Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 film releases
‘Temporary solution’ may last a year as virus shuts down theaters
NEW YORK — In the most seismic shift by a Hollywood studio yet during the pandemic, Warner Bros. Pictures on Thursday announced that all of its 2021 film slate — including a new Matrix movie, Godzilla vs. Kong and the Lin-Manuel Miranda adaptation In the Heights — will stream on HBO Max at the same time the films play in theaters.
Among the myriad release plan changes wrought by the pandemic, no studio has so fully embraced streaming as a lifeline. But after disappointing domestic ticket sales for Tenet, and with the majority of U.S. theaters closed, the AT&Towned Warner Bros. will turn to a hybrid distribution model next year. Films will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in the U.S. After one month, they will stop streaming and continue to play only in theaters.
The move follows Warner Bros.’ decision to put Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max in December, with a concurrent theatrical run. If that pivot sent shock waves through the industry, Thursday’s announcement rattled Hollywood to the core.
“Given the unprecedented time that we’re in, we needed a creative solution to address our fans, our filmmakers and our exhibitors,” said Ann Sarnoff, chief executive of Warner Media Studios. “Big and bold is a necessity right now.”
Sarnoff called it a “temporary solution” and a “one-year plan.” The studio said other options — releasing big-budget films solely in reduced-capacity theaters or delaying films another year — weren’t appealing. Warner Bros.’ move amounts to an acknowledgement that any full rebound for theaters is still a year or more away.
“We’ve got to get people back in theaters at full capacity at some point. If you read the medical experts, that’s going to take a while to work its way through the system,” said Sarnoff. “If we saw an end in sight to the pandemic, we might have a different strategy. But we don’t see that at this moment.”
HBO Max is only available in the United States. Internationally, the studio’s 17 films planned for 2021 release will roll out exclusively in theaters.
Warner Bros.’ decision resonates especially because the 117-year-old studio of The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca has long been a market leader in Hollywood — and one known as especially supportive of theaters. The studio has generally ranked among the top two in market share over the past decade — most recently dwarfed only by Walt Disney. Warner’s films typically account for $1.5 billion to $2 billion annually in ticket sales in North America — a lot of money to compensate for in HBO Max subscribers. Warner Bros. confirmed the films will be available to subscribers with no further charge.
“I can’t comment on the economics of how it will all work — I’d need a crystal ball for that,” Sarnoff said. “But I’m very optimistic that this is a win-win-win for our fans, our filmmakers and our exhibitors. We’re getting the movies out. We’re allowing them be seen on the big screen, which is what they were made for, but giving an alternative. The hybrid approach also allows us to market them in a fuller way than we would have had we just looked at the less-than-full capacities in theatrical right now.”
Warner Bros.’ 2021 slate includes many of the expected top movies of the year, including Dune, The Suicide Squad, Tom & Jerry, The Conjuring: The Devil Make Me Do It, King Richard and Judas and the Black Messiah.
Having been shuttered for much of the year, many cinemas reopened in late summer. But with most major releases postponed and virus cases surging, about 60 percent of theaters have since closed again.