WarnerMedia's decision to release its full 2021 film slate on the HBO Max streaming service and in theaters simultaneously may have sparked a bit of controversy within the film industry but it has also resulted in some unexpected benefits for a rival studio. Sony Pictures is indicating that they have seen a significant increase in filmmakers that have expressed more interest in working with them following the polarizing WarnerMedia announcement.
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquera revealed during an interview with "CNBC", coming to us via "The Verge", that Warner Bros.' new release strategy has made more filmmakers interested in working with their studio:
"After the Warner Bros. announcement, it's been a bit of a boom for us because it's made dating our movies next year somewhat easier. But the real benefit has been the number of incoming calls from talent, creators, actors, and directors to us saying, 'We want to be doing business with you because we know you're a theatrical distributor and producer.' That has worked very well for us."
Warner Bros.' release strategy with HBO Max has resulted in a lot of anger from filmmakers and other talent alike, despite the fact that streaming is clearly coming into the forefront in the wake of the pandemic. For many filmmakers, theaters still represent the holy grail of the movie-watching experience and it's how they have intended their projects to be seen. High-profile filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins, and Denis Villeneuve have all publicly made their opposition to having their films streamed directly online very clear in the weeks since the announcement was made.
Production partners associated with Warner Bros. are also not happy about the move since the box office is where films make most of their money. Legendary Entertainment reportedly has been ready to take the studio to court over the news that Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune, which were primarily financed by Legendary, were also being sent directly to HBO Max on the same day as their theatrical launch. In the case of Dune, there are reports that Warner Bros. could very well make it an exclusive theatrical launch rather than embarking on the HBO Max release strategy due to the controversy.
Sony Pictures is enticing to many filmmakers because they don't have a streaming service that would make this kind of release strategy viable. For the time being, the studio has remained committed to offering a theatrical release window in which their films are shown exclusively in theaters. The duration of that window is subject to change, according to Vinciquerra, depending on whether a movie is deemed to be more suited to the big screen or the small screen, via a PVOD launch.
"We're not changing course to any big degree. We do think windows will become much more flexible and we're thankful for that. We think that's good for the industry and a good thing for our films. Some movies will do better with a short window and some movies will do better with a much longer window. Big budget films require the windows that are in the flow now and we will continue with that. Every film released will have an individual negotiation with the exhibitors. We think 30-day windows are probably the best."
Sony Pictures, which has Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man 3 all on deck, could very well see more talent coming their way in the wake of the Warner Bros. decision. It will be interesting to see how other studios begin to cater to filmmakers and take advantage of their desire to have their projects given the theatrical release they so desire. 2021 is shaping up to be pretty interesting.
Do YOU think filmmakers will continue to flock to other studios in the wake of the WarnerMedia HBO Max decision?