DISNEY, COMCAST, AT&T SET STREAMING BATTLES

LOS ANGELES: Next year, as coronavirus vaccines roll out around the world, consumers are expected to return to restaurants, sports arenas and cinemas.

But with films like “Matrix 4,” “In the Heights” and “Dune” hitting TVS at the same time as theaters, and Marvel series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki” streaming on Disney+, will they even want to?

The pandemic accelerated a push to subscription streaming video services like Netflix and Disney+ that was already underway, leading to a surplus of top-shelf content being available to consumers in 2021. But behind the scenes of this new golden age of television is a battle over the future of Hollywood.

2020 was the year major media companies placed their bets, with AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Walt Disney Co announcing new strategies around how and where they will distribute content. While their approaches vary, they are united by a singular focus on streaming video to appeal directly to viewers.

Less clear is who will emerge victorious once the pandemic is over. Will the experience of watching a film in a theater - with a community of fans, a giant screen and enveloping sound - trump the convenience and lower cost of watching it at home?

The answer will help decide the future of Hollywood in 2022 and beyond. “I don’t know why they had to decide about the whole year,” said “Wonder Woman 1984” director Patty Jenkins in an interview with Reuters. “I wish we could have waited and seen what was happening with theaters.”