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Movies Television

Disney CEO Suggests There's No 'Going Back' To Pre-COVID Film Releases (thewrap.com) 90

Posted by msmash from the times,-they-are-a-changin' dept.
As Disney prepares to release "Raya and the Last Dragon" in theaters and as a premium on-demand title this Friday, CEO Bob Chapek says that he thinks the experimentation his studio and others in Hollywood are doing with releasing movies during the pandemic will permanently change the movie business. From a report "The consumer is probably more impatient than they've ever been before," Chapek said during a Q&A at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference, "particularly since now they've had the luxury of an entire year of getting titles at home pretty much when they want them. So, I'm not sure there's going back. But we certainly don't want to do anything like cut the legs off a theatrical exhibition run." Disney previously released its remake of "Mulan," initially a March 2020 theatrical release, as a premium title for $29.99 for Disney+ subscribers while Pixar's "Soul" went from being a theatrical June 2020 release to a Christmas Day release on Disney+ at no extra cost.

[...] Disney has yet to show an exact number of days it would like to shorten the theatrical window to, but Chapek's remarks suggest that the hybrid release strategy Disney is using for "Raya" may be a model it continues to explore while it waits for the box office to return to normal. Once it does, Disney has a very good reason not to leave movie theaters behind, as the studio grossed a record $11.1 billion worldwide in 2019 off of films like "Avengers: Endgame," "Frozen II," and a CGI remake of "The Lion King." "This is a fluid situation and it's fluid for two reasons: The short term impact of COVID on the number of screens open and on consumers' willingness to go back, but also the fundamental changes of consumer behavior, which might be more profound," Chapek said. "We are watching very carefully... to see how long term those preferences are going to shift. and that's why we talk about flexibility so often."
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Disney CEO Suggests There's No 'Going Back' To Pre-COVID Film Releases More

Disney CEO Suggests There's No 'Going Back' To Pre-COVID Film Releases

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  • COVID-19 just hastened the inevitable (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:37AM (#61115958)

    Distributors have been wanting to shorten the delay between theatrical release and DVD / internet release for years. Even before COVID, when I still worked in that industry, there were talks of shortening it to 3 months, and all our cinema customers were busy trying to convert to alternative revenue sources such as live events and gaming.

    COVID just provided the pretext to go ahead and do it. And to be honest, it might be just as well: it'll put the industry out of its misery srooner.

  • Theaters still have a role, I think (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LatencyKills ( 1213908 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:43AM (#61115970)
    As a date night, and as a commonly shared experience. Grumps about cell phones and chatter aside, and how wonderful my flat screen and surround sound systems are, I still enjoy going to the theater to see movies. Not a ton, not 50 times a year (more like 10), and I have no idea if the business can support or really cares to cater to casual moviegoers like me. Plus, the drive in near me is always packed - it was before COVID and it was really nuts during COVID - and that's a whole different moviegoing experience. I will add that this has given a lot of independent films a very viable route for distribution through one of the umpteen streaming services, allowing some of them to find an audience they may not have before. But Disney may be partially right - their children's animation films may do just as well through their streaming service as in the theater - but if they think Star Wars fans are going to be just as happy putting on their Leia slave girl bikinis and watching the next SW film at home, I think they are seriously misreading their audience.

    • Re:Theaters still have a role, I think (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:54AM (#61116010)

      I agree. I thought VHS would kill cinema, but apparently getting out is a thing.

    • Before the pandemic I would have friends come over sometimes and we would cook together and watch a movie. I enjoyed that experience far more than any theater. I get better food; we can pause the movie at any time and after the movie you can keep talking for a while if you want.

      Overall I don't think I will go back to a theater experience more than once every few years.

    • And if disney still wants to stick to the disney+ subscription and an addition $40 to see a movie at home, who are they going to cry to when people pirate their shit? Oh thats right, theyll get congress to pass unconstitutional laws protecting them in ways they do not protect any single other industry. Some people still do matinee for these kid cartoons so that the tocket cost of their movie expense is like $20 - $25. Not the $40 plus an $8 subscription. All day, any tuesday, Movie Tavern ran a $5 ticket p

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ranton ( 36917 )

        Or you can let disney try and convince you that sitting at home and eating crappy microwave popcorn is worth the extra $28.

