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Movie Releases in a COVID world

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‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ hits cinemas and on-demand September 1st

 
You can see it in a cinema, or at home, dude.

Right now, it’s not a smart move to visit a theater, what with the whole deadly pandemic that’s easily spread in dark rooms with air conditioning. That’s why Orion is releasing Bill & Ted Face the Music both in cinemas (for the brave) and on-demand at the same time. On September 1st, the film will hit any willing theater, as well as pay-per-view. Party on (at home), dude.

The hybrid approach has long been resisted by theaters, who feel exclusivity is the only thing keeping their businesses afloat. Universal, which had a slate of summer movies cancelled thanks to COVID-19, took its catalog to on-demand. That included Emma, The Invisible Man and Trolls: World Tour, with the rumors suggesting that while returns were modest, the releases were more profitable than if they’d been in cinemas.

Universal’s decision to go on-demand was met with fury by exhibitors like AMC, which is one of the world’s biggest theater chains. In response to Universal’s move, the company said that it would no longer exhibit the studio’s movies that had simultaneous releases. Of course, the Comcast-owned Universal probably doesn’t need the blessing of theater chains any more, given how many platforms it has to sell you things, including Comcast cable, Peacock, Vudu and, in Europe, Sky and Now TV.

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Sorry, couldn't resist posting a baby face Keanu Reeves photo :D

 

The streaming services are starting to take over new movie releases.  Does anyone else think this may not be a temporary thing?

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Lainey posted similar things today (well, that article was probably written by the film reviewer, Sarah) and she's been saying it for a while. Academy "temporarily" changed its eligibility rules this year so movies released streaming are eligible for Oscars.....

I'll find the article & link because she has some good points about what kinds of movies will probably always want a cinematic release vs PVOD etc. I haven't been to a theater in over 10 years - and maybe only a couple of times the 5 years before that. The fact we have somewhat better internet at home now (rural living ;-) and I actually CAN stream now makes me happy - in the old days, I bought the dvd at Costco or on Amazon or just waited for it to come to cable....We've done a couple movies on DirecTV - not sure why we haven't watched more that way, but there you are....

https://www.laineygossip.com/bill-and-ted-face-the-music-will-open-september-first-theaters-and-pvod/66705

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I also am not going to be willing to go to a theater until this thing is completely under control. But, we really only go for Star Wars movies, or things we really want to see on the big screen, like the new Halloween, so we really have only gone a couple times of year anyway. And I only go to AMC's with dine-in and drinks. lol I like the whole experience if I'm going to bother spending that much money anyway. I think theaters will eventually come back, but with limited movies and with more theaters treating it like an "experience." I think there will be far more movies on streaming services. Things were going in that direction anyway, but the pandemic has definitely sped that up in a major way.

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I would love to see 2 kinds of movie theaters post-pandemic: the luxury, and the very very basic. I want the luxury with reserved seats, food, bar svc etc. And I want a return to the cheap theater - where you can get $1 or $2 matinees or afternoon shows, so low income kids who might not have streaming tech at home, or even a/c! could go and see something new-ish. I'm not holding my breath - that's not a great business model these days - but I worry a lot about people without $ access.....

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