Disney Will Release Big Movies on Streaming 'On a Case-by-Case Basis' (inverse.com) 24
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced Disney to postpone the release of its biggest movies, including Mulan and Black Widow, but will those movies actually end up heading straight to a streaming or digital-on-demand platform if the coronavirus pandemic drags on even longer? From a report: Disney says it might consider sending some major movies straight to streaming on a "case-by-case" basis. On Tuesday, Disney held its Q2 2020 earnings call for investors, with CEO Bob Chapek, CFO Christine McCarthy, and executive chairman Bob Iger in attendance (remotely) to give statements and take questions. [...] In the Q&A section of the call, investors asked if Disney had considered a "premium streaming" release for its postponed movies, like Mulan, Black Widow, and The Eternals. With the pandemic forcing theaters to close and people to say at home, is Disney willing to forgo theaters and instead release movies on digital platforms, as some studios have (i.e.: Trolls World Tour)? CEO Bob Chapek said it's a maybe.
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I'm sure that Disney has the money to ultimately do whatever they really want to... but when they were making these movies, the intent was to initially release them in theaters.
Had you not considered the possibility that there may be organizations that Disney itself has contractual obligations with which would create certain legal and logistical hurdles to releasing it as streamable before it goes into theaters?
So yes, "forced" is the right word, because circumstances entirely outside of their control
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"Had you not considered the possibility that there may be organizations that Disney itself has contractual obligations with which would create certain legal and logistical hurdles to releasing it as streamable before it goes into theaters?"
No.
Disney is the 800 pound gorilla. The idea that someone else can restrict their distribution options is laughable.
The Theaters need to demand better deals or sue an (Score:3)
The Theaters need to demand better deals or sue and let the courts sort it out
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The theaters are in no position to "demand" anything.
Movie theaters are heading for the ash heap of history.
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Kinda like how stage theater became a thing of the past once we had movies and television?
Oh, wait....
Re:The Theaters need to demand better deals or sue (Score:4, Interesting)
Kinda like how stage theater became a thing of the past once we had movies and television?
While you are certainly correct that forms of entertainment rarely go away completely, that is mostly just being pedantic. Considering live theater's revenue in the US is less than 10% of movie theater revenue, I doubt movie theater owners will take any solace from the example that live theater gives us.
I already see my local theaters reducing their footprints and becoming a more high end experience to compete with home streaming, and I certainly don't foresee that trend stopping. My guess is a majority of theaters going out of business over the next 20 years, and direct to consumer releases becoming far more common over the next 20 years. Movie theaters won't go away, but I doubt it will be the most common way people see new movies in the near future.
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Kinda like how stage theater became a thing of the past once we had movies and television?
Movies, then radio, then TV led to the end of most live stage performances. Most theaters converted to showing movies.
Live performances still happen but are far less common than they once were.
But the situation with movie theaters is different. As the demand for live theater declines, the costs decline as well, since fewer actors and stage crews are needed.
But the cost of making a movie is the same regardless of how many people watch it. So if there is not enough demand for in-theater movies, the studios
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Many will never reopen.
And when they do, will they boycott Disney as well?
Deafening silence from AMC [slashdot.org] right now...
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Stage Theater today is kinda like college sports.
Something for the actors to get their feet wet, so they can move over to TV then Movies.
To be fair, there are a lot of actors who prefer the stage, and there are a lot of differences to the styles that need to be in play as well.
This is part of the reason why early TV and Movies seemed to have over the top think William Shatner acting. These were stage actors, acting in a way for someone sitting dozens of feet away from the stage will be able to see the actor
They basically have done this already (Score:4, Informative)
Onward was release March 6th, and I was just weeks later everything shut down rapidly.
It was released On Disney+ on April 3rd...
I don't know what that does for the economics of movie revenue, but it seems like that would really help the Disney+ subscriber count if they would release films very quickly online..
Never again (Score:3)
Movie theaters are disgusting, expensive, crowded, noisy virus petri dishes. Let them die!
- Necron69
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Someone should start a drive-in theater! On second thought, never mind.
Drive-in theaters still exist in places with mild weather and clear skies. Like California.
There are several in the Bay Area, including one in my city of San Jose.
With some restrictions being lifted, Bay Area drive-in theaters re-opened on Monday [sfgate.com].
Since there are no new releases, they are mostly showing classic movies.
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Movie theaters are disgusting, expensive, crowded, noisy virus petri dishes.
How is a movie theater any different from a church in those respects?
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Disney forced to do something consumers want (Score:5, Informative)
In what other industry do companies fight this hard to avoid what their customers are demanding? It takes a pandemic to make the studio even consider what all customers have been craving for at least a decade.
We don't have 20" CRT TVs connected to VCRs at home any more, we have 1080p or 4K TVs that fill a wall and are connected to high def streaming boxes. My couch is more comfortable than any theatre seat, the snacks are better, and I can pause it to go to the washroom, and nobody talks constantly or kicks my seat. The lighting is exactly as I want it, and the volume is perfect. My floor isn't even sticky! The only reason to go to a theatre now is to see a movie earlier than you can at home, and only because studios refuse to release it earlier to artificially prop up the theatres.
Must be nice to have such high barriers to entry, and such political lobbying power. If I worked this hard to avoid what my customers wanted, I wouldn't have any customers.
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One is that moviegoers are essentially the whales of the film industry. They essentially pay more up front to see a movie while home watchers are paying less.
Two is that people like to go out every now and again.
Three is that some people don't have a choice. They live in broom closet apartments and don't have the room for anything resembling a home theater.
But now no one has a choice since all the theaters are shut. How exac
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We don't have 20" CRT TVs connected to VCRs at home any more, we have 1080p or 4K TVs that fill a wall and are connected to high def streaming boxes.
Speak for yourself. Granted, my old CRT is hooked to a cable box and not a VCR...
I do have a 1080p TV in the living room, but it definitely doesn't fill a wall. I don't have surround sound. And, frankly, why should I bother with setting that up if I can go to a theater?
That said, and I've said this before, the only times I go to theaters is for the big "event" pictures. That cute rom-com or period drama doesn't really inspire me to spend the money to go to the theater because the giant screen and surrou
We Are Witnessing a Film Industry Change (Score:2)
Studios will have to release their films online behind paywalls and let people see it that way as the official release until the appropriate "home video" release.
Movie theaters will have to adapt to become a secondary viewing venue and sell people more on the social popcorn, ICEEs, an nachos while watching a movie aspect of things. Maybe implement a dine-in restaurant or bar as a precursor to movies.
Agree with streaming, but (Score:2)
They should (continue to) be neutral. We already have a bad situation with fragmented catalogs for older content (Netflix, Amazon, CBS, HBO, etc). We don't want to have it for the theatrical releases.
(Remember cable companies used to be separate from TV networks? Or even before that TV networks were not allowed to do their own original content competing with independents? Yeah, it has all been all but forgotten).
If they release the thing at $20 (or whatever price they want) *for SALE* (not rent), provide pr