2020 At The Boxoffice (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

...So $20 to rent the new Star Wars on opening night with 48 hours of access to it to watch it a second or third time does hold some appeal.

Are you sure it works that way? I've not read the fine print but would expect that rental to be once over a 48 hour period. That is, you have up to 48 hours to start the stream for a single viewing.

 

[Tino]

Are you sure it works that way? I've not read the fine print but would expect that rental to be once over a 48 hour period. That is, you have up to 48 hours to start the stream for a single viewing.

No. You can watch as many times in that 48 hour period.

 

[Malcolm R]

China is re-opening some theaters, though not too many moviegoers just yet (somewhat due to no "new" releases):

https://deadline.com/2020/03/china-movie-theaters-open-500-international-box-office-1202890025/

 

[TravisR]

China is re-opening theaters, though not too many moviegoers just yet (though somewhat due to no "new" releases):

https://deadline.com/2020/03/china-movie-theaters-open-500-international-box-office-1202890025/

I'm curious as to what US theaters are even going to play when they reopen. I doubt any studio will play a new movie until they're sure that audiences are comfortable coming back and I doubt any theater chain will play a movie that has been put up for a $20 rental so those first weeks when the theaters come back are going to be dead. Maybe the studios and theater chains will work together to get some middle budget movies out there to test the waters for all involved. After things return to normal, that first big budget movie that gets released will be a monster hit though.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I doubt any studio will play a new movie until they're sure that audiences are comfortable coming back and I doubt any theater chain will play a movie that has been put up for a $20 rental so those first weeks when the theaters come back are going to be dead.

The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting interview with John Fithian, chief of the National Association of Theatre Owners. He says they understand studios moving their current releases to VOD once theaters closed, but they're upset about Trolls going to digital instead of being held until after the shutdown. I've included a couple particularly relevant quotes below, but the whole thing is an interesting read, so I suggest checking out the ink.

For those distributors who already had movies released in theaters that were playing when we had to shut down, we fully understand that they would need to accelerate their home releases. They had already put those movies in cinemas but cinemas had to shut down, so they made those faster moves to the home to try to monetize those movies, and to give people something to watch at home during this crisis.

Only Universal, and only on Trolls, did one studio skip the theatrical model and go straight to the home. Universal continues to advertise to consumers that Trolls will be released simultaneously to theaters and the home on April 10. And they are lying to consumers. Universal knows that theaters will still be closed on April 10, so unlike every other distributor who must simply delay their releases in that time period, but still understand that theatrical release is essential to their business model, Universal on Trolls didn’t make that decision. Exhibitors will not forget this.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...mand-play-exhibitors-will-not-forget-1285591/

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting interview with John Fithian, chief of the National Association of Theatre Owners. He says they understand studios moving their current releases to VOD once theaters closed, but they're upset about Trolls going to digital instead of being held until after the shutdown. I've included a couple particularly relevant quotes below, but the whole thing is an interesting read, so I suggest checking out the ink.





https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...mand-play-exhibitors-will-not-forget-1285591/

"Exhibitors will not forget this" seems like a pretty empty threat. Theaters need studios more than the other way around at this point.

Or are we to believe they'll boycott "Fast and Furious 9" next year?

 

[TravisR]

"Exhibitors will not forget this" seems like a pretty empty threat. Theaters need studios more than the other way around at this point.

Or are we to believe they'll boycott "Fast and Furious 9" next year?

They're not going to cut their noses off to spite their face but I bet that smaller Universal movies that might have gotten two screens will now get one or they'll get pulled a couple weeks earlier than would have in favor of another studio's movie. They might not bother to put trailers for Universal movies on anything other than what they have to. They might not put up posters for Universal movies. They might not engage in promotions for Universal movies. That kind of stuff would cost Universal millions of dollars.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

They're not going to cut their noses off to spite their face but I bet that smaller Universal movies that might have gotten two screens will now get one or they'll get pulled a couple weeks earlier than would have in favor of another studio's movie. They might not bother to put trailers for Universal movies on anything other than what they have to. They might not put up posters for Universal movies. They might not engage in promotions for Universal movies. That kind of stuff would cost Universal millions of dollars.

Meh. I think once this all blows over, it'll be largely forgotten...

 

[steve jaros]

With all movies now on VOD basically, I wonder if the "Mojo" type websites can get the numbers for buys and rental for these on a weekly basis?

 

[Wayne_j]

It's not unusual for studios to release content straight to video, and there aren't any theaters to play the new Trolls movie in anyway. It is ridiculous for NATO to be upset with anything these days. Were theater owners upset at Disney for releasing The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride direct to video?

 

[Jake Lipson]

Were theater owners upset at Disney for releasing The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride direct to video?

That's different because Simba's Pride was designed and promoted as a direct-to-video release, and theaters were not part of that. Trolls was always intended as a major theatrical release and has since shifted to a release model that excludes theaters, after they spent the last several months running trailers for it. The theaters need the studios to save their big new releases so that they have strong, compelling content to bring people back in when this pandemic is all over.

