Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment's Wonka Arrives On Feb. 27 • It Is The Current Flavor Of Choice For Studio Film Asset Distribution

We see the new normal in studio distribution of film assets in Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment’s latest theatrical-to-physical media announcement.   Until the powers that be (studio executives) realize that this strategy is nearly as bad as streaming (at least it is transactional and doesn’t require millions of subscribers) it will be the 2024 distribution “normal.”

In this case it is director Paul King’s latest adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which hit the silver screen this time as just Wonka (starring Timothée Chalamet).

The new strategy, which is a direct result of the failure of the “Golden Age of Streaming” (2019 – 2023), is that a major studio production opens wide (3,000 to 4,000 screens … or more) and then four or five weeks into the run, while it is still drawing theatre-goers, it is offered as a premium VOD.   

Next, a physical media launch follows, but during this period — the time between the VOD launch and the subsequent arrive of DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD product offerings — the very sophisticated “helper” community churns out their own Blu-ray (primarily) and DVD editions to unsuspecting consumers.  They cut their chops on streaming and have instantly adapted to the premium VOD method of pristine master delivery.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his wife/film producing partner, Emma Thomas (she should be running a studio), banned this practice for Oppenheimer, but few others in the industry at just this moment have either the clout or the savvy to follow suit. 

So here is what Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has done with Wonka.   Following its successful theatrical launch on Dec. 15, they announced a premium VOD window for Jan. 30, just 46 days after the film opened.

A full spread of physical media product offerings (stand-alone 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD editions) will follow on Feb. 27, which gives “helpers” four full weeks to sell their own Blu-ray knockoffs.   

Note, they quickly pounced on this by offering Jan. 30 delivery dates for Blu-ray editions of Wonka.   Consumers might not realize they are buying pirated product — the packaging is profession and they have likely bought product from “certain sites” before and have been pleased with the results.   That doesn’t make it right, but that’s the marketplace that the major “Hollywood” studios have created with streaming and premium VOD.

For the record, the ARR for Wonka works out to 74 days (which is too quick) and box office receipts to date are an impressive $195 million, which makes King’s film a blockbuster.

As 2024 unfolds, you can expect to see some major adjustments to this short-sighted distribution model.   What those “adjustments” are remains to be seen, but look for a closing of the window between premium VOD and physical media dates — offering digital and physical media choices on a day/date basis.

Bonus goodies for Wonka, which are limited to the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray SKUs, include five featurettes — “Unwrapping Wonka: Paul King’s Vision,” “The Whimsical Music of Wonka,” “Welcome to Wonka Land,” “Hats Off to Wonka,” and “Wonka’s Chocolatier.”