The Warner Bros. Thread | Will NOT merge with Paramount...capitalism is still terrible

[Fullbuster]

1 hour ago, WittyUsername said:

The one thing that makes me hopeful that Disney won’t try a stunt like this is that Disney+ is doing extremely well, so they should be far less desperate than AT&T/WarnerMedia.

 

While Disney is technically fine on the long run thry're probably desperate to avoid any kind of repeat of 2020, and streaming could give us more independence and control over their products and money sources so it's probably very tempting to make a U-Turn.

 

Besides, their December 10 investor day seems to be way more hyped than usual, it'd be weird to have some tepid announcmeent or hesitation.

[filmlover]

2 hours ago, ThomasNicole said:

they don´t have much content for their entire 2021, and they need to keep their subscribers interested 

 

that´s why i think some movies lives cruella, raya, or even some fox movies (if they truly create the adult section soon) could ended up on D+, like rumors suggest 

 

i only doubt they will make this with their big tentpoles, unless there are no other choice

I suspect the big announcements from their investor thing next week will be that Raya & the Last Dragon, Cruella, and the Fox movies that were about to be released this month (Free Guy, Death on the Nile) will be bypassing theaters but will be committed to keeping the MCU movies as theatrical releases. And that they won't pull the dick move of not telling the talent behind those movies what was happening before the announcement.

[DlAMONDZ]

8 hours ago, ThomasNicole said:

they don´t have much content for their entire 2021, and they need to keep their subscribers interested 

 

that´s why i think some movies lives cruella, raya, or even some fox movies (if they truly create the adult section soon) could ended up on D+, like rumors suggest 

 

i only doubt they will make this with their big tentpoles, unless there are no other choice

Disney doesn't really need new content. As long as they don't up the price and don't lose their family friendly content for whatever reason they'll be more than fine. Stuff like the Mandalorian probably doesn't even move the needle in the grand scheme of things. Disney didn't miss a beat after season 1 ended

Edited December 6, 2020 by DlAMONDZ

[filmlover]

Disney+ could probably go a whole year without much in the way of brand new content made for the service and their subscriptions wouldn't see too much of a dip. Easy access to almost the entire Disney library was always the main thing a lot of people were easily sold on.

[SpiderByte]

I doubt Disney will go day and date because they don't need to. They will very likely hit 100 mil subs by the end of 2021, probably around the summer.

 

Disney also cant do day and date for all their stuff till 2022 because of preexisting deals with Fox. Not to mention that R-Rated films would have to go to somewhere other than Disney+ (be it Hulu, Star, etc), which HBO Max doesn't need to worry about

Edited December 6, 2020 by SpiderByte

[Maggie]

 

[Macleod]

17 hours ago, Chicago said:

Is it likely for Warner to back track its decision should things go back to normal?

Things won't be back to what we knew as "normal" in the US for a long, long time - yes, not for most of 2021, 2022 is even questionable.  People already think once they get a vaccine, if that even works en masse, that they will be free and clear -- no, we will still need to wear masks for months following the vaccine to achieve some kind of majority push over the mountain.  

 

17 hours ago, excel1 said:

The response to this has been so awful that I highly doubt any other studio goes this route. As the vaccine begins to roll out, look for Disney to announce a return to normal distribution starting with BLACK WIDOW and reap the good press. 

Attempted distribution to theaters will always be there whenever possible -- I see the studios, as selfish as they can be, still attempting this, for whatever's open. But sooner or later, for 2021, I think they will all want to get their existing, finished films and shows "out there" before they become too outdated.  I can see Disney holding firm on their Black Widow plan through the spring, but I'm still betting that by the time May rolls around, they will simultaneously put it out there on Disney+.

 

[filmlover]

4 minutes ago, Macleod said:

But sooner or later, for 2021, I think they will all want to get their existing, finished films and shows "out there" before they become too outdated.

 

If Chaos Walking can finally see the light of day in 2021 after wrapping filming in 2017, there's no reason why studios can't hold onto their product (most of which was shot in 2019) for a little while longer.

[Macleod]

27 minutes ago, filmlover said:

If Chaos Walking can finally see the light of day in 2021 after wrapping filming in 2017, there's no reason why studios can't hold onto their product (most of which was shot in 2019) for a little while longer.

That one's an anomaly, and there are always a few of those, of course.  A few months ago, I thought everyone would just keep pushing back, and I figured WW84 would definitely be one those they'd hold onto for theaters as a priority. But AT&T/Warners has just pushed the game forward -- i.e. If Warners is pushing out 2020/2021 films made in the past year or two, they can get onto making other things...however possible.  Sooner or later, the discrepancy between "Who's releasing "new" films?" and "Who's releasing leftovers?" will become more and more apparent to audiences, and no studio will want to be the last one out with a large group of "held-over" films.  The question over the next few months will now be...how will other studios respond to Warners' move?  

