Warner announces changes to theatrical releases and HBO Max

WarnerMedia, the company that assembles a large portion of At&T’s proprietary content creation, including everything that comes from Warner Bros. and HBO Max, turning its head once again to As far as the movie premiere is concernedThe strategy to follow is not at all clear.

Which HBO Max launch As a major competition from Netflix and its partners, it faced an unexpected setback in the middle of last year in the form of a global pandemic and the restrictions that accompanied it, which were not few. It was a step other production companies took: delaying the most important premieres until theaters reopened and shifting the rest to the new video-on-demand platform.

At the end of 2020, the company made a controversial decision: The Simultaneous release in theaters and HBO Max, a strategy that brought them criticism from filmmakers, and even farewell to important names such as Christopher Nolan, who separated himself from the studio for which he became famous from his next film; But this also contributed to the steady growth, but so did HBO Max content.

The bottom line is that all earnings from HBO Max subscriptions go directly to WarnerMedia coffers, while the box office in cinemas must be shared with others… including directors and actors, according to the film’s results. From this point other conflicts arose outside of Warner, for example with Disney + and simultaneous premieres, but with an additional payment of 90 days.

WarnerMedia responded and to prevent this, it announced a new initial display strategy that will be launched from 2022: Exclusively for cinemas, but with a window and exposure reduced to 45 days, before movies are shown on HBO Max. This has continued to provoke complaints, primarily, among the most popular directors and actors, who are the ones to lose most if movie premieres do well.

However, the main problem mentioned above is the potential profitability they would have given to a simultaneous release in cinemas and HBO Max, because unlike the required additional payment from Disney+ for major premieres, it is not offered on HBO Max and what is known is. is that everything Warner Bros. has released. Since 2020 it has sunk out of its second week in theaters.

I mean, hardcore raw premieres do well, but only in the first week, as moviegoers and popcorn goers switch to the medium they love. The rest of those concerned prefer comfort at home, or may still fear infection in enclosed spaces such as movie theaters. Whatever the case, the simultaneous premiere makes the waters, and the 45-day window…

And The Matrix: Resurrections Warner’s biggest hit expected next year (or one of them)

What has changed now? as they count in The Hollywood Reporter WarnerMedia will choose to apply Solomonic’s decision to all of its releases for the next year: Half will go directly to HBO Max and the other half will go exclusively to theaters…although after 45 days they will end up on HBO Max, perhaps with a few rare exceptions. How will you decide what goes in one direction and what goes in the other? As you can imagine.

For cinemas, which are great budget products and approach to almost all audiences, read all adventure movies, superheroes and the like that hope to make a good box office; And for HBO Max, the rest, including dramas and comedies that didn’t perform well before the pandemic, according to Anne Sarnoff, CEO of Warner Bros.

Thus, cinemas are left with whatever explosions and special effects can hit, and at most, with what is “subject to change”, given the inescapable requirements of showing in theaters; The rest is straight to HBO Max… which by the way needs solid content like May Waters.