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

[Seto Kaiba]

this part is messy 

Quote

More trouble looms with respect to James Wan’s upcoming horror movie, Malignant. A knowledgeable source says Wan, as a producer and director, has an extraordinarily rich deal — 13 percent of first-dollar gross — so he could hardly have been pleased when Warners decided to wipe out the exclusive theatrical window. The same source says the $60 million film was fully financed by Chinese company Starlight Media, which owns all rights.

not even Wan is safe

[dudalb]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

this part is messy 

not even Wan is safe

Wan is lawyering up right now, you can bet.

[Spidey Freak]

8 hours ago, TLK said:

HBO Max had 12.6 million active subscribers as of early December. I'm guessing that they must be hoping for 20 million at the end of the quarter to justify the Wonder Woman sacrifice.

It was apparently only at 8M before the Wonder Woman announcement so they're off to a strong start at the least.

[filmlover]

There likely won't be an official announcement that they're walking back on this completely to avoid further embarrassment about the fact they clearly glossed over what needed to be done to actually make it all happen before the announcement and since some of the movies (Tom & Jerry and Mortal Kombat, so far) are officially locked in for a simultaneous release. Anything that already has directors/stars/producers ticked off and/or facing a potential lawsuit will just quietly drop out of the deal.

Edited December 16, 2020 by filmlover

[Spidey Freak]

TBF the announcement promo had the subject to change disclaimer displayed pretty prominently so they knew the repercussions of it.

[TwoMisfits]

5 hours ago, Spidey Freak said:

It was apparently only at 8M before the Wonder Woman announcement so they're off to a strong start at the least.

That is a strong start, especially since many folks are probably holding off til Dec 24/25, to give them the "longest new free movies for 6 months" deal...if they double  in one month, that's gotta be a huge win...

[Lion Roar]

7 hours ago, Spidey Freak said:

It was apparently only at 8M before the Wonder Woman announcement so they're off to a strong start at the least.

It was 8.6m at the end of the 3rd quarter. 12.6m is by the start of December. A lot of the increase is probably due to the Fresh Prince reunion and The Flight Attendant. We don't know yet how many subs WW1984 has added.  

[BeastByTheBay]

Kilar dropped his own written article 

 

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/jason-kilar-warnermedia-hbo-max-theaters-2021-1234854234/

Edited December 16, 2020 by BeastByTheBay

[Eric Atreides]

 

[Chicago]

Warner will feel rather silly if Disney's BW get a release and makes a billie

[cax16]

This should end well for everyone. 

Edited December 16, 2020 by cax16

[Legion Again]

Predictable side effect of causing theaters to compete with same day free streaming is that they will slash your ticket prices to attract footfalls and keep concession business going.

[Eric Atreides]

31 minutes ago, cax16 said:

This should end well for everyone. 

@all other studios, please put all your movies on streaming services. I think this will benefit everybody  

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

36 minutes ago, cax16 said:

This should end well for everyone. 

It will boost the concessions, which the theaters keep and make most of their money on, anyway.

 

Ticket prices vary wildly across the country. I live in a place where some multiplexes had $4.50 to $6.00 matinees for first run movies pre-pandemic, that is a lot less than the ArcLight for example. That Playmobil movie had discount tickets, but it was a promotional thing by the studio eating the costs.  When the subscription model started here, there was a question of how much studios would get back per ticket.  Are the contracts with the studios and theaters ironclad on a floor for ticket prices? If not, then LOL, gimme some 1920s movie prices. Can't wait for the first chain to say "See all 17* WB movies in theaters for less than 1 month of HBO Max!" Hehehe.

 

*Hasn't one movie already been removed from the 2021 WB schedule and it's only been 2 weeks since the announcement? How many will it be, in the end?

Edited December 16, 2020 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[Macleod]

2 minutes ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

*Hasn't one movie already been removed from the 2021 WB schedule and it's only been 2 weeks since the announcement? 

Yes -- Hugh Jackman's 'Reminiscence.'  I expect a few more to follow...once all parties discover what's in their contracts, and that it's financially smarter to "work things out" than sue each other...  

Edited December 16, 2020 by Macleod

[filmlover]

6 minutes ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

*Hasn't one movie already been removed from the 2021 WB schedule and it's only been 2 weeks since the announcement? How many will it be, in the end?

Probably at least half of them if not more since a number of the movies (in particular: the Legendary titles, Matrix, Suicide Squad, In the Heights, Space Jam 2, James Wan's Malignant, the Denzel/Rami Malek/Jared Leto drama The Little Things, the new Clint movie) likely have major back-end deals that were signed when they were first given the green light. Basically, anything that would've really drawn people to sign up for the service.

[XXR vs XXR]

1 hour ago, WandaLegion said:

Predictable side effect of causing theaters to compete with same day free streaming is that they will slash your ticket prices to attract footfalls and keep concession business going.

 

Until Warner pulls their 2021 slate from theaters entirely as retaliation and there is an even further reduction in footfall.

[Legion Again]

18 minutes ago, VenomXXR said:

 

Until Warner pulls their 2021 slate from theaters entirely as retaliation and there is an even further reduction in footfall.

That wouldn’t make much sense for Warner’s, but with the way they’ve been acting this year I guess anything is possible.

[dudalb]

12 hours ago, filmlover said:

There likely won't be an official announcement that they're walking back on this completely to avoid further embarrassment about the fact they clearly glossed over what needed to be done to actually make it all happen before the announcement and since some of the movies (Tom & Jerry and Mortal Kombat, so far) are officially locked in for a simultaneous release. Anything that already has directors/stars/producers ticked off and/or facing a potential lawsuit will just quietly drop out of the deal.

It's clear there are severe legal issues, invovled, and studios always clam up in those situations.

[dudalb]

32 minutes ago, VenomXXR said:

 

Until Warner pulls their 2021 slate from theaters entirely as retaliation and there is an even further reduction in footfall.

And lawyers will make lots of money from the legal fallout if that happens. In their co productiong, Warners is under legal obligation to give a thretrical release, and I don't think they can fall back on an "Act of God" in this situation.