Netflix? Of course they are going to help their own streaming service. Just like Disney has helped their own streaming service by taking movies that where supposed to go to theaters and releasing them on the service. Everyone criticizing this move from here to the Directors guild seems to ignore the state of theaters and believes everything goes back to normal on some date in 2021. That people are just going to rush back to the theaters because they have gone to the theater for 15000 years (sorkin basically said this). Or its just taken for granted that someone is going to buy AMC in bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar and only the name changes.

Still no mention of the DGA, Jenkins or Sorkin loaning out money to theaters or buying theater chains. I don't see Talent willing to write checks to cover the carrying costs for all these movies or to replace the lost revenue for VOD, Disk and HBO movies or any lost subscribers because nothing new is showing on HBO on Saturdays. No mention of covering the cost of wasted marketing dollars.

AMC files bankruptcy 30-40% of their locations will shut down for good even if you find a vulture. To use the Chicago market as an example, they have over 30 locations and double digit of the (suburban) locations are redundant being within a 15 minute drive of each other. Or to use my market as an example, there are 10 locations. 4 of them are redundant, 1 more is a Classic and another needs a major renovation. If I was the Private Equity buying the scraps I would close 5 of these locations right off the bat.

Yes the have a major reason that has nothing to do with Ron Desantos its AMC will die in January if they don't have cash now. AMC dies than none of the movies that the studio saved for next summer are making money in theaters. Forget about it if Regal follows. This happening is not looking 12 months into the future, its not even looking 12 weeks in the future at this point, there is now a better than not chance of AMC filling bankruptcy within the next 7 weeks.

How does AMC and Regal make it until August without product before this? And how does WB make money on Suicide Squad and The Batman when AMC and Regal have to close a ton of locations in their reorganization or worse liquidation? A studio head should be fired on the spot if they green light a movie that costs over 150 right now until they see how the market plays out.

To avoid talking past each other what do you think the next 12 months look like? I ask because this post seems to imply that you think everything goes back to more or less normal on April 4th (or pick any other date in 2021). I think that it is almost certain at this point that the best case is we end up losing only 10-20% of the theater locations and a very real chance we lose half or more over the next 6 months. If you think AMC and the rest can find a loan or white knight everything goes back to normal then sure it makes sense to delay to maximize money. Now, I see it as the Feds are not going to save theaters, AMC has spent the year looking for a white knight with just a bit of help in July and nothing sense and the entire industry getting weaker not stronger. That any cashflow into this business is better than no cashflow. So yeah Fall Guy might be lucky to make 8 million dollars opening weekend and 20 overall but that is 8 million dollars flowing though the theaters right now that was not there yesterday. That is 20 million to bridge the theaters until Christmas day. If someone does not do something now to keep AMC's lights on than Black Widow and Fast 9 are not making ---- come May anyways. So yeah throw away a movie that can help right now but is not going to make much later on even in the absolute best case. Everyone in Hollywood is looking for someone else to do the right thing and only WB has up until this point and now they are getting killed for it.

You would think given they have about 40% marketshare yet they have indicated they see Disney+ as their future. They have done nothing to save theaters pushing even low hanging projects that they could afford to sacrifice to the future (Free Guy). They have made no indication at all they are going to offer a bail/buy out to AMC or regional theaters. They put Mulan and Soul on streaming before WB announced this plan.