The first Trolls movie made $334 million worldwide in theaters. I can absolutely understand why the theaters would be annoyed at Universal deciding to cut them out of the next one. It probably would have done very well and been a strong title to play to help bring back family audiences, and now it's not going to be there for the theaters in that way. But all the impressions that were made on audiences through the theaters running trailers on other titles will still help Universal make money on the movie. The first trailer for Trolls was on Toy Story 4 last June, and the most recent one played with Onward when I saw it a couple weeks ago. I also saw it several times in between too. That means the theaters spent eight months helping to promote Trolls, and now they won't see any financial upside from doing so at a time when they'll need all the big franchise films they can use. If I were them, I'd be pissed too

 

[Tino]

The Weekend When Box Office Hit Zero for the First Time


https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/weekend-box-office-hit-zero-first-time-1285879

 

[Malcolm R]

The re-opening was short-lived:

https://deadline.com/2020/03/china-orders-re-closing-all-cinemas-nationwide-1202894103/#comments

 

[TravisR]

The re-opening was short-lived:

https://deadline.com/2020/03/china-orders-re-closing-all-cinemas-nationwide-1202894103/#comments

As much as I want to see US theaters reopen, I hope and expect them to wait until it's safe rather than rush into reopening and then quickly shut them again.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Yeah, that was misguided of China and the U.S. chains need to take notice. Reopening and then closing again damages their credibility when it is actually safe to reopen, and possibly does severe long-term damage.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

As much as I want to see US theaters reopen, I hope and expect them to wait until it's safe rather than rush into reopening and then quickly shut them again.

My guess is that is what will happen, unless there’s a circumstance where the federal government is trying to make the case that it’s safer than medical experts and local governments are saying.

I think the business can come back in some form or another if they time it right. If they open too early and there’s a series of headlines about outbreaks at theaters, that could be catastrophic for their business. I hope and think they’re smart enough to recognize that.

 

[TravisR]

My guess is that is what will happen, unless there’s a circumstance where the federal government is trying to make the case that it’s safer than medical experts and local governments are saying.

I think the business can come back in some form or another if they time it right. If they open too early and there’s a series of headlines about outbreaks at theaters, that could be catastrophic for their business. I hope and think they’re smart enough to recognize that.

I'm a cynic so I think businesses will be cautious of reopening and go with the recommendations of governors (who will also be very cautious) in order to avoid lawsuits. I guess I should just be glad of the outcome of hopefully less people getting sick rather than companies' financial motives.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The other thing at play here is that the theaters can't reopen on their own. I mean, technically they can open the buildings on their own, but they need to have movies to screen. So it's not only when they want to reopen, but when (and what) the studios are comfortable programming. This is a little different from China, where the government actually controls what movies can be released and when. Hopefully, the studios and theaters here will keep each other honest about when it is time to reopen, because they each need the other in order to continue to be successful.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wasn't sure where to put this, given that it's not exactly box office since theaters are closed. But it is numbers and business-related, so I figured this would be the best thread anyway. Deadline has an article about how, or if, Universal can make money on Trolls World Tour given that it is skipping a wide theatrical release and going directly to VOD. Obviously, a traditional theatrical release is not an option right now, but Universal could have chosen to delay it, as they did with Fast 9 and Minions.

https://deadline.com/2020/04/trolls...vie-profits-universal-coronavirus-1202903913/

As with Universal's other recent VOD offerings that did go to theaters but had their releases stopped early due to the coronavirus, the price for a 48-hour rental of Trolls is $19.99.

The thing to me that is odd about this is that $19.99 is also the price for several new release movies for purchase. I wonder if there will be some families who see that the new Trolls is available and buy it, assuming from the price point that they are making a purchase. That would be their mistake but it would not be a completely unreasonable one, and it could risk ticking a lot of people off when they realize that their access to the movie is gone two days later. Then at some point down the line when Universal eventually decides to make it available for purchase, will people want to pay, again, the same amount of money to buy it as the original rental cost?

On the other hand, Disney made Onward available early on digital for $19.99 for a purchase, and I personally feel like that's a better value. I didn't buy it because I already have the steelbook pre-ordered, but if I were interested in making a purely digital purchase, I would certainly have done that already.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t think it’s a financially viable strategy for studios to hold everything indefinitely. There is no clear indication for when things will open worldwide, whether the openings will be in waves or all at once, what the audience will be, and whether resurgences of the virus will force a second wave of closures and stay at home orders.

Universal has lost revenue sources in this time; not only have their feature incomes vanished but their theme parks are also closed. They’ve been paying their employees to not work for weeks but that can’t go on indefinitely.

Companies generally don’t have unlimited cash on hand.

If they release Trolls to VOD, they can immediately use the income it generates. They can also look at what the previous film made theatrically, and if the VOD numbers are less, they can take a tax write-down on the difference. If they have a whole bunch of product sitting on the shelf that they make no effort to release, they’re not generating income but can’t claim a loss either.

Brand engagement is important too. While I don’t expect Disney to put Black Widow out immediately, if it starts looking like this could go on for the rest of the year, they make make a calculated decision that it’s better to keep their audience engaged at break-even numbers rather than letting a franchise that used to have new entries every four months or so go dormant for a full year.

At a certain point, you can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and these companies do need to generate some kind of revenue if they are to stay open in some form. If you’re Universal, you lost your theatrical revenue and your park revenue, your parent company Comcast has lost revenue from companies that use its internet connectivity, and your sister company NBC has lost revenue from broadcast programming that’s been put on hold like Olympics.

I think there are other considerations at play here besides whether in a perfect world a theatrical debut would be most ideal.