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

[Nova]

5 minutes ago, Fullbuster said:

 

Honestly, this decision by Warner Bros (and the premise of Disney ready to do something similar) made this forum more alive than it has been since last year   I probably posted more in the last few days than the rest of the year combined ^^

 

Apart from that I agree with you: WB's decision made sense, it was a good one but they completely failed the execution and there will be consequences. Disney will talk about their plans on December 10 and I'm sure they'll handle things much better.

I mean it brought me back to the forums for a bit 😝😝 

 

The crazy thing is that the rush to make this decision and announce it didn’t have to be rushed. It’s not like all their films were going to be available starting Jan 1st. They really could have waited and had discussions with people about this. With regards to people going to movie theaters again, not much was going to change between now and several months from now. Which is why I don’t see Disney making an announcement any which way about what their plans are...because they don’t have to at the moment. I think what disney might do and the smartest thing to do is play it by ear: see what the state of theater going is and have honest discussions with movie makers/talent about how they feel about their films going to Disney plus with the understanding that if they opt to not go to streaming no one knows when theater going will be normal again/what it means regarding box office potential and how much they can make back as a result (if they have a back end deal). 

 

WB just rushed this decision for no reason. 

[Nova]

14 minutes ago, TMP said:

I'll be surprised if HBO Max isn't still a flop a year from now

it’s going to still be a flop. i’ll probably sign up for it for next year because of the theatrical releases going on there but won’t sign up after that and i’m sure the folks signing up after the announcement was made are in the same boat. 

 

*also i’ll probably only sign up for the months when there’s a movie coming out that i would have seen in theaters. don’t know what their cancellation policy and resign up policy is but i’d try to plan it around that 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Nova

[filmlover]

Didn't the stock for HBO Max barely increase even after the announcement was initially made? Safe to say this hasn't delivered the kind of positive press WB/AT&T clearly thought it would get (but that's what they get for going forward with something so poorly planned).

Edited December 8, 2020 by filmlover

[Fullbuster]

5 minutes ago, Nova said:

I mean it brought me back to the forums for a bit 😝😝 

 

The crazy thing is that the rush to make this decision and announce it didn’t have to be rushed. It’s not like all their films were going to be available starting Jan 1st. They really could have waited and had discussions with people about this. With regards to people going to movie theaters again, not much was going to change between now and several months from now. Which is why I don’t see Disney making an announcement any which way about what their plans are...because they don’t have to at the moment. I think what disney might do and the smartest thing to do is play it by ear: see what the state of theater going is and have honest discussions with movie makers/talent about how they feel about their films going to Disney plus with the understanding that if they opt to not go to streaming no one knows when theater going will be normal again/what it means regarding box office potential and how much they can make back as a result (if they have a back end deal). 

 

WB just rushed this decision for no reason. 

 

While I agree with this approach there's one caveat: you seem to suppose that it'll be business as usual when things go back to normal, whenever that is...but streaming was already a fast growing segment before Covid19, even when it's gone streaming will keep growing because there's a real demand from customers for watching at home instead of going to theaters). It won't go away so I'm not sure Disney will be willing to wait if they think Disney+ is their future revenue-wise.

[Nova]

10 minutes ago, Fullbuster said:

 

While I agree with this approach there's one caveat: you seem to suppose that it'll be business as usual when things go back to normal, whenever that is...but streaming was already a fast growing segment before Covid19, even when it's gone streaming will keep growing because there's a real demand from customers for watching at home instead of going to theaters). It won't go away so I'm not sure Disney will be willing to wait if they think Disney+ is their future revenue-wise.

i do think that when things go back to normal, again whatever normal is post-covid, people are going to want to still go to the theaters and see movies. it may take sometime for that to occur as i just don’t know when that normal is going to occur and even when that new normal happens, we don’t know at what point people will be comfortable with going to theaters but i think eventually they will. 

 

the one thing disney has going for it, is that it planned out its streaming service to have new series and stuff debuting that will keep subscribers interested while they make decisions behind the scenes as to what they’re going to do with their movie slate. i do believe certain disney movies will premiere on disney plus next year, i just don’t think we are going to get an announcement with all of them listed all at once.

 

*but also another factor to consider is that the longer they push back these films the more these films have to make money at the box office because if i’m not mistaken, studios take out these loans to fund the films which is why it’s always in the best interest of the studio to get the film out on its scheduled release date so they can pay them back. idk if disney is like that or if i misunderstood but i remember reading something along that line. which if this is the case, is another reason why i understand where WB is coming from but yea their execution....💀

Edited December 8, 2020 by Nova

[filmlover]

By tomorrow WB will walk back on this decision and say that you'll be able to see the movies in theaters and at your local Whole Foods starting on the same day.

[Nova]

also i have to laugh at Nolan’s comments and i’m a huge Nolan fan. he’s the one who practically forced WB to release his film to theaters in the middle of a pandemic only for it to pretty much bomb which in a way made WB start thinking about throwing their slate of movies onto streaming, and now he is mad that WB doesn’t wanna release films exclusively to theaters? 

[TMP]

27 minutes ago, Nova said:

it’s going to still be a flop. i’ll probably sign up for it for next year because of the theatrical releases going on there but won’t sign up after that and i’m sure the folks signing up after the announcement was made are in the same boat. 

