The New Normal For Movies (And How We Got Here)

  So with the pandemic seemingly coming to a close, for now (at least here in the US), we seem to be entering a whole new era for, well, pretty much everything! But specifically, we seem to be entering a whole new era of moviegoing. The fact that Black Widow just made $80 million at the box office and $60 million via streaming during its opening weekend pretty much says it all… But as we start looking towards the future of theaters, I figured it’d be worth taking a look at how we got to where we’re at now in the first place:

When I was a kid in the 2000’s, movies used to play in theaters for a few months (usually 90 days, but it varies from film to film), and then disappear altogether for another few months, before finally arriving on home video (cassette, DVD, blu-ray, VOD, etc.). Then some time in the mid 2010’s, for one reason or another, the time between the end of a movie’s theatrical run and it’s arrival on streaming/home video seemingly disappeared, allowing for films to arrive at home pretty much as soon as they were done with their 90-day theatrical run… That was the norm until 2020 came along and, well, you know what happened there…

And as a result, throughout the last year or so, movie studios began experimenting with “alternate methods” of theatrical-and-streaming hybrid releases (no sense in talking about home video, as physical media is on it’s way out). Warner Bros. shocked the whole world by announcing that their entire 2021 slate of films would be released in theaters and for free at the same time on their new streaming service, HBO Max. Meanwhile, Universal proposed a two-week-only window for theaters, to be followed immediately afterwards by streaming (again, for free). Around that same time, Disney pissed all of their consumers off by announcing that they would have to pay an extra $30 on top of their regular subscription fee if they wanted to watch new films at home while they were still running in theaters for 90 days. And Sony, being who they are, just delayed pretty much all of their films indefinitely, and sold a handful of them here and there to Netflix, before announcing a post-theater exclusive deal with them going forward.

But what most people may have missed during this crazy time is that, in the midst of all of that, an old, failing studio called Paramount announced that they were pursuing a 45-day window in theaters, to be followed immediately after by free streaming on their new streaming service, Paramount+ (side note: isn’t it ironic that all of these studios launched their new streaming platforms pretty much right as the pandemic got going?). In other words, they proposed to take the standard time slot that had already been in place before the pandemic, and simply just “cut it in half.”

So now that the pandemic (or this wave of it) is winding down (again, at least domestically), where do movies stand? Well, Warner Bros. has already announced that, starting in 2022, they’ll also be shifting to a 45-day window in theaters, followed right after by free streaming, and Disney has already announced that they’ll be adopting that same exact model before the end of this year even (starting with both Fox’s Free Guy and Marvel’s Shang-Chi). And while it’s not 100% confirmed yet, both Universal and Sony are reportedly expected to also shift to this model some time in the near future… Ladies and gentlemen, we have our new normal!

And to be fair, this was already inevitable as far back as late May of this year, but there’s one particular aspect of all this that I find interesting, and yet not many outlets seem to be discussing it: What major film studio started this trend? Paramount. And before the pandemic, what major film studio was seemingly doing the worst out of them all? Once again, Paramount. The only two major franchises they had left, Transformers and Mission: Impossible, weren’t making the billions that Universal’s Fast & Furious was, let alone WB’s DC and Disney’s Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, etc. As a matter of fact, parent company Viacom even went as far as getting rid of Paramount’s CEO just a few years ago (apparently over his creative decisions), and merging with CBS not too long after.

I suppose I just find it ironic that the company that was most expected to fall apart back in “the old world” is now the one setting the new path for everyone else to follow. And regardless of whatever ends up happening to CBS/Viacom/Paramount in the long run, at least they can now claim to be the new “trend setters,” and add that to their legacy. Again, this isn’t really “major news,” but just something that I felt was worth mentioning, is all.

On a semi-related note; I’m happy with this new normal for the theater-to-streaming experience. I think it’s a good compromise for all parties involved. Movie buffs like me can still catch films in theaters and get that otherworldly “experience,” and people who would rather wait to watch these things at home can do just that, and don’t even have to wait as long now.

That all being said, one question still remains; will theaters (particularly multiplexes) be able to survive with this new model? Personally, I think so. As I’ve said before, smaller chains (aka “town theaters”) may die out, but that was already an inevitability before the pandemic. Furthermore, movies tend to make most of their box office revenue during their first few weeks in theaters anyways, and “art houses” will most likely survive due to the fact that they’re already a niche market to begin with.

Major studios might still take a hit from all of this, but I don’t really see that as a bad thing. If history is anything to go by, a lack of money and resources can often lead to more creativity and “thinking outside the box,” so to speak.

I could end up being wrong about all of this, but as of right now, I’m optimistic for the future…

Peace!

Note from 2023: Looks like we’re back to the 90-day window now, so I guess this post was actually a waste…