Warner Bros Releasing 2021 Films to Theatres and HBO Max on the Same Day

Holy crap. This is the apocalypse for theaters. You might see some of those dinner-in-the-theater places survive like Alamo Drafthouse, but with Regal Cinemas shutting down, I can't imagine that the other big chains aren't far behind. It just doesn't make sense to have all that real estate and pay staff to sit around when everyone's just staying home.

Also kinda makes me wonder what the other studios will do and whether they'll set up distro chains with other streaming services. Like, ok, HBO has the WB content. Disney has its LFL/Disney/Marvel stuff. Where's Sony or NBC/Universal gonna go? Netflix? Amazon Prime? I guess we'll see...
 
I'm someone who loved going to the movies. Pre Covid I went at least 2 times a month, sometimes more. While I definitely miss going to the movies, I don't miss it enough to put my health at risk. I can do that at home all on my own. As much as I'd rather see some of these movies on the big screen, I'm just happy I'll get to see them at all and at no extra charge.
 
Glad I picked up an ultra short-throw projector, on cyber Monday.

It’s definitely time to invest in a quality home theater setup, if you haven’t already.

Home theater equipment will likely be in high demand, soon, just like home gym equipment.
 
Last edited:
I don't think theaters will disappear entirely but they will likely become a rarity. I too need to get a home theater set up at my house.
 
I have great memories of going to the theater, as a kid. As an adult unless it's something I really love, like SW, I just wait and watch it at home. Where I can pause and go to the bathroom. :lol: The last movies I've seen at the theater were The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Before that it was the Clone Wars movie!
 
Well, I just signed up for HBOMax last week, mostly for the Sesame Workshop & Studio Ghibli stuff for my grandson. I figured I'd keep it a few months till we got through all that stuff, but now hearing this, I feel it justifies the $15.

Getting to see some of these movies multiple times, in my home with as many family as I care to have here, without having to pay premium dollars for snacks.

Not counting the Covid issue, having HBOMax will actually SAVE me money.
 
I don't understand this. Of course the only one I'm invested in is Dune. But it makes no sense to me to sit on it for a year (was supposed to come out next week) and then when it would come out put straight to stream as well. I wager a bet, it's not gonna perform too well at the theatres...
 
I don't understand this. Of course the only one I'm invested in is Dune. But it makes no sense to me to sit on it for a year (was supposed to come out next week) and then when it would come out put straight to stream as well. I wager a bet, it's not gonna perform too well at the theatres...

Nothing is going to do well at the theaters because attendance numbers are near nil...

Personally, I think this is a brilliant business move. The movies are done, better to get them out there and generate some form of revenue instead of just waiting and waiting for this thing to go away...

Don't know if this particular group of movies would get me to dump $15/month on HBO Max though...

Sean
 
I’m not sure what other choice the studios have, right now. The studios are incurring huge mountains of debt, on top of the original production costs. The longer these films sit on a shelf, the more interest they incur on their loans..in some cases, the interest alone is millions of dollars, a month.

While we would seem to have an endless supply of morons out there...

...there apparently aren’t enough popcorn munchers that want to head to the theater, right now, in order to make theatrical distribution, alone, enough to break even. It really is “No Time To Die” for most people.
 
Last edited:
Nothing is going to do well at the theaters because attendance numbers are near nil...

Personally, I think this is a brilliant business move. The movies are done, better to get them out there and generate some form of revenue instead of just waiting and waiting for this thing to go away...

Don't know if this particular group of movies would get me to dump $15/month on HBO Max though...

Sean
It would be if they weren't sitting on it for a year. If they released the movies earlier on stream yea makes sense, that's the only way to get them out now and still get some dosh back. But it doesn't make sense to me to wait until December 2021 so that they can release the movie in theatres and then release it on streaming platform at the same time. Who's gonna go to the cinema apart from fanatics like me to see it there? It feels like undermining themselves but maybe I'm wrong. Bottom line is I wanna see Dune badly and I'm really worried that the second part will be axed if this one flops.
 
It will be very interesting to see how hollywood deals with this.

they're gonna partner up with other streaming services to push more and more to Cable 2.0 . Most people are paying near what they were for cable now for all the different services, Hulu, amazon, netflix, disney+ etc... I'm sure someone will package it all up soon enough if they havent' already to sell
 
Most people are paying near what they were for cable now for all the different services, Hulu, amazon, netflix, disney+ etc... I'm sure someone will package it all up soon enough if they havent' already to sell

This, which is really frustrating... we already have more subscriptions than I would like just to get the content we want. And it's only gonna get worse, and more expensive. $5/month now... $25/month in 2-3 years. Just wait...
 
It was an inevitable move that was sped up by covid. I don’t think it’s the end for movie theaters but the business model will need to change.

Theaters will need to give an experience that you can’t recreate at home because it would not be cost-effective. So things like 4D, IMAX, etc will likely still keep theaters somewhat relevant (I don’t think many people are stocking up on dirt/soil smells for their next Black Panther viewing lol).

I am worried about the streaming wars and how it may not favor us consumers though. Companies like Disney will definately leverage their IPs like Marvel to get as many users as they can on their platform and with things going digital, we may not be able to show the next “Frozen” to kids without a Disney+ subscription.

One thing without a doubt, we are likely going to have fanboys on several sides talking about how their streaming service is the best and others suck. Think Apple vs Windows but ramped up to 11.
 
The lack of foresight these companies have astounds me. Rather than creating a business model or climate that will give them sustainable, if somewhat modest profits for years to come, they just want to drain the market as fast as they can of all possible money, even if it bankrupts them two years down the line. Having this many subscription services is not sustainable. Not to mention incredibly dangerous for the consumer. The theater situation wasn’t great before COVID hit, but there was a reason we didn’t have “Disney” theaters and “Warner Bros.” theaters. This level of vertical integration hurts filmmakers and hurts audiences. I mean, heck, there were stories going around a few years back that Disney was bullying theater chains to give them more priority on all their films, including big flops, and if they didn’t, Disney wouldn’t let them show their big-ticket items like Marvel and Star Wars. Imagine what they can do now that they won’t be splitting box office profits with the distribution, and you can only access their content from them directly?
 
This thread is more than 3 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top