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Yeah I think theatres are dead too. I'm going to miss it because some movies are great experiences like Star Trek. I do really like the idea of new movies coming out on streaming though. I think I read somewhere that HBO will have 4K HDR as well.
 
HBO / Warner should have the balls to say it like it is - what's happening to cinemas is exactly the same as what happened to music stores. Everyone moaned when iTunes arrived and the same is happening now. This isn't temporary by any means and they know it.

Except that regardless of where you get your music - traditional store, iTunes, etc. - doesn't fundamentally change your listening experience. Watching a streaming movie at home is very different from a theater.
 
I think you are right. And instead of paying high prices for the cinema, we get to do the same thing streaming. I have a HBO Max subscription for which I pay $5 a month for. I will use that to watch new releases or wait until it hits Apple’s rental for $1.00, or Amazon etc.

In my case, with AT&T Fiber including HBO Max, it's not even $5/mo. Score! :D

HBO / Warner should have the balls to say it like it is - what's happening to cinemas is exactly the same as what happened to music stores. Everyone moaned when iTunes arrived and the same is happening now. This isn't temporary by any means and they know it.

RIP theaters.
Yes - the paradigm has been shifting for a while now.

To a degree theaters have been responding - stuff like Studio Movie Grill providing more of an "going out" experience than buying a greasy bag of stale popcorn from a disinterested teenager.

I also don't think all theaters will go tango-uniform - but there will definitely be fewer.
 
Yeah. Certainly bad news for cinemas who are being delt a double blow - by both the pandemic and now studios turning their backs on them right when they will be trying to recover.

Studios may end up regretting it, though. In the long run, will streaming revenue be enough to make up for what is lost from cinemas? In general, I don’t think customers are willing to pay quite as much for streaming content as they do for cinema tickets. Not the same experience.
I share your sentiments, but think there is a path forward. I would be willing to pay a surcharge for a first run movie. Say an extra $5 a film, just not the $29s Disney+ was charging for Mulan. Going to the cinema for me in the future, will be for an experience. Like seeing Dune at a Dolby Cinema.
 
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Not a great sign for antitrust.

If, by the original doctrine, studios can’t own theaters, they also shouldn’t own streaming services.
 
Yeah I think theatres are dead too. I'm going to miss it because some movies are great experiences like Star Trek. I do really like the idea of new movies coming out on streaming though. I think I read somewhere that HBO will have 4K HDR as well.
Theatre's will still have their place I reckon, they just have to change & adapt, maybe get a ticket which includes the digital purchase of the film? Elsewhere 'niche' providers such as IMAX will still have their space.
 
Perfect for me. I prefer watching at home. I don't really go to movie theatres much. Expensive, too many annoying people, and crowds. The last movie I saw in a theatre was Star Wars: The Last Jedi :p
 
No HBO Max here in Canada, cinemas are closing in Ontario in certain spots due to lock-downs so no way of watching it here. They are only releasing it in cinemas in Canada on initial release, I was hoping they would have figured something out so we could watch it at home here. Thanks for nothing Warner Bros.
 
This will be the future.
Big summer blockbusters are a thing on the past.
Studios will scale film budgets knowing that they will either go straight onto or very quickly onto VOD.

I don't think we will see $100's of millions spent on films anymore.

Which in one way could be good.
Studios might take a chance on smaller independent films, new fresh actors or directors.

I think some of the salaries actors ask for will be a tall order when factoring in lack of ticket sales and Covid related expenses.

-AE
 
It's about time.
Many years ago I wondered why movies were not released to a "name of distributor" app for $40 on the day it gets released in the theater. Some people just cannot make it to a theatre (my aging parents for example, yet they have money to spend on new release movies). Start getting data and to see where your audience is. Damn world is still so stuck in their old habits.

Next rant: gas tax Vs the obvious transition to electric vehicles
 
... I think I read somewhere that HBO will have 4K HDR as well.
I have been on the lookout for this, especially since the announcement of WW84, but haven't seen anything more definite than "4K is on the roadmap". Any chance you recall what/where you read this, and if it's more definite than that?
 
