Theatrical to VOD window shortening | 17-31 Day theatrical window for Uni

[SnokesLegs]

31 minutes ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

Nolan's arrangements with WB includes back-end participation. Can't get back-end without the box office, and I don't see Nolan compromising on the business aspect, much like he doesn't compromise on the on-screen aspect of his films.

I guess it all depends on what the post- pandemic world looks like for movie exhibition. In the short term this doesn’t really affect Nolan as he had his way with Tenet, whereas in the long term if we see major chains go under there might not be much of a choice for him regarding movie theatres or streaming. If he spits his dummy out now and walks away from WB, he might find himself in a situation where Disney or whoever offer him even worse terms than WB’s “theatres and HBO Max” option.

 

We just won’t know for at least a year what the landscape is going to look like going forward, and I’d wager Nolan is playing the waiting game right now. I doubt we’ll see any knee jerk reaction from him either way. Plus, it’d be pretty shitty of him to walk away from them right now after they did what he asked regarding Tenet.

[OncomingStorm93]

43 minutes ago, redfirebird2008 said:

 

Universal boycotted theaters because they wanted to put stuff on home video much earlier. Disney wants to go that way as well.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/12/disney-reorganizes-to-focus-on-streaming-direct-to-consumer.html

Universal still cut a deal though, ensuring a cinema-first experience for their theatrical slate for half a month before home release. And their home release model is still pay-per-view, not part of a monthly-billed streaming service.

 

Disney of course is putting an emphasis on streaming. Everyone is. That's a far cry from making your entire slate day-and-date, theaters and streaming service.

 

Neither Universal nor Disney are anywhere near the level of stupidity that ATT is demonstrating today.

[redfirebird2008]

9 minutes ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

Universal still cut a deal though, ensuring a cinema-first experience for their theatrical slate for half a month before home release. And their home release model is still pay-per-view, not part of a monthly-billed streaming service.

 

Disney of course is putting an emphasis on streaming. Everyone is. That's a far cry from making your entire slate day-and-date, theaters and streaming service.

 

Neither Universal nor Disney are anywhere near the level of stupidity that ATT is demonstrating today.

 

I think they are though. AT&T/Warner just gave them cover to go with this type of agenda. 

[doublejack]

1 hour ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

Nolan's arrangements with WB includes back-end participation. Can't get back-end without the box office, and I don't see Nolan compromising on the business aspect, much like he doesn't compromise on the on-screen aspect of his films.

There's still box office. It will just be peanuts compared to 2019 and earlier standards. WB isn't releasing films exclusively on HBO Max, it is just that many (perhaps most) of the domestic audience will consume them that way instead of in theaters.

 

AT&T / WB is not going to backtrack on this. Theater count in the US is going to drop like a rock in 2021 and more content creators will go this route. The writing is on the wall.

 

Disney has D+. I wonder what the other studios are going to do. Universal for example could sell their films (Amazon would be interested I bet), or maybe they'll end up on Hulu in some form. Strange days we're entering.

[redfirebird2008]

1 minute ago, doublejack said:

There's still box office. It will just be peanuts compared to 2019 and earlier standards. WB isn't releasing films exclusively on HBO Max, it is just that many (perhaps most) of the domestic audience will consume them that way instead of in theaters.

 

AT&T / WB is not going to backtrack on this. Theater count in the US is going to drop like a rock in 2021 and more content creators will go this route. The writing is on the wall.

 

Disney has D+. I wonder what the other studios are going to do. Universal for example could sell their films (Amazon would be interested I bet), or maybe they'll end up on Hulu in some form. Strange days we're entering.

 

Universal has Peacock. I would think the likes of Paramount & Lionsgate will end up merging into one of the 3 bigger studios (Disney, Warner, Universal). Disney bought out Fox precisely for the purpose of boosting their Disney Plus archives.

 

Sony might spin off their movie business and send it to one of the big 3 studios. Disney would seem to be the obvious one with the Marvel entanglements at Sony. 

[WittyUsername]

1 minute ago, redfirebird2008 said:

 

Universal has Peacock. I would think the likes of Paramount & Lionsgate will end up merging into one of the 3 bigger studios (Disney, Warner, Universal). Disney bought out Fox precisely for the purpose of boosting their Disney Plus archives.

 

Sony might spin off their movie business and send it to one of the big 3 studios. Disney would seem to be the obvious one with the Marvel entanglements at Sony. 

I would hope that antitrust laws would prevent Disney from ever buying out anything ever again. 

