Movies Update: Warner's HBO Max "day and date" streaming decision encountering major blowback from Hollywood talent

[CitizenVectron]

Apparently Sony likes the move, though, in the form of creators approaching them over WB:

 

Sony says it’s already seeing some benefits from WarnerMedia’s big HBO Max bet

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

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Sony Pictures is ready to step in for Warner Bros. in theaters

 

[69los]

I didn't even realize Roku and HBOMax made a deal last week. Cool.

[skillzdadirecta]

On 12/10/2020 at 10:21 AM, GeneticBlueprint said:

Sounds like an east coast problem to me.

Yeah because there certainly aren't any people of Jewish persuasion in California.

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, 69los said:

I didn't even realize Roku and HBOMax made a deal last week. Cool.

 

Interesting. We use Rokus at home since we use Netflix, Prime, and Disney+. Maybe we'll add HBO Max for a few months if it shows up as an app. It will depend on what content Canadians can actually get, though. Actually, I'm not even sure that HBO Max is available in Canada.

[GeneticBlueprint]

1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Yeah because there certainly aren't any people of Jewish persuasion in California.

 

I'd respond to this but it's a holiday today and I have it off.

[Ominous]

Roku? The Sega of streaming devices. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Roku is great. Can’t think of anything we need from it that it doesn’t do.

[Ominous]

42 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Roku is great. Can’t think of anything we need from it that it doesn’t do.

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos? 

I think their latest 2020 ultra or what ever they call it finally supports it, in some apps. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

1 hour ago, Ominous said:

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos? 

I think their latest 2020 ultra or what ever they call it finally supports it, in some apps. 

Those terms really don’t mean anything to me. I’m not that picky on audio and video. All I know is we have surround sound and the TV is 4K and that’s good enough for me. Don’t watch many movies. 

[Jason]

16 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I’m not that picky on audio and video. 

 

I think this means Eric is contractually obligated to not be your friend. 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

I think this means Eric is contractually obligated to not be your friend. 

Darn. 
 

I mean, it’s not like I’m so low that I’m good with tv speakers and 720p. I just don’t care enough to go balls to the wall and string speakers from my ceiling and shit. 

[Mercury33]

On 12/25/2020 at 2:32 PM, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

I'd respond to this but it's a holiday today and I have it off.

Im curious about the response. Because unless I misunderstood the initial post or there was some joke I didn’t understand, which is entirely possible. Its certainly up there for Dumbest Post on D1P 2020

[Brick]

Skillz is clearly joking. 

[EternallDarkness]

On 12/25/2020 at 6:41 PM, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Roku is great. Can’t think of anything we need from it that it doesn’t do.

 

works for me as well 

[BloodyHell]

On 12/7/2020 at 11:36 PM, Joe said:

Nolan’s a bit of a turd, ain’t he?

A large amount of very creative people are. They think art, especially their own, is more important than anything else.

 

I'm anxious to see the Oscar contenders this year, as it's the weakest year of movies I can remember.

[Guest]

On 12/3/2020 at 5:45 PM, Chris- said:

If @sblfilms were still around (you assholes), I think he'd say the same thing: this really won't impact theaters too much in the long run. There will definitely be some contraction given how hilariously leveraged some of the big chains are, but most people don't go out for the movies, they go out for the sake of going out.

I think it simply speeds up what has been happening already, a move away from massive 100,000 sqft buildings that sit empty except on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

Theaters will get smaller in overall size, with fewer screens, but more luxuries like in theater dining and recliner seats. The larger complexes will go the multipurpose entertainment facility route by adding bowling/laser tag/arcades/putt putt/go karts/etc. These companies just want you in the building every week, they don’t care for what particular activity.

 

The short term will be difficult as consumers, exhibitors, and studios navigate this new landscape.

 

But you are absolutely correct that people want to go out, and a movie that looks good is a great excuse to do so. Despite its availability on HBO Max, we did bananas business on WW84 at both of our drive ins as people still want to get out of the house.

[SoberChef]

Drive Ins in December!? Where are you located?

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, SoberChef said:

Drive Ins in December!? Where are you located?

Houston. It’s a chilly 63 degrees right now 😂

[Chris-]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

I think it simply speeds up what has been happening already, a move away from massive 100,000 sqft buildings that sit empty except on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

Theaters will get smaller in overall size, with fewer screens, but more luxuries like in theater dining and recliner seats. The larger complexes will go the multipurpose entertainment facility route by adding bowling/laser tag/arcades/putt putt/go karts/etc. These companies just want you in the building every week, they don’t care for what particular activity.

 

The short term will be difficult as consumers, exhibitors, and studios navigate this new landscape.

 

But you are absolutely correct that people want to go out, and a movie that looks good is a great excuse to do so. Despite its availability on HBO Max, we did bananas business on WW84 at both of our drive ins as people still want to get out of the house.