        My guess is the cost for better movie theater popcorn and other refreshments would eat into the $28 savings. And then there is the benefit of watch the movie again the next day when your kids inevitably want to watch the movie again? That is what happened for Mulan, Croods 2, Trolls 2, and Wonder Woman 2 at my house. I think Trolls 2 got three viewings before the timer ran out on the rental.

        But you do bring up a good point about movie studios losing the ability to target different prices for different custo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by e3m4n ( 947977 )

          My guess is the cost for better movie theater popcorn and other refreshments would eat into the $28 savings.

          depends on the theatres. You remarked about my Movie Tavern comment in another thread, so I'll elaborate how it works with them. So Movie Tavern is a full restaurant but they still do the typical theatre stuff too like popcorn and soda. They also do that overpriced candy that you can get for $1 all day long at Walmart but nobody ever gets that, they just bring their own boxes of candy from Walmart, solong as people drink the soda or order popcorn I really doubt they notice or care. So with the popcorn at Mo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by e3m4n ( 947977 )
          oh, I forgot to mention that when dating, you have a significantly higher chance of dating with the theatre experience than a home-theatre one, especially early into the relationship. A girl is rightfully cautious to go to the home of someone they only recently started dating, and even less likely to invite them to their home, for fear of every cop drama show or lifetime channel movie coming true. A Theatre gives someone neutral ground that is only slightly less safe than a brightly lit restaurant. If movie

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by ranton ( 36917 )

      Theaters will almost certainly have a role in the entertainment industry for decades to come. The role will just diminish. We still have live theater a century after motion pictures hit the scene. I see no reason why movie theaters won't also exist a century from now.

      It's just likely we won't have 20 screen multiplexes in every town. A standard movie theater may be 2-5 screens and there may be a third as many as there are today. But they will survive as a medium for entertainment.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jabuzz ( 182671 )

        If you wind the clock back 100 years here in the UK every small town had a cinema. Hell the town I grew up in had three and despite being much larger than it was 100 years ago it only had a population of 11,675 in the 2011 census. The town I live in now has a population of 3,815 in 2011 the 2011 census, is much bigger than it used to be and had in cinema in the past.

        You are likely going to have to travel to cities in the future to see a movie. For 1000USD I can get a major brand 75" 4K screen delivered nex

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ytene ( 4376651 )
      It is interesting that your concerns with the cinema-going experience echo those of so many others. The cinema experience seems to be going the way of vinyl audio: by no means dead... but gradually shrinking to diehard fans. There is certainly no appeal in going to one of the iMax screens, only to neither blasted by audio so loud it makes your ears ring or to have people talking, arguing or messing about in front of you.

      Where I think cinema could find a niche would be in a book-able event format... scree

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by edwdig ( 47888 )

      if they think Star Wars fans are going to be just as happy putting on their Leia slave girl bikinis and watching the next SW film at home, I think they are seriously misreading their audience.

      They know that. Theaters have been more and more focused on the big blockbuster movies for years because those types of experiences are what keep people going to theaters. But it's hard to sustain the theaters on *just* Star Wars and Marvel movies. Something has to change to make it viable long term.

  • Cut the legs off... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bradley13 ( 1118935 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:52AM (#61115998) Homepage

    But we certainly don't want to do anything like cut the legs off a theatrical exhibition run

    Oh, please do. I haven't been to a theater for more than a decade. The last few times I went were unpleasant. Sound cranked so loud it hurt. Endless previews. Annoying people fiddling with their phones. Overpriced snacks. The experience at home is far superior, even though we just have a large screen and ordinary stereo speakers.

    Oh, they also need to get rid of the artificial delays, releasing to different countries at different times. That may have made sense when they had to sense physical reels around, but that hasn't been the case for ages.