[CloneWars]

5 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

I would hope that antitrust laws would prevent Disney from ever buying out anything ever again. 

Better yet, antitrust laws stops AT&T from ever buying out a studio again.

[WittyUsername]

Just now, CloneWars said:

Better yet, antitrust laws stops AT&T from ever buying out a studio again.

Why not both?

[cdsacken]

4 hours ago, YourMother the Edgelord said:

Yeah I don’t think we’ll see $1B grossing films for a while now

Who knows maybe Avatar will be the first one. That would be a long drought

[titanic2187]

With box office, movies are allowed to make money in big markets like China, 

 

if they moved to streaming, i highly doubt they can launch the similar trick in China

[Eric Atreides]

https://deadline.com/2021/01/nielsen-launches-pvod-measurement-streaming-movie-viewing-1234671892/

 

Quote

With more and more theatrical features being released via premium video on demand [PVOD], Nielsen is launching a dedicated tool to capture movie viewing.

 

The company officially calls it Theatrical Video On-Demand, or TVOD, but the rankings will encompass PVOD titles that have had to skip or curtail theatrical runs due to the coronavirus pandemic. Universal’s Trolls World Tour was an early PVOD trailblazer, and dozens more releases have followed in subsequent months, with the release pattern likely outlast Covid-19. In some cases, as with holiday animated title Croods 2: New Age, a short theatrical run has been set with a PVOD date already established.

 

 

The new measurement tool also will be able to track titles like Mulan, which was made available for an extra charge to subscribers to Disney+, a new twist on the on-demand model that Disney dubs Premier Access. Movies included at no extra charge for subscribers are not part of the new offering, but are measured by Nielsen as part of its U.S. streaming rankings.

 

Details about how frequently or publicly Nielsen will release the PVOD numbers were not spelled out in the announcement. As the traditional media ecosystem has undergone dramatic change, Nielsen has been trying to evolve its offerings and expand beyond linear viewing. Last summer, it added U.S. streaming rankings spanning Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Disney+ and is expected to expand that list to include HBO Max, Peacock and other new entities down the road. In tandem with the PVOD news, Nielsen released its streaming rankings for all of 2020.

 

Up until this point, visibility on PVOD viewing has been somewhat limited, though information on transactions and rentals is shared through some channels.

 

[Napoleon]

Comscore Introduces ‘Movies Everywhere’ Cross-Screen Measurement System

 

Quote

 

With the nature and business of feature films changing almost daily, Comscore has announced “Movies Everywhere,” a new cross-screen measurement system.

 

The offering will provide daily sales reports across various release windows and platforms, including a new reporting system to track box office returns.

 

Census-based box office data and transactional video measurement capabilities will be combined for the first time, the company said. Granular and advanced audience information will now be connected across the box office, transactional on demand video, OTT rentals and streaming views. The aim is to map box office revenue with demographics, audience sentiment and consumer behavior.

 

 

Full story:

https://deadline.com/2021/01/comscore-movies-everywhere-cross-screen-measurement-system-1234679650/

[antovolk]

 

[Napoleon]

 

Before the pandemic, theater owners could demand a 74- to 90-day exclusive theatrical window. No more. As the country emerges from the pandemic, the window being adopted by many in Hollywood is 45 days. Moreover, there’s nothing to stop a studio from abandoning ship and sending a title to the home earlier depending upon its performance (in fact, Paramount sent Snake Eyes to PVOD at day 25 after it bombed this summer); conversely, a big tentpole film could stay in theaters exclusively past 45 days if it is doing well.

 

(...)

 

“There is no cookie-cutter approach anymore,” opines one studio exec. “I personally believe in the theatrical window, and there are movies that should be day-and-date. Windowing is getting very tricky.”

 

One by one, studios have announced that they could send most of their 2022 films to their sister streaming services as early as 45 days, although Disney is staying mum on an official basis. Warner Bros.’ The Batman, unspooling March 4, could benefit from not debuting day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max, like the studios’ 2021 releases. And Universal made it clear the new streaming plan won’t apply to next summer’s tentpoles Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru.

 

Many of the films going to Peacock around the 45-day mark are adults-skewing action pics — including the Jessica Chastain-starring ensemble pic The 355 — and adult dramas, underscoring the precarious future facing any movie that isn’t a superhero pic or a mega-franchise installment. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Dec. 17) could open north of $130 million, as an example. “We should just rename all theaters Marvel,” quips another studio executive.

 

(...)

