Warner Bros. Discovery continues to reverse its entire strategy with the intention of reducing the debt inherited from the WarnerMedia era and correcting what David Zaslav, the company’s new CEO, considers mistakes of the past. Among these mistakes we find spending millions of dollars on a DC movie, ‘Batgirl’, to launch it directly on HBO Max. That’s why they decided to cancel it (despite being shot) and to recover part of the investment. Zaslav also noted that the company’s priority from now on will once again be cinemas, with streaming as another way to leverage its films, but not the priority..
In this sense, everything points to the end of the 45-day window. Former WarnerMedia boss Jason Killar didn’t make many friends when he promised all 2021 Warner Bros. movies would be released the same day in theaters and on HBO Max. Professionals like Denis Villeneuve or Christopher Nolan have harshly criticized this measure. Nolan came to break years of collaboration and go with the competition, Universal Pictures, to launch ‘Oppenheimer’. Killar later announced that the studio’s films would have a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window, then would enter the HBO Max catalog.. This has been the case with titles like “The Batman” or “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”.
But it seems that even this measure is not to David Zaslav’s liking and he plans to change it already starting with ‘Elvis’. Baz Luhrmann’s film was released on June 24 in several countries, including Spain and the United States. Following the 45-day rule, it should arrive on HBO Max on August 9th, and in fact the digital rental pages have announced it for that day. However, Warner sources have confirmed to IndieWire that “Elvis” will not be added to the HBO Max catalog that day.
It will be decided film by film
As confirmed to Decider, Warner Bros. Discovery’s strategy on the release date of Warner movies on HBO Max will go from 45 days to study on a case-by-case basis when is the best time to launch it as a streaming subscription. “Elvis” will arrive on HBO Max, but it will be later. In Spain it has not been announced when we will be able to enjoy the Austin Butler movie for digital rental or on HBO Max, but it is still in theaters and on Friday, August 5, it was still in the top 10 in the office pits, according to data from Comscore.
With this decision, the company eliminates Jason Killar’s controversial “Popcorn Project” altogether and gives his films a little more flexibility. Of course, the 45-day window may be short in some cases, like “The Batman,” which was still doing well at the box office when it premiered in streaming. In Spain, for example, cinemas have asked to standardize a window of exclusivity of 100 days for the big screen before moving on to video on demand.. Other platforms, such as Disney +, continue with the 45-day policy. The latest to do so was “Lightyear” and “Thor: Love and Thunder” is expected to arrive on the Disney streaming platform on August 19th if this dynamic continues.
Source: E Cartelera
