Warner Bros. Entire 2021 Slate to Stream Day & Date

[Mister Tee]

Just FYI, in an old (March 2006) thread called Where We Stand Today (available in the Pre-Delete Rescue folder), I had included the following sentence: "Joe Roth said on Charlie Rose a few weeks ago that he thinks we’re only a few years from DVDs being released same day as theatrical. That will change the movie business in incalculable ways."

Put aside that it's streaming rather than DVD, but otherwise Roth -- responsible for The Plot Against America this year -- finally saw his prophecy come true. (I imagine Charlie Rose thought he'd be around to see it.)

Not a fan of this, for reasons I needn't restate, but it's likely an unstoppable wave.

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
Steven Soderbergh had a really interesting take on it that I urge people to read (at the Daily Beast), but overall, I have to say I'm less enthusiastic about this decision. I get where Sabin is coming from re: direction of the business, though.

I'll drop the link.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/filmmaker ... ryl-streep

This is how I feel. I say this as someone who finds it pretty much impossible to enjoy a movie on the small screen as much as the big screen unless it's a mindless blockbuster or legit crap. I just don't have the attention span for two hours at home uninterrupted. So, I see this as a tragedy, but such is life. This was a long time coming.

But can I be honest for a moment? The first year I started paying attention to movies was 1995. The summer (in 1996) was the first "Mega Blockbuster" summer, where everything was either blockbusters or indies. That's the first rumblings I heard of "The Death of Cinema." I heard it attributed to the Miramaxation of the multiplex (by Jonathan Rosenbaum). I've heard it about Marvel. I've heard moviegoers blaming the studios, I've heard studios blaming the moviegoers, both of them blaming the theaters... I've heard it about everything. I've been hearing it my entire life. I'm just sick of it.

Believe me: I do no want to see this happen. But if this is what's going to happen, let's just find the silver lining in. We're going to see some new innovation. We'll see more mid-range adult films and more romantic comedies.

[Okri]

Steven Soderbergh had a really interesting take on it that I urge people to read (at the Daily Beast), but overall, I have to say I'm less enthusiastic about this decision. I get where Sabin is coming from re: direction of the business, though.

[Sabin]

I guess we're done measuring grosses, box office, and budgets now. At least that's one plus.

[OscarGuy]

They'll end up losing money on the big players, but making up for some of that with their would-probably-have-been box office flops.

[Sabin]

HBO Max is now on Roku. The landscape has completely transformed. The theaters have officially become a premium exhibition unit for blockbusters and art house fare. Everything else will go on demand. But this is the direction things have been going in for a long time now and not enough people feel otherwise.

[taki15]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[Okri]

The responses are fascinating.

[Big Magilla]

Warner Bros. entire 2021 slate of 17 films will stream day and date with their theatrical showings on HBO Max, currently at $15 per month.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/busi ... o-max.html