 

Insiders say there are talks taking place regarding when to send West Side Story to the home. One reason to keep it only in theaters beyond 45 days is Oscar nominations, which will be announced Feb. 8 (more imminently, the film also is hoping for a Christmas bump). Another reason is Spielberg himself; he is a fierce champion of the theatrical experience. However, sources say he has indeed come around to the idea that the old window is likely shut forever and that West Side Story will be in the home far earlier than any of his previous films.

 

West Side Story is from 20th Century, which sends its movies to HBO Max even though it is now owned by Disney. But under a new arrangement, 20th Century titles can now also debut on Disney+ or Hulu. West Side Story is expected to be among those films that do, raising its visibility from a streaming perspective.

 

When announcing this year that it would be sending many of its films to Paramount+ as early as 45 days, the studio did include the next Mission: Impossible in that group but not Top Gun: Maverick. Both films star Tom Cruise, who, like Spielberg, is a fierce theatrical champion and could have been exacting some concessions. Says another source, “Sometimes, it’s still all about talent.”

 

(...)

[Potiki]

“The amount of ancillary value a movie makes is almost twice what it was five years ago,” said Blum in an interview excerpted on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business” (at the 28:36 mark), which also features a Summit interview with Disney’s Kareem Daniel. “So if I have a movie that makes $100 million, the amount of money I’m going to make from all the ancillaries is almost equivalent to a movie that five years ago would have been $200 million.”

 

The rearrangement of release windows also helps producers by not requiring that studios do separate promotional campaigns for theatrical release and home video anymore. “We have not increased or the studios haven’t increased how much they spend on marketing,” said Prakash, who knows the studio side well from his days at Universal Pictures. “So not only you’re getting that return, you’ve added windows that are earlier, that don’t require extra marketing. And so you’ve got no real increase in the cost side, you’ve got much more revenue coming in.”

 

Blum noted that those who focus only on the box office returns are missing the point. “Even though what gets written about is, ‘This movie only did $30 [million], it would have done $60 [million].’ But actually, the movie that just did $30 will ultimately make us more money than the one that did $60 five years ago.”

 

Blum and Prakash also discuss on the podcast their ambitions to move the streaming business away from the cost-plus model in order to share in the upside on content they produce, as well as Blumhouse’s efforts to match the success it has experienced with films like “The Black Phone” and “Get Out” on the budding TV side of its business.

 

Source: https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/jason-blum-films-profitable-streaming-1235378422/amp/

[Eric Atreides]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/business/media/universal-premium-video-on-demand.html

 

Quote

But the willingness by Universal to experiment — to challenge the “this is how we’ve always done it” thinking — seems to have paid off. Universal has generated more than $1 billion in premium V.O.D. revenue in less than three years, while showing little-to-no decrease in ticket sales. In some cases, box-office sales even increased when films became available in homes, which Universal has decided is a side effect of premium V.O.D. advertising and word of mouth.

 

Universal, for instance, made “Minions: The Rise of Gru” available for premium V.O.D. after 33 days in theaters in 2022. The movie stayed in theaters after that, selling more tickets than “Minions,” released in 2015, did after 33 days, according to data from Comscore, an analytics company. Data for Universal’s “Jurassic World” and “Fast and Furious” franchises show a similar effect.

 

An interesting wrinkle: Donna Langley, the chairwoman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Focus Features, said the company had seen only a small decrease in revenue from traditional V.O.D. That service lets viewers rent or purchase movies at a lower price after 90 days in theaters. She said the premium offering was “an additive, important new revenue source that didn’t exist three years ago.”

 

In other words, Universal thinks that, to some degree, it has found an entirely new customer.

 

“It has had a hugely positive impact on our business,” Ms. Langley said, adding that without it, Universal would have likely had to make fewer movies. Universal and Focus will release 26 movies in theaters this year, more than any other Hollywood studio.

 

Premium V.O.D. revenue is small compared with box-office sales. But it’s certainly not nothing.

 

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has generated more than $75 million in premium V.O.D. revenue since May 16, Universal said. “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “The Croods: A New Age” and “Sing 2” each collected more than $50 million. Universal said 14 films, including “News of the World,” a period drama starring Tom Hanks, and “M3gan,” each had more than $25 million.

 

Films from Focus, including “Belfast” and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” have generated roughly $5 million each. For some art films, a theatrical release has become valuable mostly as “a marketing tool” for premium V.O.D. rentals and purchases, according to Julia Alexander, the director of strategy at Parrot Analytics, a research firm.