Many of you already know this, but the North American production company Warner Bros is in the process of shaking up cinema and its consumption worldwide, especially in France.
Disney’s Experimentation
With the current health situation, all cinemas in affected countries have been forced to close their doors to slow the spread of the virus. Moreover, all productions have been postponed by almost a year. It is at this moment that a major player in the film industry begins its revolution. With its live-action adaptation of Mulan, Disney made the bold choice not to release the feature film on the big screen (except in China) and to offer it directly on its Disney + platform. In France, the movie is available at no extra cost to all subscribers. Across the Atlantic, Mulan was offered for $29.99 and was purchased by over 9 million users, amounting to $261 million. It’s enough to make your head spin when you know that no costs are involved in the equation, and 100% of the profits go to the company with the big ears. This unexpected success has motivated another player to head in this direction.
Warner Bros raises the stakes with its entire catalog
Next spring, Warner announced in a statement that their streaming platform HBO MAX is going to offer a revolutionary service in its form. Their entire lineup of future releases will be available simultaneously in theaters and streaming. This may seem unreal, but viewers will have the choice between going to a dark theater or staying at home on their TV, computer, or smartphone. In 2021, the blockbusters Dune and Matrix 4 will be the flag bearers of this project in the United States.
But it will not unfold this way in France. The media timeline means that a movie released in theaters must wait three years before appearing on SVOD platforms. Often criticized in recent years, this rule could save our cinemas. Because Warner Bros will have to make a difficult choice.
First case: Release the movie in theaters and wait 3 years to exploit it on HBO MAX.
Second case: Release the movie on HBO MAX and forgo the cinematic market.
The future situation is both exciting and frightening. It’s always a good thing when a new innovation or idea brings more consumption choices. But in this specific case, we are in a form of unfair competition. The simultaneity will pose a simple question to the user. Pay 15 euros a month for Dune (or Matrix 4) with the entire Warner Bros catalog in addition, or pay 8-10 euros for a single movie ticket.
We will see how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks and months, but this new way of consuming films is likely to deal a heavy blow to the cinema industry in France and worldwide.
