Big Studios Consider the Unthinkable: Home Viewing of Movies Two Weeks After They Hit Theaters
Big Studios Consider the Unthinkable: Home Viewing of
Movies Two Weeks After They Hit Theaters
Warner Bros., Universal are in talks with cinema chains
to dramatically shorten theatrical window — cutting out middle men like Sean
Parker’s Screening Room
Matt Pressberg and Meriah Doty | December 1, 2016 @ 4:32
PM
Major Hollywood studios are considering offering movies
to home viewers in as little as two weeks after they hit cinemas in the latest
sign that major changes could be in store for the theatrical window.
Bloomberg, which first reported the news, cited studio
insiders who said the films will be priced between $25 and $50 for home
viewers, a figure TheWrap has also learned is accurate, based on early
conversations — and a premium over both movie tickets and video-on-demand
rates.
Warner Bros. boss Kevin Tsujihara hinted at changes in
the windowing process at an investor conference in Arizona on Tuesday, saying
the studio was working with cinema chains to change the windowing process — but
was prepared to do something either way.
“We’re working with them to try and create a new window,”
Tsujihara said at the conference. “But regardless of whether it happens or not
– whether we are able to reach that agreement with them, we have to offer
consumers more choices earlier.”
A Universal spokesman told TheWrap the studio is “having
discussions with exhibitors about shortening the release window.” A source
close to Warner Bros. told TheWrap Tsujihara was clear about his intentions at
the Arizona conference.
The fact that studios are now discussing this with
theater chains directly could mean Sean Parker’s startup Screening Room — which
wants to offer new theatrical releases to home viewers for $50 a pop — could be
DOA, even as studios and exhibitors look to adopt a similar business model,
only without the middle man.
Several studio execs and A-list directors like James
Cameron have been highly critical of Parker’s venture. However, a studio source
told TheWrap he wouldn’t declare Parker’s venture kaput quite yet.
Reps for Screening Room did not respond to TheWrap’s
request for comment in time for publication.
While the theatrical box office seems to have bounced
back after a summer slump, a decline in the home video market has spurred the
need to consider alternatives. DVD sales are down by a double-digit percentage
year-over-year, and home entertainment revenue (excluding subscription services
like Netflix) dipped 12 percent in the third quarter, according to a study from
the Digital Entertainment Group.
That trend has incentivized studios to look for
innovative ways to deliver fresh content to viewers who don’t — or can’t — go
to the theater without losing their business for months while they wait for the
film to clear the traditional theatrical window.
DirecTV has a Cinema Exclusives program, in which
independent films are premiered exclusively on DirecTV for a short period of
time — usually 30 days — ahead of their theatrical release, effectively
creating a new window.
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