For the folks here who don’t like going to theatres, the HBO Max deal is over next year.

I don't think it's as simple as Warner thinks it's going to be. Pandora has opened the box. The genie has escaped the bottle.

Sometimes mixed metaphors come in very handy.

Hey-o!

Ha! In fairness, it would have been a mixed metaphor if it was one sentence, but I purposely made it two--however I could be wrong. I don't know this stuff.

Regardless, I don't think the pre-pandemic theatrical model is going to go back to what it was before once people got a taste of first-run movies beamed directly into their living rooms. Studios can try. Though I hope theaters will continue to exist. Seeing the final battle in Avengers: Endgame for the first time wouldn't have the same impact on a small screen.

Lots of theater screens here are already small. If they kept with the same day on HBO Max deal, maybe theaters would actually step up their game. The ones reopening now seem to be making the same mistakes as before.

I’m wondering long term how things like HBO Max and Disney+ have damaged theaters in reaction to COVID. Obviously the studios are in a bind so it’s hard to blame them.

There likely will be a group who still enjoys the theater going experience, but also a group who will probably be content waiting for movies to hit streaming services.

Seems our local theater may not re-open at all... and I ain't driving over an hour plus away very often just to watch a movie, so theaters are pretty much dead to me at this point except for a very rare occasion.

I guess in the beginning the theaters get overrun, when it's really safe to return, but after the dust settles, there will be consequences. I'd suppose the landscape will change in the years to come. I wouldn't be surprised if there are Netflix or Amazon cinemas in the future where you can watch their original movies.

For me, it will be the same as before, meaning I'll just wait for it to be released on Blu-ray.

(Last time I was at the theater was pre-COVID, with Spider-Man: Far From Home)

I think when the dust settles after COVID the studios and theatres will hopefully come to some amicable arrangement. To help jump-start the theatrical release they might try to initiate a "blackout" period for first-run films in the major cities but leave pay-per-view streaming as an option for subscribers living in the outlying areas that are 20+ miles from the nearest theatre. GPS technology could assist by defining who receives the ability to stream and who is in the "blackout" areas.

This model (if technically possible) would be a win/win; the theatres get their exclusive first-run films in the major markets and the studios get to expand their pay-per-stream audiences in the rural areas.

Looks like the 45 day window is not guaranteed anymore depending on the movie. The 45 day window was under the previous AT&T regime with Jason Kilar.

Twitter

So if Black Adam and Shazam are successful, then WB will keep them in theaters as long as possible like what Paramount is doing with Top Gun and what Sony did with Spider-Man No Way Home.

Top Gun is now fast approaching 90 days in theaters when previously Paramount announced a 45 day window.

Everyone is chasing Top Gun theatrical longevity and $$. I really doubt that will happen to any WB movie on their current slate.

I hope HBO Max is still free for HBO Subscribers in 2023 when they form the new streaming service with Discovery

Well Batgirl is supposed to be…Oh.