Warner Bros. Believes that Theaters Will Still Exist in 2023 (theverge.com) 43
Warner Bros. ruffled some feathers when it announced it would release all of its new 2021 movies simultaneously on HBO Max, but the company seems to be betting that theaters won't become an apocalyptic wasteland. From a report: Variety reports that the company plans to release Furiosa, the prequel to Max Max: Fury Road, and The Color Purple first in theaters in 2023. Warner's plan to launch next year's films online is a great thing for consumers who would rather stay at home than risk contracting a deadly virus to see, say, Godzilla vs. Kong. But the plan immediately made enemies of some Hollywood veterans. Director Christopher Nolan called HBO Max "the worst streaming service" and accused Warner Bros. of not telling anyone about its plan until just 90 minutes before it was announced.
But at least it wasn’t those evil pirates (Score:2)
MAYBE? (Score:4, Insightful)
The huge megaplenxes will probably die.
But the places that are adapting to the "Brew and View" model (where you can actual food) may still be around in limited quantities.
There's a couple places by me (used to be the same owner), that go in for the Hollywood nostalgia as well as the "Brew and View".
They'll get by, by becoming primarily service-added restaurants.
We may also see a small resurgence of drive-ins. As they're IDEAL venues for people who're terrified of GERMS!
The latest iteration no longer uses the individual speakers. You now just tune your radio to a low FM frequency to get the soundtrack.
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where you can actual food.
I wish I (tin)can.
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I only have one old style theater in my city. It cannot generate the revenue that the big studios require. I have a couple of these brew pla
Theaters will still exist in 2023 (Score:2)
Certainly -- the way that all ideas and memories "exist."
will you lower your cut down from 99% so the place (Score:4)
will you lower your cut down from 99% so the place don't need to use the snack bar to make any income?
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will you lower your cut down from 99% so the place don't need to use the snack bar to make any income?
If that's true then why was my local independent theater always $3-5 cheaper a ticket than the megaplexes? If the studios want to keep theaters in business then they'll adjust their model accordingly. If theaters die, it won't be because studios wanted to maintain the release model but wouldn't alter the deal.
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> If that's true then why was my local independent theater
> always $3-5 cheaper a ticket than the megaplexes?
The studios collect 99% for the first few weeks after release, and then a sliding scale. Your "local independent theater" probably only shows "classics" or "cult movies" all of which are okder. Hollywood will charge a lot less for older movies.
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> If that's true then why was my local independent theater > always $3-5 cheaper a ticket than the megaplexes?
The studios collect 99% for the first few weeks after release, and then a sliding scale. Your "local independent theater" probably only shows "classics" or "cult movies" all of which are okder. Hollywood will charge a lot less for older movies.
No they show the same films as everyone else, on the same schedule.
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and the drive in stuck in the old stereo 2 channel only sound. It i'm paying $15+ an pop I want sound like dolby atmos
Need Content to Take on Disney, NF, and Amazon (Score:3)
Warner Bros. wants HBO Max to be a premium must-have streaming service, but they have no big draw like the Mandalorian (and a tenth of Disney+'s subscriber count). That was a major motivating factor behind the 2021 decision.
A full ten-season Game of Thrones would have served that role for them, but instead season 8 was such a far-reaching, brand-damaging TLJ-scale disaster that WB even had to rethink the GoT spinoff series they've already spent a fortune on.
No doubt they will (Score:2)
Cinema isn't that far gone but it is walking the same path. It is clear that as more people have faster internet and large TVs t
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It does not mean they're not dead for all intents and purposes.
Your quote comes right from the VHS days. Yet here we are. Nothing in the balance sheets from pre-COVID days gives any indication that theaters will not only still be here in 2023, but likely still be quite heavily attended.
Your local cinema experience not withstanding.
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Cinemas were already struggling pre-Covid.
Regal and AMC have permanently closed many of their theaters. The Regal theater near my house is closed, all the signs and logos are gone, and there is a "For Lease" sign on the front door.
There will still be cinemas in 2023, but fewer than before.
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Cinemas were already struggling pre-Covid.
They were doing nothing of the sort. Cinemas are quite lucrative all over the world and have been undergoing a large expansion this decade. An American chain closing some of its American theaters is very much the "local" issue I was talking about that is not at all reflective of the global cinema trend.
There will still be cinemas in 2023, but fewer than before.
Doubt it. In my city alone there will be 20% more cinemas on account of my closest one adding 2 screens and another 10 screen megaplex being built south of the river.
Speaking of which Mr "Shanghai Bill", have
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VHS couldn't do 4K with surround sound. I can have that now in a space where I can eat and drink what I want and pause the movie if I have to go to the bathroom.
There's no advantage to going to see a movie in a smelly theater with sticky floors any more.