    • Re:Cut the legs off... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by dave-man ( 119245 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @11:31AM (#61116164)

      > Sound cranked so loud it hurt.

      This was a problem for me before COVID. I was taking ear plugs with me to make the sound tolerable. What's the sense of that? I'd much rather watch at home.

    • Sounds like you need a Movie Tavern near you. Its the only theatre I will go to anymore. Same price (even cheaper on Tuesdays) but much better experience. Full restaurant and bar and all table service. You just press a button to get your waiter to come by.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ranton ( 36917 )

        Sounds like you need a Movie Tavern near you. Its the only theatre I will go to anymore. Same price (even cheaper on Tuesdays) but much better experience. Full restaurant and bar and all table service. You just press a button to get your waiter to come by.

        Or just release movies on streaming platforms the same day it is released in theaters. It is clear there is a significant portion of the customer base who would prefer this. It all comes down to whether the movie studios can find a pricing strategy to make this profitable, and whether there is enough market pressure to force them down this route. I sure hope there is.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by e3m4n ( 947977 )
          I cant imagine why someone would pay twice the price for a streaming experience, but as long as they dont cripple the theatre experience like they did mulan, I wont care. If they pull another Mulan then I'll just do what everyone else does and download an alternate source of it. Now that I think about it, there is one other feature Ive only ever used once, but does exist for the theatre experience, was asking for a refund for a truly terrible movie. I suspect you cant get a refund from disney for your $39 a

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ranton ( 36917 )

            I cant imagine why someone would pay twice the price for a streaming experience,

            I'm not aware of any of the streaming options being twice the price as the movie experience. Perhaps for people who go to the movie theater alone or only see matinees at budget theaters. Average ticket prices nationwide are $9, which counts discounted tickets. My guess is standard tickets are closer to a $12 average. So $24 for a couple, or more if there is a family or group of friends.

            Mulan was the most expensive fee I'm aware of, which was $30. Right in line with taking a family to the theater, or perhaps

  • 1 year is a long time. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:57AM (#61116020)

    While it may not feel like that, Within a full year, it allows for habits to change, and many aspects of our culture will not go back to pre-2020 types, for good or for bad.

    Bosses and companies have gotten use to Employees working from home, they have found ways to manage them remotely effectively. We have found that large groupings are not necessarily better, as well our technology has gotten to a point where we find after we got use to them, we are not missing them as much as we thought.

    • I laugh every time I hear someone say, back to normal. And it gets funnier every time I hear it. We don't remember what normal was and the further we get from it the less accurate our memory will be. Remember kids, you may NOT violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

      • Re:1 year is a long time. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @12:54PM (#61116574) Homepage Journal

        I laugh every time I hear someone say, back to normal. And it gets funnier every time I hear it. We don't remember what normal was and the further we get from it the less accurate our memory will be.

        Err, while I don't have the best memory in the world any longer...I can VERY certainly remember what normal "was" and what I believe it will be come again.

        Normal is being able to come and go without giving a thought to wrapping something around your face (mask)...being able to smile and people again and see them smile back.

        To be able to go to restaurants and bars again, with friends...and meet new ones and pick up women.

        I look forward to going to music and art fests again, crowded and fun (a big deal in New Orleans)....

        I have a hard time believing anyone except those just born durning this mess will soon forget what "normal" is.

        • I look forward to normal again, too. Unfortunately, much longer than any reasonable threat persists, there will be lingering resistance from people who have found a, frankly, religious sense of purpose and belonging in not only adhering to but in enforcing the current norms on everyone.

          • Re:1 year is a long time. (Score:4, Insightful)

            by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @02:33PM (#61117052) Homepage Journal

            I look forward to normal again, too. Unfortunately, much longer than any reasonable threat persists, there will be lingering resistance from people who have found a, frankly, religious sense of purpose and belonging in not only adhering to but in enforcing the current norms on everyone.

            Fuck'em.

            Once it is safe enough, I'm not doing that shit anymore.

