Cinemas continue to suffer the consequences of the pandemic. Although the spectators have gradually returned, not all of them have returned (the adult audience still does not return to the cinema with the level of once upon a time) nor to all the films (the only ones that make an impression as before are the film event and the cinema family). The situation is still very delicate. As proof, the recent closure of the Conde Duque Santa Engracia and Bravo Murillo cinemas in Madrid, leaving the center of the capital with fewer and fewer theaters.
From the Federation of Cinemas of Spain, they ask that one of the main consequences of the pandemic be addressed: the reduction of the window of exclusivity of the big screen. Before the arrival of the coronavirus and the rise of streaming platforms, films could only be shown in theaters for about four months. From there it went on to a few more months in which it could also be launched for sale or for rent in home or digital format. Therefore, they didn’t reach streaming platforms until about seven months after their theatrical release. However, with theaters closed and subsequently reduced in capacity, distributors have begun to reduce that window to a standard that is now 45 days, just a month and a half after its theatrical release.. For exhibitors it is too short a window “hinders the exploitation of films in theaters”That “delays the recovery of the sector” and that confuses the viewer, who does not know if a film is coming to the cinema or in streaming. From FECE they point out this misinformation as “one of the main obstacles the industry is facing when it comes to getting viewers back to the cinema”.
That’s why they called for a new standard in the distribution calendar that marks the first 100 days of the film’s premiere being exclusive to theaters.. Exhibitors point out that the window of exclusivity was up to the pandemic “a successful model, beneficial to the film industry as a whole”. Spain would not be the first to implement such a measure. Italy recently approved a 90-day exclusivity window for e France has the most favorable regulations for theaters with a 15 month exclusivity window.
Advantages and disadvantages
Widening the window of exclusivity in cinemas would undoubtedly give a greater feeling that if we want to see a movie, we have to see it there. Ever since distributors like Warner Bros. or Disney took advantage of the 45-day window, it often seems like a movie’s useful life on the big screen gets shorter by hitting streaming platforms too soon. But this change would also pose logistical problems for studios that have promised their streaming clients that their films will be available on platforms 45 days after their theatrical release. Disney, for example, has threatened not to release its next animated film, “Strange World,” in French theaters, as it cannot be released 45 days later on Disney +.. The French exhibitors, of course, have shouted to the sky because it leaves them without one of the great merits of the Christmas period. There is also another problem: as these are international platforms, they will not be able to prevent the movies from streaming 45 days after their premiere in other countries, so they would start circulating illegally on the Internet before the 100-day window expires. . The film industry is still in a very changing but also critical moment. The average collection of theaters decreased by 42% compared to the years before the pandemic, so it is still imperative to find solutions for cinemas to return to having a strength as close as possible to before the coronavirus.
Source: E Cartelera