Edited December 6, 2020 by Macleod

[SpiderByte]

There's also one factor that people are no it considering in the "how soon will other studios follow suit" debate: this might not work. I think it will, but there's every possibility the brand issues with HBO Max are bad enough that even with Wonder Woman it can't get the numbers they're looking for.

[Jamiem]

I’m surprised how little social media traction the day and date 2021 announcement video has gained:

 

HBO MAX Twitter: 900k views 

HBO MAX YouTube: 202K views

 

WB Pictures Twitter: 1.1m Views

WB Pictures YouTube: not on there

[SpiderByte]

HBO Max having awareness problems? Now I've seen everything...

[Jamiem]

4 minutes ago, SpiderByte said:

HBO Max having awareness problems? Now I've seen everything...

I mean it’s well documented that branding  and marketing aren’t HBO MAX strong suit. Also shows that the buzz around here might not match the general audience.

 

I imagine they will still keep their marketing spend fairly high with TV spots and the like for particularly WW84 that should help build awareness with the whole “In theatres and on HBO MAX same day” Tagline but still a long way to go. 

[cax16]

3 hours ago, Jamiem said:

I’m surprised how little social media traction the day and date 2021 announcement video has gained:

 

HBO MAX Twitter: 900k views 

HBO MAX YouTube: 202K views

 

WB Pictures Twitter: 1.1m Views

WB Pictures YouTube: not on there

I didn’t watch the video myself, too much stuff was going on then and I didn’t bother watching it after. 
 

But honestly, if they can’t figure out a way to get subs with a whole years worth of movies and leading into that with WW84 then they should just shut Hbomax down cause their marketing department sucks. 

[cax16]

James Gunn didn’t promote or even mention SS panel today for CCXP. I guess he’s one of the ones they didn’t speak to beforehand about the max deal. Pretty dumb when he’s already working on a hbomax show now as well. I could be jumping to conclusions but he’s normally pretty active on social media for stuff like this. 

[Macleod]

33 minutes ago, cax16 said:

James Gunn didn’t promote or even mention SS panel today for CCXP. I guess he’s one of the ones they didn’t speak to beforehand about the max deal. Pretty dumb when he’s already working on a hbomax show now as well. I could be jumping to conclusions but he’s normally pretty active on social media for stuff like this. 

It will be the same old story when he returns to Marvel to make Guardians 3.  "I've always been happiest here."  "Marvel's always been the best to me."  "I've had more freedom on this movie than I ever have."  "This is the best movie I've made."   But yes, AT&T/Warner/HBOMax effed up here, definitely...

[cax16]

9 minutes ago, Macleod said:

It will be the same old story when he returns to Marvel to make Guardians 3.  "I've always been happiest here."  "Marvel's always been the best to me."  "I've had more freedom on this movie than I ever have."  "This is the best movie I've made."   But yes, AT&T/Warner/HBOMax effed up here, definitely...

They did mess up. Gunn seemed pretty poised to come back to WB after gotg3 cause I know they were already discussing a sequel to his movie and more max shows. As I said, I may be jumping to conclusions and he’s probably just sending them a message as well, but we’ll see. 

[BeastByTheBay]

5 hours ago, cax16 said:

I didn’t watch the video myself, too much stuff was going on then and I didn’t bother watching it after. 
 

But honestly, if they can’t figure out a way to get subs with a whole years worth of movies and leading into that with WW84 then they should just shut Hbomax down cause their marketing department sucks. 

They literally have no marketing department. The top execs were either fired or got let go

 

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/warnermedia-marketing-executive-exodus-1234832886/

[lorddemaxus]

5 hours ago, cax16 said:

I didn’t watch the video myself, too much stuff was going on then and I didn’t bother watching it after. 
 

But honestly, if they can’t figure out a way to get subs with a whole years worth of movies and leading into that with WW84 then they should just shut Hbomax down cause their marketing department sucks. 

I mean the video isn't a trailer where people had to watch it to know what everyone is talking about. HBO Max was on top of twitter's trending page in the US for a couple of hours and was the 2nd most searched term of the day on Google so I think enough people are aware of the deal. 

[Fullbuster]

I love when people talk about going back to normal....No, there will be normalcy in most life aspects but technological trends that accelerated will still pursue their growth: streaming is gonna be stronger than ever, it's not a temporary thing as it was already growing before Covid.

 

It's a longterm thing.