Warner Bros. decided to release the movie simultaneously on the streaming device, HBO Max, and theatres. Recently, Cinemark was alerted to the decision and said it is the most decisive plan ever set by a major studio.
Cinemark
Holdings, Inc. (CineMark) is a movie theatre chain and operates over a hundred
cinemas in America and Taiwan. Most of the industry is just impatiently waiting
for the pandemic to pass. Many production studios are shifting their release
dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some are also willing to take the
final call. Warner Bros. is the first to announce that the studio plans to
release their big-budget films in 2021 and only with the United States
theatres, just for now.
Warner
Bros. released Christopher Nolan’s science fiction movie, Tenet, in theatres
for the thrilling experience. The film did not do well in the United States and
failed to generate the desired returns. Hence now the studio opted for a
different approach to release the anticipated film Wonder Woman: 1984 on HBO
Max and in theatres on the same date on 25 December. However, the same decision
of releasing 17 films in 2021 was not well received by theatre owners and fans.
Recently,
Deadline shared that Cinemark will not encourage the decision of the studio.
However, AMC (an American movie theatre chain in Leawood, Kansas, and the
largest chain globally) seems pretty okay with WB’s plan to release Wonder
Woman 1984, and Cinemark still would require a few times to make a call on
that. In the interview, Cinemark said, “In light of the current operating
environment, we are making booking decisions on a film-by-film basis. And
Warner Bros. has not provided any details about the hybrid distribution model
of their upcoming 2021 movies.”
In this
ongoing pandemic, the cinemas are already suffering a lot. The streaming
platform, Netflix, and Hulu are also creating tough competition for the
theatres to get back on their feet after the sudden and long breakdown. Before
the pandemic hit, the cinemas were disrupted by the business model of
MoviePass. It was a bizarre movie subscription which says, one pass, one
monthly fee, and unlimited films. The business model revolves around selling a
service for a monthly or yearly subscription revenue. The model was
inconvenient for many reasons like it creates a predictable revenue stream; it
is consistent and lowers customer retention costs. Despite the fate of
investigators and the incredible interest of consumers’ the plan did not work
out. The MoviePass made theatres like Netflix and disrupted the market. The
investors and cinemas have lost billions of dollars due to the business model.
The idea of MoviePass was a great idea, but due to poor execution, it was a big
flop. The company officially filed for bankruptcy two months before the COVID-19
pandemic hit the United States.
The
theatre was already suffering from the poor performance of the MoviePass, and
then the pandemic hit, which shook the cinemas badly. And now studios like
Warner Bros. are creating more competition for the theatre owners. The HBO Max
will provide its audiences a 22% discount for six months before the release of
Wonder Woman 1984.
Hence,
WB’s plan to slowly move the audience towards its streaming service HBO Max
(launched on 27 May 2020) is an ugly decision that should not be taken lightly.
The exhibitors, such as Cinemark, who are in a weakened state, will be forced
to take any offer proposed by the studio to accommodate the traffic to their
cinemas. The production studio Warner Bros. is now towards controlling the movie’s
inhibition and production, moving for the monopoly.
David Root is a self-professed security expert; he has
been making the people aware of the security threats. His passion is to write
about Cyber security, cryptography, malware, social engineering, internet and
new media. He writes for Mcafee security products at Mcafee.com/activate.
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