Stuck in limbo. That is the state of the theatrical
marketplace these days, stagnant. Sure,
better than last year, but showing no signs of returning to pre-pandemic
levels.
The trendline for 2023 moved up two, from 510 to 512
as the projected number of new theatrical releases arriving at your local multiplex
during 2023. The top two boxes ($25
million plus; $100 million plus) remain the same at a projected 64 films by the
end of the year (pre-pandemic the number averaged 94).
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment finally
picked a street date for the long-overdue home entertainment packaged media
launch of director James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. The release date will be June 20.
Part of the delay could be attributed to where the
studio desires to book the revenue for accounting purposes … last quarter or
this quarter.
One of the reasons that the new theatrical venue is
just bumping along is the obsession with taking major budget film productions
and skipping theatres in favor of streaming.
A week ago, it was director Niki Caro’s The Mother,
starring Jennifer Lopez, going directly to Netflix. A little tight-lipped about how much was
spent on making the film, but you’d have to guess $20 million or more just
based on its profile.
This week the insanity was repeated with director Kyle
Patrick Alvarez’s Crater. This
21 Laps Entertainment/ Walt Disney Pictures sci-fi flick had a reported
production budget north of $55 million. It skipped theatres and went right to Disney+.
Both The Mother and Crater were
released on Blu-ray within hours by industry “helpers” after their first
streaming windows. It’s hard to get back to 94 hit films annually
when films such as these are fed pell-mell into the streaming grinder.
Consider the opposite approach by Sony
Pictures. They are not in the streaming
business per se (the Crunchyroll anime
streaming platform aside), nor does the studio have legacy media (why Warner
Bros. Discovery is hanging on to CNN is something of a mystery, but that’s
neither here nor there) or legacy networks to deal with. They basically produce/acquire films and
distribute them both theatrically and as home entertainment product offerings. They appear to have deals with both Netflix
and Amazon Prime for streaming.
Sony Pictures makes money without the streaming-only
obsession. They make money with a multi-platform
approach that squares with the traditional “Promo, Better, Best” release
sequence.
Sony Pictures “Promo, Better, Best” Pattern With Missing
Take for example the writing and directing team of
Will Merrick and Nick Johnson’s rollout of Missing,
starring Storm Reid. Industry trades
suggest that the production budget was between $7 million and $10 million.
Instead of dropping it into the streaming vacuum, Missing
opened theatrically in mid-January and grossed $35.5 million in the domestic
marketplace (plus more overseas). There was a one-off VOD option in early March through
Amazon Prime Video and on March 28, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released
the film on both DVD and Blu-ray.
This past week it began streaming on the Amazon
Prime network … it made two “controlled” stops before streaming — theatres,
where Sony Pictures shared in the revenue generated from tickets sales with
exhibitors nationwide (which also builds awareness of the film) and then as
physical media sales from both DVD and Blu-ray that followed (before being
streamed).
That’s a profitable application of the “Promo,
Better, Best” release pattern. Sony
Pictures makes money.
Why does Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Crater have
to skip the first two stops?
Look at it this way, you are running a movie theatre
and you only sell tickets to see the movie.
Is that smart? No, you sell soft
drinks, popcorn, candy … why not wine and beer … hot dogs!!
Streamers should seriously consider stealing the “helper”
model and adding it to their own. You
want a copy of the movie on DVD or Blu-ray?
No problem, manufactured to order … here’s the price.
Something to think about.
As to “helper” activity this past week, the big
score was the Blu-ray launch of Universal Pictures mega-hit Super
Mario Brothers Movie … more “helper” editions will
soon follow.
Disney+, which was already targeted for “helper” copies
of the aforementioned Crater,
also got tagged for Muppets Mayhem – Season 1, Star Wars
Visions – Season 2 and Salem:
The Complete Series all on Blu-ray. Hallmark Entertainment was clipped for seven
different films on DVD, including the Great American Family/Brad Krevoy production
of Fall into Winter, marking
Lori Loughlin’s return to the MOW arena.
We could go on and on … dozens of “helper” Blu-ray
and DVD product offerings, filling the voids left by rights owners not being on
top of things. Netflix, Paramount Plus,
Amazon Prime all were sources, even Screen Media Films’ Songbird got some
Blu-ray “help” and director George Tillman Jr.’s Big
George Foreman (Sony Pictures) also got a
little “help” on the Blu-ray front.
Next week it will be a whole new list!!
