Warner Bros. created a controversy in Hollywood by announcing their 2021 movie slate to be simultaneously available through HBO Max at the same time each movie hits theaters worldwide.
During UBS Global conference held recently, journalists asked exactly that from Viacom President & CEO Bob Bakish. The company is set to rebrand their CBS AllAccess streaming channel as Paramount+, featuring more movies from Paramount Pictures’ slate.
The response from Mr. Bakish is an interesting one. He stated that 4 Paramount movies out of 12 which will hit heaters next year, will not be hitting TV screens as VOD. At least not immediately.
A Quiet Place: Part 2, Top Gun: Maverick, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and Mission: Impossible 7 are chosen as Franchise Films deemed too important to hit smaller screens.
“We have a great slate for ’21. We have 12 films on the docket. That’s led by 4 franchise films: Quiet Place, Part 2, which we had to pull at the last minute in ’20 when the pandemic set in. It’s a fantastic film; Top Gun: Maverick, which is the long-awaited sequel to the original. That film is amazing. We got Mission: Impossible 7, which actually finishing shooting up in Europe as we speak. And then we got a G.I. Joe film, Snake Eyes. So 4 of the 12 were really franchise films. So feeling very good about our product.” said Bob Bakish. “Obviously, we’re living in what we call ‘COVID rules’, and theaters are fundamentally not open at scale. And so what we’ve been doing, we’ve been really employing a range of tactics. One is we’ve obviously delayed some films. 3 of the 4 films I mentioned had public moving of dates as we wait for a better theatrical environment. At the same time, we’ve chosen to monetize some films with the streaming category. That was a way that we could sort of replicate longer-term economics in the current day and get a return on our investment.”
But he mentioned that the theatrical window for the aforementioned Franchise Films will be shorter.
“So look, we’re doing a range of these things. As we look at it and look to emerging from this COVID world, it’s pretty clear that the theatrical windows will evolve and get shorter. I’ve said that for a while now, and I think that’s certainly going to be the case. I think there’s a role for theatrical. Particularly you think of a film like Top Gun, it would be a shame to watch it on a mobile phone because it really is an incredible spectacle.”
It is indeed great to hear that Paramount has faith in Snake Eyes to have a potential to make good revenue as a theatrical movie.
SilverOptimus says
News Post: Paramount Pictures Not Interested In Sending Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins To Streaming
Megastar says
So now the question is will fans risk their health over a film?
BenjaminXavier says
Honestly this makes sense. A GI Joe movie would just get lost in a streaming service after a week or so. Even Bill & Ted only had hype on social media for 2-3 weeks when it hit streaming.
BenjaminXavier says
sbartek1974 says
The question is, will movie theaters be closed down and a thing if the past once the movie comes out?
Caravankidd says
It has some logic to it.
Right now we aren't totally sure how quickly the vaccines can get to a point that people will feel safe with going back to the movie theaters. But if the roll out goes well and people feel confident there might be a bit of pent up demand as people want to rush back to something that feels normal. Returning movie goers are going to need something to watch.
I know Warner Brothers feel like movie can push their streaming service but it seems like on going series are what draw people into a streaming service and keep them there. You watch the movie you wanted to see then you just drop the streaming service. If you get hooked on different series you tend to stay. So the GI Joe film isn't going to make the new streaming service.
And hey if things don't work out streaming would always be an option later on.
Cobra Agent 66 says
Yeah I'm tired of streaming, theater for me.
Megastar says
The question is, will movie theaters be closed down and a thing if the past once the movie comes out?
Josh Z says
DDDYKI says
Then I guess I'm waiting for the conventional VOD/streaming release. I wonder if the studios are smart enough to realize that box office draws will be down considerably across the board and that there won't be any $50/100M+ opening weekend performances for a long time.
Keep reading: Paramount Pictures Not Interested In Sending Snake Eyes To Streaming - Page 2
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