Took you long enough. 

[EternallDarkness]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

Houston. It’s a chilly 63 degrees right now 😂

 

it did feel rather chilly today, though it was certainly a beautiful day

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

it did feel rather chilly today, though it was certainly a beautiful day

It was perfect Houston hoodie weather

[Emblazon]

2 hours ago, sblfilms said:

I think it simply speeds up what has been happening already, a move away from massive 100,000 sqft buildings that sit empty except on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

Theaters will get smaller in overall size, with fewer screens, but more luxuries like in theater dining and recliner seats. The larger complexes will go the multipurpose entertainment facility route by adding bowling/laser tag/arcades/putt putt/go karts/etc. These companies just want you in the building every week, they don’t care for what particular activity.

 

The short term will be difficult as consumers, exhibitors, and studios navigate this new landscape.

 

But you are absolutely correct that people want to go out, and a movie that looks good is a great excuse to do so. Despite its availability on HBO Max, we did bananas business on WW84 at both of our drive ins as people still want to get out of the house.

I think you mean “despite the fact that WW84 absolutely sucked, it still made money”. 

[Brian]

Wow. Pussies 

[TwinIon]

Also interesting is that they will "go to somewhere like an HBO Max after it’s in theaters." (emphasis mine) So they're not even willing to commit fully to their own streaming platform, even after all this investment, they still might end up selling off some film rights to Netflix.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the theatrical window changes over the next year. Will we see a short theatrical only period followed by the increasingly common $30 VOD rentals, followed by standard VOD/subscription availability? Will those $30 rentals become a pandemic relic once theaters are all back to full occupancy? Will the long sought shorter transition to streaming actually happen, or will things revert to the norm. I feel like I could make a case for any of those outcomes, but I'm not sure we'll even see much experimentation.

[Guest]

I’m still firmly in the “day and date makes no sense” camp. Disney is trying a little of everything to get more data, so it will be interesting to see where they land. They are also the only major studio with a streaming service pulling big sub numbers, so they have more interest in getting product to their service to retain and grow subs than the others.

 

I do think window shrink is permanent, and it should be. The most sensible proposals I’ve seen are 17 days for movies that open under $50 million, and 31 for over $50 million. Anything longer than 31 days is just not backed up in the numbers for 99.9% of theatrical product.

 

I think $30 is probably still too high for all but the most top tier product as a rental or early access fee, though I also suspect that big titles like MCU movies are the sort of thing people are most willing to spend the money and effort to head out to a theater for...I dunno 😂

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

I’m still firmly in the “day and date makes no sense” camp. Disney is trying a little of everything to get more data, so it will be interesting to see where they land. They are also the only major studio with a streaming service pulling big sub numbers, so they have more interest in getting product to their service to retain and grow subs than the others.

 

I do think window shrink is permanent, and it should be. The most sensible proposals I’ve seen are 17 days for movies that open under $50 million, and 31 for over $50 million. Anything longer than 31 days is just not backed up in the numbers for 99.9% of theatrical product.

 

I think $30 is probably still too high for all but the most top tier product as a rental or early access fee, though I also suspect that big titles like MCU movies are the sort of thing people are most willing to spend the money and effort to head out to a theater for...I dunno 😂

Pixar and other big budget animated movies too. The other X-factor is streamers with deep pockets like Netflix, Amazon and Apple producing blockbuster QUALITY films that land first and exclusively on their platforms. I think theater going is going to experience a very strong resurgence in the next two years or so depending on how the pandemic plays out. After that who knows? People like options I think and having the option to either go to the movies or stay at home is going make both experiences viable in the immediate future. I know I miss movie popcorn 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Pixar and other big budget animated movies too. The other X-factor is streamers with deep pockets like Netflix, Amazon and Apple producing blockbuster QUALITY films that land first and exclusively on their platforms. I think theater going is going to experience a very strong resurgence in the next two years or so depending on how the pandemic plays out. After that who knows? People like options I think and having the option to either go to the movies or stay at home is going make both experiences viable in the immediate future. I know I miss movie popcorn 

I would bet we will see Amazon and Netflix put more movies into theaters as the legacy studios fumble around figuring out how to handle the streaming landscape. Amazon in particular is working towards making things like “Prime nights” in theaters. The legacy studios are certainly going to continue the trend of releasing fewer and fewer small-mid size movies which will open up more screens for the streamers to stick product into.

 

One of the other things I think about a lot is how the streamers are not beholden to the typical release patterns than the legacy studios have been. They will put out big product the first week of January without a care. There are lots of holes in January-February and August-October nearly every year. Good opportunities for the streamers to put out content both theatrically and on their platforms and drive engagement with their brands.