90-Day Theatrical Window Likely To Be A Thing Of The Past In The Post-COVID-19 World

90-Day Theatrical Window Likely To Be A Thing Of The Past In The Post-COVID-19 World

It's clear some big changes will be made to how movie releases are handled following the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new report suggests that the 90-day theatrical window will soon be a thing of the past...

By JoshWilding - Jun 02, 2020 02:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Black Widow
Source: Deadline

COVID-19 has had an impact on pretty much everything, and Hollywood has definitely undergone some significant changes. While theater chains have reacted with fury over the decision to have movies debut on Digital platforms during this period (AMC Theaters have banned future Universal Pictures releases after what happened with Trolls World Tour), it seems they'll be at the mercy of studios moving forward.

Deadline spoke to Wall Street Analyst Robert Fishman, and he believes that, "this time is different in that all of the major studios are likely to be more aggressive with windowing strategies."

"As long as multiple studios push forward with PVOD or some other form of window changes, the balance of power in favor of studios shifts even more in their favor and reduces the leverage the exhibitors have as they would be unlikely to boycott multiple studios’ upcoming releases." Now, theaters will just have to accept that the traditional 90-day theatrical window is a thing of the past.

Fishman believes that, "the standard 90-day 'dark period' between theatrical release and home video is an inefficient period that studios can no longer afford." As a result, he expects all the major studios to start experimenting with a shorter window between theatrical and Digital releases as they look to counter the fact 2020's domestic box office looks set to plunge by a massive 50%. 

While Black Widow is set to be released in theaters on November 6th, it sounds like we could end up being able to watch that movie at home sooner than you might think.

"While we still expect all of their tentpoles to premiere on the big screen, we think Disney could continue to be more aggressive in shortening the window between the theatrical debut and when the movie hits Disney+."

Needless to say, it's clear that things will never be the same again after COVID-19...

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Kumkani
Kumkani - 6/2/2020, 3:51 AM
So it was Covid-19 and not comic book movies that killed cinema
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 6/2/2020, 4:04 AM
I’m not buying it. Some Wall Street can claim whatever they want but we’re only talking about three months here. Not a year or two. A big movie plays in theaters for three months anyway. And then it gets released on digital anyway. Why would any huge corporation with plenty of money need to speed up the process? If you have enough money a dollar three months from now is a good as a dollar today. And if you are getting the same person seeing it in theaters and buying it digitally then all the better.

How short do they think they can make the windows? A month? How many people are going to see a movie in the theaters in the third weekend if it’s going to be released at home a week later? How many people who saw the movie the first two weeks and going to turn around and buy it two weeks later? It seems to me you are killing your whole business model.

I understand smaller movies with limited marketing budgets to want day and date theatrical and home release. But big studio releases? It just seems like they are cutting their feet out from under themselves.
LongMayHeReign
LongMayHeReign - 6/2/2020, 4:47 AM
@TheUnworthyThor - A 3 month wait could make a significant difference for the revenue of each quarter which would effect stock prices, so getting as much money as possible in a shorter amount of time is a factor.
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 6/2/2020, 4:58 AM
@LongMayHeReign - It just shifts when you get the revenue. Instead of getting the revenue from the home release of Rise of Skywalker and the theatrical release of Onward in the first quarter you get the revenue of the home and theatrical release lease of Onward in the first quarter and you got the revenue from the home release of Rise of Skywalker the previous quarter. Big whoop. That’s not a long term business strategy. That’s just shifting when you put the money on your books.
LongMayHeReign
LongMayHeReign - 6/2/2020, 5:06 AM
@TheUnworthyThor - Oh I know trust me, but stockholders can be fickle.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 6/2/2020, 4:07 AM
It was bound to change at some point. Never mind how alien the digital releases were when they were first introduced with DVD's as compared to now, it used to take movies forever to come out on VHS and subsequently DVD. Then it got down to three months later. Now sometimes less and less, with digital arriving yet 2 weeks earlier. Next thing you know, we'll see the movie before it's even written.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 6/2/2020, 4:17 AM
I usually try to watch every cbm in the theaters, did that for every MCU movie, but after Ant-Man & the Wasp...nah i'm good, i'll pick and choose now. :3

Tough love for Nat tho but

EskimoJ
EskimoJ - 6/2/2020, 6:43 AM
@Doomsday8888 - Of the CBMs that have released since Ant-Man & The Wasp, which ones did you see in theaters?
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 6/2/2020, 6:57 AM
@EskimoJ
As of right now, i saw every CBM (Marvel or DC)..in the theaters.
But now shit gotta change, with covid and all.
GothamSon
GothamSon - 6/2/2020, 4:54 AM
A '90-day window' must require a crap-load of glass
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 6/2/2020, 4:56 AM
I always thought 90 days was too long anyway. 2 months seems better to me.
Chewtoy
Chewtoy - 6/2/2020, 6:16 AM
I figured that this went without saying. Even if people return to cinemas without any significant reduction in numbers, the damage for this year and the next has already been done... delayed films are already stacking up on each other. They’re all going to have a short run as the latest thing before the next big film opens, and that will mean lower returns across the board. Because it was already generous to assume that audiences would come back in full... there is no way they decide to change their habits and go to the theater even more often.

So yeah, studios will look best recoup some of those loses via home release, and they’ve already all pledged to do what’s in the best interests of their films (aka themselves.)

And if things get back to normal in 2 years or more, I wouldn’t hold my breath on them changing video release patterns back to the way they were.
Beartastic25
Beartastic25 - 6/2/2020, 6:23 AM
So are you telling me i'm going to have to pay for disney+ just to be able to see this movie? No thanks.
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