            We're not there yet, but the numbers are coming down so quickly...I think this is due to vaccines coming out, and herd immunity starting to take hold...IMHO, the infection rates have been underestimated and far more people have had it with little to no symptoms.

            We'll get there I think, in the not too distant future.

            I for one miss doing the many music festivals we usually have here annually....and plan to go back full swing.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ranton ( 36917 )

        I laugh every time I hear someone say, back to normal. And it gets funnier every time I hear it. We don't remember what normal was and the further we get from it the less accurate our memory will be.

        I don't really think many people forget what normal was. Maybe my 4 year old, but even that I doubt.

        Not everything will "go back to normal". Businesses being accepting of more remote labor is one prime example of changes which are likely to persist for a large segment of jobs. Business travel will probably also never return to normal. There were also many trends already happening in entertainment, delivery services, online shopping, etc. which were simply accelerated and are unlikely to rebound much.

        But kid

      • Ginsberg's Restatement of the Three Laws of Thermodynamics:
        You can't win.
        You can't break even.
        You can't quit.

  • False. (Score:3)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @10:59AM (#61116032)

    Humans are stupid social machines, we'll soon be back to exchanging bodily fluids and an assortment of viruses, bacteria, and fungi amongst each other. It may take a while, but it'll happen. Mental gymnastics, post-facto justifications, and excuses galore will be made "I'm vaccinated", "I'm wearing a mask". Exchanging pathogens is too lucrative in fun for the average person to pass up.

    • that can be done at much better places with friends and relatives than at a theater with mostly strangers, and with better atmosphere and tasty food than a concession stand with overpriced vaguely food flavored filler. Theater model needs to die, there are superior tech solutions

      • The theater model is the fault of the studios, not the theaters. The studios demanded larger and larger cuts of the tickets, leaving theaters to earn their money on concessions alone.

        Some blockbusters take 100% of the ticket, and some of the concessions on top of it.

        Quit blaming theaters for this instead of the studios.

        • Blame? I'm saying the theaters are crap and so they can die, doesn't matter whose fault it really is, utterly irrelevant. I'm supposed to support them as a charity because I feel sorry for them?

  • I guess I'm old. This isn't for me. If we're talking about all movies at home, then the extremely high premium cost of a new release buys you one, and only one thing. You get to see it sooner. I don't know about the rest of you, but it has been a very long time since I was excited enough about the release of a movie that I would be willing to pay a lot more just to see it a month or two sooner under the exact same setting (IE on my TV).

    When you decide to watch a movie at a theater, the only thing that mo

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by larwe ( 858929 )
      "That's why every other company has launched their own premium streaming service. Let's hope most of them fail."

      That's a foregone conclusion. The balkanization of streaming has revived Bittorrent usage greatly, or so I've read.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      Just wait a few years without watching a new movie (like, say, in a pandemic).

      Then all the "new" movies to you are several years old, so they cost much less, are out on the formats/service you want and you don't have to fight families who "must see" that movie on the first day.

  • I would pay $30 for a new release at home (Score:3)

    by dmay34 ( 6770232 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @11:11AM (#61116072)

    $30 to stream a new release would already make financial sense over taking a family of 4 to the movie theater.

    And I don't have to go to a movie theater. I'm in.

  • We'll get better movies from this (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dmay34 ( 6770232 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @11:16AM (#61116088)

    I love a good mega-action-blockbuster movie, don't get me wrong. I love them all. But it's unfortunate that basically EVERY major movie is a CGI orgy block-buster movie. But that's for good reason. The only thing theaters really have to compete with home viewings is the super-giant screen and booming surround sound. But because of that, few people are paying $15 a ticket to watch a simple character drama or a rom-com.

    By releasing their main attractions to same-day streaming, this will encourage studios to reduce production budgets and open their production opportunities to more character driven stories and fewer CGI mega-movies. I'm 100% for this.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by indytx ( 825419 )

      I love a good mega-action-blockbuster movie, don't get me wrong. I love them all. But it's unfortunate that basically EVERY major movie is a CGI orgy block-buster movie. But that's for good reason. The only thing theaters really have to compete with home viewings is the super-giant screen and booming surround sound. But because of that, few people are paying $15 a ticket to watch a simple character drama or a rom-com.

      By releasing their main attractions to same-day streaming, this will encourage studios to reduce production budgets and open their production opportunities to more character driven stories and fewer CGI mega-movies. I'm 100% for this.

      This is my main complaint about so many action movies. It's the Marvel-ization of action movies. Inevitably, there will be a 30 minute CGI fight scene at the end. At the end of every movie. It's so boring. So very, very boring. It's almost inescapable. I also don't know anyone who really looks forward to the long fight scenes, so I don't know for whom the movies are being made. Kids? The Chinese mainland? Action movies are, in general, just so bad lately.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dmay34 ( 6770232 )

        I'm not really with you on that. I love a good CGI fight scene against a soulless/faceless CGI army. I'll eat that stuff up! I'll pay $15 for that, sure.

        It just doesn't have to be every movie. Give me a good rom-com or court drama that I don't have to pay $15 a ticket to go see.

  • I appreciate the theatre and move distributors re-learning the value of the modern theatre experience. Existing since post-industrial times, it's a facet of modern culture that has evolved with modern culture. I like that I can go to a modern theatre and play games in an actual arcade. I like the arcade. I like the shared experience of seeing a good comedy with a 100 other laughing people. I like experience that the audio and video provides. I like the idea that AMC had to rent whole rooms out to people
  • I watch everything after prices drop.

  • I remember getting together with my geek friends, going out and eating before hand, going to the theatre and watch the big block buster and then gathering in the parking lot to rehash our favorite parts.

    Yeah, that doesn't quite happen the same way as before. Not as often as before.

    I agree that the theatres need to lower the volume a bit. They need to be lout enough to hear the movie, but I don't care to have a headache from the experience and the last few times, that has been a thing.

    I still enjoy the exp

  • It's not like I went to the movies every week or anything like that, but there are always some movies I want to see in a theatre, on the big screen, with the seventy-gazillion channels of sound and all that. If, when this pandemic mess is all over with, you're going to make it more difficult to find time to go see a real movie in a real theatre, there's no way I'm paying for your 'streaming' bullshit to see it. I'll wait until it's $1.50 at Redbox, if I have to see it on the small screen at home.

  • And we can cease giving a single slimy shit about the scumbag Hollywood perv culture.

    [Cue South Park Kids]
    HURRAY!

    It's like these mental defectives just found out "Oh my God! The world is full of disease and danger!"

    And their insane, control-freak nature thinks they can "beat" it.

    Let's just get back to work and stopy giving time, attention and money to these deluded head cases.

  • Good (Score:2)

    by Altus ( 1034 )

    The way I see it, having home release along side theater release will probably reduce the number of people going to theaters but it will force theaters to provide a better product if they want to get people off of their couches. Childrens movies released in a theater? I doubt it, or it will only be limited runs. Food service and assigned seating as standard instead of being a special ticket. hell maybe they will come up with other ideas that will make it even more of a worthwhile event.

    If not, they prob

  • Don'cha love it when a company carcass
    Becomes big, then indifferent, then dumb
    There's more ways to fail then can ever be seen
    More stupids than have ever been dumb

    In the circle of life
    It's the steal of fortune
    It's the leap of lemmings
    In a bad meme or trope
    Till we find our place
    On the path unsubscribing
    To the circle, the circle of life

  • The king of direct-to-video (Score:3)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @04:56PM (#61117566) Homepage Journal

    Disney made a fortune in the VHS era on direct-to-video releases. They're pros at making piles of money outside of mainstream theatrical releases. So of course they want this to be the new model, nobody else will be able to do it quite as well.

  • They can release them at the same second, and I'm still going to the theater. That is where I like to watch movies. And due to the 1-price deal at Regal, its probably even cheaper until I get to the candy counter.

  • Disney can kiss my ass until they start paying Alan Dean Foster for his work:

    https://meaww.com/why-disney-a... [meaww.com]

    So, you know: fuck 'em.

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