People are social creatures. There’s a reason live concerts and sports still sell out stadiums. Many theater chains will die from this pandemic but there will be a resurgence when it’s safe again.
How much of it is due to scarcity though? I pay to watch my favourite artistes perform live because that's the only way I can catch them in action (barring watching low-res portrait-mode fancams on YouTube afterwards). Do a live stream of a live Taylor Swift concert. Make it pay per view or something. Let's see how many people would watch from home than brave the crazy crowds.

That said, I am not sure how sustainable this trend is. It works right now because Warner has already sunk all that money into making these films. Distributing them via a streaming service is unlikely to be anywhere near as profitable as screening them in cinemas, but given that this is not going to be an option next year, it's better than nothing. Warner is simply making the best of a bad situation.

What happens afterwards? We still have no word of the fate of the Black Widow movie. Streaming is still viable for a mid-budget show like Falcon and Winter Soldier or that Scarlet Witch TV series (because they probably don't have the mass appeal to do well enough financially at the box office). But what about major productions like the next Avengers movie?

I do believe cinemas will become the next video arcades. I may still go into one from time to time, and then I come out wondering why I even bothered in the first place. Only question is what happens to the big blockbuster movies. Their business model will clearly need to be rethought.
 
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Great way for HBO Max to gain market share in the streaming sector. They can't hold on the movies forever. I'm sure most of them are financed costing millions of dollars a month in finance charges.
 
We have this service included with our AT&T cell service, and I like it a lot. I like Wonder Woman 1984 is coming out on HBO Max on Christmas Day, that’s pretty cool.
 
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Looks like I may need to think about canceling Netflix and getting HBO Max.
And doing the sub then cancel thing with Netflix for shows like Stranger Things.
There are still movies I rather go to the theater for like Top Gun2 and some times it's just good to have a date night but my biggest pet peeve about theaters is people and their dang cell phone which is why I try to go on the odd day, early matinee and not on opening day
 
HBO / Warner should have the balls to say it like it is - what's happening to cinemas is exactly the same as what happened to music stores. Everyone moaned when iTunes arrived and the same is happening now. This isn't temporary by any means and they know it.
I doubt that.
Buying music is no where near the same as watching a first run movie in a theater.

Online music replaced physical album sales.
Streaming and in demand video, killed video rental stores.
Theater money still blows away any revenue generated by streaming platforms.
No streaming platform will ever generate millions of dollars in a single weekend like a blockbuster theater release.
 
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A subscription service to watch first run movies? Ill pass on that.

Id much rather go to a theater, buy some popcorn, and pay a cheaper ticket price.
 
ATT customers can get this free - that a nice little perk.

The number of businesses we are going to kill through this insane over reaction is truly mind boggling. The beautiful Alamo theater down the street they build last year is shuttered. Thanks for the govt admin for getting that vaccine done quickly - hopefully once it is out there we can stop acting crazy and some of these businesses might be recovered. Truly heartbreaking for the theaters.
 
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This will be the future.
Big summer blockbusters are a thing on the past.
Studios will scale film budgets knowing that they will either go straight onto or very quickly onto VOD.

I don't think we will see $100's of millions spent on films anymore.

Which in one way could be good.
Studios might take a chance on smaller independent films, new fresh actors or directors.

I think some of the salaries actors ask for will be a tall order when factoring in lack of ticket sales and Covid related expenses.

-AE
This. Just re-watched One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (saw it in the theater when it was released). So amazing and disturbing, and done with a budget of $3 million. One of Milos' first films in the U.S.
 
THE MATRIX 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad it's not until the very end of next year. I've been impressed with HBO Max though, they have a lot of content that doesn't seem to be elsewhere. I think they're the very first streaming service, even including rentals, to ever have all of the Studio Ghibli films available.
 
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