 

*also i’ll probably only sign up for the months when there’s a movie coming out that i would have seen in theaters. don’t know what their cancellation policy and resign up policy is but i’d try to plan it around that 

They should have just kept HBO as HBO. All they've done is drag the most prestige brand in TV through the mud with all this nonsense.

[Fullbuster]

19 minutes ago, Nova said:

i do think that when things go back to normal, again whatever normal is post-covid, people are going to want to still go to the theaters and see movies. it may take sometime for that to occur as i just don’t know when that normal is going to occur and even when that new normal happens, we don’t know at what point people will be comfortable with going to theaters but i think eventually they will. 

 

the one thing disney has going for it, is that it planned out its streaming service to have new series and stuff debuting that will keep subscribers interested while they make decisions behind the scenes as to what they’re going to do with their movie slate. i do believe certain disney movies will premiere on disney plus next year, i just don’t think we are going to get an announcement with all of them listed all at once.

 

*but also another factor to consider is that the longer they push back these films the more these films have to make money at the box office because if i’m not mistaken, studios take out these loans to fund the films which is why it’s always in the best interest of the studio to get the film out on its scheduled release date so they can pay them back. idk if disney is like that or if i misunderstood but i remember reading something along that line. which if this is the case, is another reason why i understand where WB is coming from but yea their execution....💀

 

They will still want to go to theaters, or at least a certain amount of people, no doubt.

But the competition from streaming will mean decreasing numbers for theaters on the long: no rapid decline, but more slow motion.

[Fullbuster]

17 minutes ago, filmlover said:

By tomorrow WB will walk back on this decision and say that you'll be able to see the movies in theaters and at your local Whole Foods starting on the same day.

 

Walking back / reversing course would hurt HBO Max, they'd lose even more. What's done is done, they should move forward with their plan now.

[TMP]

3 minutes ago, Fullbuster said:

 

Walking back / reversing course would hurt HBO Max, they'd lose even more. What's done is done, they should move forward with their plan now.

HBO Max is a sinking ship. Might as well just cut their losses & call it a day.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

40 minutes ago, filmlover said:

They really should've delayed the launch until they had a clear plan as to what the service would offer. Trying to take a short cut to success usually tends to backfire.

Should have learned something from rushing Justice League, WB...

 

Wondering if Nolan ran his statement by Emma Thomas first? She's even milder mannered than he (generally) is. He is a grown man responsible for his own words, but sometimes a partner is the one to get you to calm down and find a better way to put things, before you say something you can't take back.

[filmlover]

3 minutes ago, Fullbuster said:

 

Walking back / reversing course would hurt HBO Max, they'd lose even more. What's done is done, they should move forward with their plan now.

They've already hurt themselves with all the bad press they've received from this so they've already lost.

 

Honestly feels like this is the biggest PR debacle a studio has ever faced. Pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially alienating relationships with the biggest names in Hollywood all to boost a streaming service that's been off to an inauspicious start.

[Fullbuster]

2 minutes ago, filmlover said:

They've already hurt themselves with all the bad press they've received from this so they've already lost.

 

Honestly feels like this is the biggest PR debacle a studio has ever faced. Pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially alienating relationships with the biggest names in Hollywood all to boost a streaming service that's been off to an inauspicious start.

 

You can recover from irritating some filmmakers and actors, after all there's plenty of younger talents who would be happy to replace Nolan and Co and get their chance and for a much lower price at that.

 

Irritating your potential customers by telling they won't get what they were promised would hurt more.

[Legion Again]

2 hours ago, The GOAT said:

What about HBO Ultra? 🤔

HBO and the fantabulous emancipation of one Jason Kilar

[filmlover]

6 minutes ago, Fullbuster said:

 

You can recover from irritating some filmmakers and actors, after all there's plenty of younger talents who would be happy to replace Nolan and Co and get their chance and for a much lower price at that.

 

Irritating your potential customers by telling they won't get what they were promised would hurt more.

You can't give customers what you promise if people in the industry won't work and make content for you. And who wants to work for a studio that turns around and says "thanks for all your hard work and oh yeah fuck you?" Not too many, one can imagine.

Edited December 8, 2020 by filmlover

[WittyUsername]

1 hour ago, cax16 said:

I’d be fine with Disney buying them, at least things would be handled properly. 

No...

[redfirebird2008]

33 minutes ago, Nova said:

also i have to laugh at Nolan’s comments and i’m a huge Nolan fan. he’s the one who practically forced WB to release his film to theaters in the middle of a pandemic only for it to pretty much bomb which in a way made WB start thinking about throwing their slate of movies onto streaming, and now he is mad that WB doesn’t wanna release films exclusively to theaters? 

 

Just read his comments after seeing your post. Sure sounds like that might be the end of his partnership with WB. But it's not like he has other options. All the studios are gonna push the business into a streaming world. Theaters will only be for niche audience like us. 

[excel1]

For the record, Nolan seems less pissed about the actual decision and much moreso about their handling of it.

[redfirebird2008]

5 minutes ago, excel1 said:

For the record, Nolan seems less pissed about the actual decision and much moreso about their handling of it.

 

I dunno, he sounds pretty pissed in general. 

 

"Some of our industry's biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service."

 

"Warner had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker's work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don't even understand what they're losing. Their decision makes no economic sense and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction."