Last month, Warner Bros. threw in the towel and announced that after numerous delays, it was going to release Wonder Woman 1984 to theaters and its streaming platform HBO Max simultaneously. Now, it’s revealed that all of its films for 2021 will get the same treatment, including Dune and Matrix 4.
The move comes amidst considerable uncertainty in the theatrical industry as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. As the pandemic surged this spring and fall, studios have rushed to push all of their films out of the way and into safer territory, when they hoped that theaters would return to normal operations. That hasn’t happened — the United States is experiencing a new wave of the virus, and even though a vaccine appears to be imminent, it’s clear that it will be a while before things go back to normal.
So, Warner Media appears to be hedging its bets by planning to debut its films in theaters when and where it’s safe, and where it isn’t, moviegoers can watch from their homes. The move comes after the studio released Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to theaters to underwhelming box office returns.
According to Variety, all of Warner Bros.’ upcoming films for the next year will debut in both places in the US — that includes its highly-anticipated genre films:
- Dune
- Godzilla vs. Kong
- The Matrix 4
- The Suicide Squad
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
- In the Heights
- The Little Things
- Judas and the Black Messiah
- King Richard
- Malignant
- The Many Saints of Newark
- Mortal Kombat
- Reminiscence
- Space Jam: A New Legacy
- Those Who Wish Me Dead
- Tom & Jerry
Moreover, the films won’t come with an added surcharge for subscribers.
The plan, according to WarnerMedia chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff, is a “unique one-year plan”, and Variety notes that they don’t plan for it to continue into 2022 and beyond. “No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do,” she wrote. “We know new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will likely operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021.”
The move will likely be good news for the company’s streaming service, HBO Max, which is being set up as a competitor to the likes of Netflix and Disney+. Releasing the films to the streaming service will mean high-profile original content to entice new subscribers, which will help boost the service’s profile and stature against its rivals, some of which have also moved films directly to streaming rather than sending them to theaters.
They just single handedly kill the box office
As always, we ask that you try to avoid bringing current politics into the conversation, as this tends to quickly derail the discussion. Thanks!
This strikes me as pragmatic, more than anything.
Even if the vaccine development and distribution bears out, it’s not gonna happen overnight, It’s gonna take a long, long time for a semblance normalcy and safety to return.
I certainty have no intention of going back into a Movie Theater anytime soon next year and I’m sure they’ve realized the box office crowd at large will be equally twitchy.
This is STELLAR news! Makes total sense (for a while, anyway) in the wake of corona.
(The writing is on the wall A24 – please do the same for Saint Maud!)
Finally. Some sense. I’m just as upset as everyone to have missed Tenet in theatres as well as WW84 but it’s just not a viable prospect not matter how much theatres try to buy me in with $5 flat ticket pricing (and that was an insanely tempting offer let me tell you). It’s not worth death and that’s the prospect we’re facing out here.
Theatres should be supported but you can’t depend on us to do it during a pandemic.
Now get HBO Max on Roku. Better yet, fix the software so I can get OTA channels back on a ROKU TV.
Poor movie theaters but I get it. I still want to watch Wonder Woman 1984 on the big screen though but would want to wait until I’m vaccinated. However, by the time that happens the film won’t be in theaters any more. Sigh.
Sure wish this had been decided before they pushed Dune back. I wonder if sales will have an effect on sequels, or if the studio will bank on sequels doing better after the pandemic? I hate that we are only getting half of the story and may never get more (of the first book).
@7: Regarding OTA channels. We’ve subscribed to YouTube Television (“YT”) on our Fire Stick, so I imagine that it’s also available on your Roku. One of the things we like about YT is that our local broadcast stations are available on it. (It was weird when I brought it with me on vacation, and still got my Orlando stations while on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but that’s a different issue.)
The question you’d need to face is whether the cost of YT is worth what you’d get in addition to what you already get. But at least you’ve got an option to look at. (What we miss on YT is the Weather Channel. Oh well.)
I’m sure once its safe to return to the theatres again we’ll see re-releases of these movies on the big screen because many people love the experience and would gladly see a movie they enjoyed again on the big screen and in surround sound.
@11: I sure hope so. I love seeing a big-budget spectacle I’ve been anticipating for some time in a big screen/IMAX theater, popcorn, and other excited people around and all.
Hopefully this does not hurt the chances for the promised Dune sequel, and the dreamed of follow ups with Dune Messiah and Children of Dune…
If they have it in a theatre in my city I will definitely go watch Dune. It will be worth it.
I hope theaters survive after this. I’ve been an avid movie goer all my life. Firm believer in the theatrical experience.
By the way, theaters are almost back to normal here in normal. Warner will be released their films theatrically as per normal. Only in the US will it debut on HBO Max.
@14: And where might you be?
And I don’t think this will be the end of movie theaters. They’ll just take a big hit for the time being.