It seems Warner Bros. will soon begin to move away from its simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release strategy, as the studio has struck a deal with AMC Theatres to return to an exclusive, 45-day theatrical window in 2022.
“We’re especially pleased Warner Bros. has decided to move away from day-and-date,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron during an earnings call. “We are in active dialogue with every major studio.”
WarnerMedia's decision to debut WB's entire 2021 slate in theaters and on streaming at the same time did not sit well with cinema operators, and the company even faced backlash from some of the filmmakers involved. In some respects, it was an understandable response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and while rising cases due to the Delta Variant are still a concern, it sounds like at least one major studio is expecting things to have returned to some semblance of normality by next year.
Making tentpole releases available to stream for no extra costs to subscribers was always going to negatively impact box office takings, with James Gunn's The Suicide Squad the latest to underperform with a disappointing $26M opening weekend in the U.S.
Disney took a similar approach, of course, but the additional $30 Disney+ Premiere Access fee does seem to have made at least some difference (though Black Widow did suffer a massive second weekend drop).
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.