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There's no advantage
Translation: "My local cinema is shit"
I mean if you have sticky floors that's one bad sign, but if you think your 4K TV with surround sound in any way compares to a cinema then it's clear you local cinema hasn't been renovated since the 90s. That's a true shame, but really not at all a reflection of cinemas in general.
When you have dual 8k Christie laser projectors, a 17m wide screen, and a sound system that would have the police show up to your house 5 minutes into the film due to being a public nuisance t
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> When you have dual 8k Christie laser projectors, a 17m wide
> screen, and a sound system that would have the police show
> up to your house 5 minutes into the film due to being a public
> nuisance then you can start talking about comparisons.
Simple law of physics... If you get closer to to a screen, you need a lot less screen to cover the same field of view. So a smaller screen will suffice. And as for sound... I'd prefer not to have to use hearing aids in my older years, thank you.
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Exactly. I don't want the sound blasting at me, and of course my home system could get noise complaints called in if I run it at full volume. I just value my already old ears. Fortunately they work pretty well because I wore earplugs to concerts in my youth. (Nope, not joking, among the many things I've done in my life, I've worked concerts. Earplugs saved my hearing.)
Also, a 55 foot screen is pretty small compared to what the old single-screen theaters had when I was young. Hardly worth bothering wit
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Paying a fiver for a ticket is usually cheaper than a Blu Ray, and you don't have to wait months to see it. Or rely on some shitty streaming service with garbage bitrate.
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But I don't care about waiting months to see it. And movie tickets haven't been $5 in decades.
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Cinemas have been relying on fewer and fewer movies to carry them through the year.
Maybe for your local example. You should look outside of your borders and realise there's many movie industries outside of Hollywood. Your assertion that they are wholly dependent on blockbusters as again very local.
Why the hell should a studio bother screening a movie in a physical theatre when it can premier it on its own service of just send it straight to a rental service?
You're joking right? That's like saying why bother with cinema at all when DVDs were released. The reality is consumers are happy to pay double, and are happy to pay for different experiences. Why release it just on DVD or a streaming service once when you can double dip and get ticket sales fro
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It is clear that as more people have faster internet and large TVs that the reasons for paying to go to the cinema will reduce to almost nothing.
Yes, one can afford a large TV now. But affording an apartment where you can set up such large TV and also set up a proper sound system... that may never happen in city locations.
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Use good quality headphones and you'll be able to watch action movies at 2AM without annoying your neighbours.
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Once you're past the distance of a meter or so, it's only angular size that matters.
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Yes, one can afford a large TV now. But affording an apartment where you can set up such large TV and also set up a proper sound system... that may never happen in city locations.
For visuals a small room doesn't matter much. In a large room you are probably 15 feet away from the screen max and in a very small room you are likely no less than 7 feet away. For 1080p TVs a 55" TV is the largest you would want in that small room, but you could take advantage of an up to 85" 4k TV when only 7 feet from the screen.
For sound you are right, mostly I think because high ceilings are ideal. An ideal home theater with perfect sound would have 12 foot high ceilings and be about 14ft x 24ft. You
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Yeah, it's going to be like ballet, opera, and live theater. They're all still things, but nowhere near as common as they used to be. Going to see a movie in a theater will be a special occasion, not a generic thing to do on a weekend, and most towns will only need a couple of theaters (nice ones, but perhaps only with one or two screens each; multiplexes will go away) which might show new movies, old movies, obscure movies, or what have you.
This may also affect the amount of money available for funding mo
They will exist but... (Score:2)
They will exist but they will be wholly-owned subsidiaries of one or many studio companies.
The Studios will buy them up at fire-sale prices, too.
When they do open-up, tickets will be cheap for a month or two then go up to insane levels.
No kidding (Score:2)
I mean despite everyone on Slashdot declaring them dead and deceased pretty much every time movies are discussed on here theaters are still a very lucrative investment all over the world.
I have no doubt that the people who claim theaters are dying are very much speaking from their local experience; for them theaters are effectively already dead. But there's a bigger world out there, and one which has 18 of the 20th highest grossing cinema films released this decade.
They probably will but not where you think (Score:3)
Bigger less hypothetical question (Score:2)
Would Earth even exist in its current orbital plane by 2023?
Doesnâ(TM)t seem likely.
Why was this news? (Score:2, Insightful)
Clickbait and dupes galore.
Apparently the people who own Slashdot never look at the site.
But won't in 2024 isn't it? (Score:1)
They are betting what? (Score:2)
> "the company seems to be betting that theaters won't become an apocalyptic wasteland"
What exactly is the bet here? What do they win if they are right, and what do they lose if they are wrong? It seems to me they could care less, since they don't have to make any decisions or commitments which cost money, on whether or not theaters will be there in 2023. So of course they will tell people what they want to hear, it's free.
2023? (Score:2)
sure, why not (Score:1)
Well, I'm pretty sure you can still buy buggy whips on Amazon. Yes, they still exist. So what?