Guardian Article - It's all about the last sentence....edited26 Mar 2021 17:32
Can cinemas bank on a big return to the big screen? YES!
A new deal on exclusivity appeared to have emerged last week when Cineworld announced a breakthrough multi-year agreement with Warner Bros. The deal is for cinemas to get a 31-day exclusivity window in the US and UK, extending to 45 days in the UK if certain major films hit box office targets.
“I think the Cineworld/Warner Bros deal is a very elegant solution, a middle ground that shouldn’t affect cinema box office take,” says Han****. “I genuinely think film studios understand that the best way to maximise value is to start with launching most of their films in theatrical release first.”
However, on the same day that deal was done Disney announced that its eagerly anticipated Marvel film Black Widow – which many cinemas had been banking on to help spark a revival as one of the biggest films of the summer – will debut simultaneously in theatres and on Disney+.
Earlier this month, Disney+ passed 100m subscribers in just 16 months – a feat that took Netflix a decade – and it has upped its goal to 260m by 2024. Its biggest hits to date are The Mandalorian and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, both small screen spin-offs of its Star Wars and Marvel big screen franchises.
The world’s biggest entertainment company may be laser-focused on building a streaming empire to match Netflix, particularly so while cinemas remain closed, but as the most successful studio in history at the box office it is unlikely to close the door to theatre owners. Global box office takings hit a record $42.5bn in 2019, led by the success of Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of a decade-long big screen strategy that has made tens of billions for Disney.
“When it settles down Disney is the one that will keep with theatrical windows of some sort, its films are made for the big screen. Disney know that; they won’t put everything on Disney+.
‘“One thing I can tell you is that in China and Japan cinemas are now running at normal profitability and occupancy. People will go back to cinemas.”
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