CINEMA VÉRITÉ
Did Warner Bros. just kill movie theatres? Not by a long shot, Ann Hornaday writes.
The movie world was rocked Thursday when Warner Bros. announced a bold new release strategy for its 17-title 2021 slate, debuting its films simultaneously in theatres and the streaming site HBO Max, where they will play for one month. (HBO Max is not currently available in Canada, and Warner has yet to announce whether Canadians will be able to view their movies at home.)
The studio had already announced a similar policy for the superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984, which will hit big and small screens on Dec. 25 — a decision that many considered a one-off. But in deference to the coronavirus pandemic that has upended lives, businesses and even our dreams — and, most likely, to help shore up business at one of its sister companies — Warner executives have faced the facts: While some theatres are open and some moviegoers feel comfortable going back into them, there are still great swaths of the public who prefer to keep watching movies at home.
It's sobering, if not heartbreaking, to imagine enjoying such cinematic extravaganzas as Wonder Woman 1984, The Matrix 4, the Lin-manuel Miranda musical In the Heights and Denis Villeneuve's anticipated adaptation of Dune on anything but the biggest screens. But Warner Bros. realized that the better part of valour was to make them accessible to the widest number of people.
“No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do,” Warnermedia chair and CEO
Ann Sarnoff said on announcing the new policy. “We know that new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theatres in the U.S. will probably operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021.”
Detractors suspect WarnerMedia and its corporate parent, AT&T, threw theatres under the bus to funnel business to sister company HBO Max, which has been short on subscribers since launching in May. And they worry the new release plan — which the studio insists will be in effect for only 12 months — will strike a fatal blow to an exhibition industry already battered in recent years, as people become increasingly used to watching movies at home.
The pandemic has worsened the trend. Baby boomers and gen-xers, the most likely theatrical holdouts, are now committed binge-aholics. Their kids never acquired the habit of paying for the things they watch and listen to. The 90-day window that theatre owners have long insisted was crucial to their survival now looks as though it will be reduced to an ever-narrowing crack. Between transformed viewing habits and Warner Bros.'s capitulation to them, purists are understandably afraid that the ripple effects will kill off theatres faster, and continue long after those that survive have reopened their doors. But theatres, while embattled, are not obsolete.
As any parent of a teenager can tell you, movies are still the preferred excuse for adolescents to get out of the house with their friends, especially if a new Avengers instalment or horror flick is involved. Even the most committed fan of cult-hit series like Tiger King or The Queen's Gambit is itching to go out and see something — anything — that they can't watch half-prone in bed. Once a vaccine is available and uptake has hit critical mass, the pent-up demand will make itself felt, whether it's people flocking to the next superhero blockbuster or to sleeper hits like Magic Mike or Girls Trip — good movies that turned into great fun once the communal experience kicked in.