Stuck in limbo. That is the state of the theatrical marketplace these days, stagnant. Sure, better than last year, but showing no signs of returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The trendline for 2023 moved up two, from 510 to 512 as the projected number of new theatrical releases arriving at your local multiplex during 2023. The top two boxes ($25 million plus; $100 million plus) remain the same at a projected 64 films by the end of the year (pre-pandemic the number averaged 94).
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment finally picked a street date for the long-overdue home entertainment packaged media launch of director James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. The release date will be June 20.
Part of the delay could be attributed to where the studio desires to book the revenue for accounting purposes … last quarter or this quarter.
One of the reasons that the new theatrical venue is just bumping along is the obsession with taking major budget film productions and skipping theatres in favor of streaming.
A week ago, it was director Niki Caro’s The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez, going directly to Netflix. A little tight-lipped about how much was spent on making the film, but you’d have to guess $20 million or more just based on its profile.
This week the insanity was repeated with director Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Crater. This 21 Laps Entertainment/ Walt Disney Pictures sci-fi flick had a reported production budget north of $55 million. It skipped theatres and went right to Disney+.
Both The Mother and Crater were released on Blu-ray within hours by industry “helpers” after their first streaming windows. It’s hard to get back to 94 hit films annually when films such as these are fed pell-mell into the streaming grinder.
Consider the opposite approach by Sony Pictures. They are not in the streaming business per se (the Crunchyroll anime streaming platform aside), nor does the studio have legacy media (why Warner Bros. Discovery is hanging on to CNN is something of a mystery, but that’s neither here nor there) or legacy networks to deal with. They basically produce/acquire films and distribute them both theatrically and as home entertainment product offerings. They appear to have deals with both Netflix and Amazon Prime for streaming.
Sony Pictures makes money without the streaming-only obsession. They make money with a multi-platform approach that squares with the traditional “Promo, Better, Best” release sequence.
Sony Pictures "Promo, Better, Best" Pattern With Missing
Take for example the writing and directing team of Will Merrick and Nick Johnson’s rollout of Missing, starring Storm Reid. Industry trades suggest that the production budget was between $7 million and $10 million.
Instead of dropping it into the streaming vacuum, Missing opened theatrically in mid-January and grossed $35.5 million in the domestic marketplace (plus more overseas). There was a one-off VOD option in early March through Amazon Prime Video and on March 28, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on both DVD and Blu-ray.
This past week it began streaming on the Amazon Prime network … it made two “controlled” stops before streaming — theatres, where Sony Pictures shared in the revenue generated from tickets sales with exhibitors nationwide (which also builds awareness of the film) and then as physical media sales from both DVD and Blu-ray that followed (before being streamed).
That’s a profitable application of the “Promo, Better, Best” release pattern. Sony Pictures makes money.
Why does Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Crater have to skip the first two stops?
Look at it this way, you are running a movie theatre and you only sell tickets to see the movie. Is that smart? No, you sell soft drinks, popcorn, candy … why not wine and beer … hot dogs!!
Streamers should seriously consider stealing the “helper” model and adding it to their own. You want a copy of the movie on DVD or Blu-ray? No problem, manufactured to order … here’s the price.
Something to think about.
As to “helper” activity this past week, the big score was the Blu-ray launch of Universal Pictures mega-hit Super Mario Brothers Movie … more “helper” editions will soon follow.
Disney+, which was already targeted for “helper” copies of the aforementioned Crater, also got tagged for Muppets Mayhem - Season 1, Star Wars Visions - Season 2 and Salem: The Complete Series all on Blu-ray. Hallmark Entertainment was clipped for seven different films on DVD, including the Great American Family/Brad Krevoy production of Fall into Winter, marking Lori Loughlin’s return to the MOW arena.
We could go on and on … dozens of “helper” Blu-ray and DVD product offerings, filling the voids left by rights owners not being on top of things. Netflix, Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime all were sources, even Screen Media Films’ Songbird got some Blu-ray “help” and director George Tillman Jr.’s Big George Foreman (Sony Pictures) also got a little “help” on the Blu-ray front.
Next week it will be a whole new list!!
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