Stopping the theatrical window in Europe prevents studios from strategizing

ONETwo years after the pandemic, one of the biggest debates in the film industry seems to be resolved.

Return to Old Fashioned Blockbusters: See Paramount Picture’s Supersonic Success Top Gun: Maverick ($900 million or more) and Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion, which is approaching $650 million worldwide, appears to have convinced studios of the value of an exclusive theatrical window. The move comes at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most movie theaters around the world closed and studios struggled to shoot their best movies on home platforms: Disney+, Warner’s HBO Max, Paramount. +. As soon as possible. Warner took this digital mantra even further and released the entire 2021 movie, including the blockbusters. Dune s The Resurrection of the MatrixSimultaneous day and date in theaters and on HBO Max in the US.

then came bat Man. Warner Bros.’s first film. In over a year of being released exclusively in theaters, Robert Pattinson’s superhero remake has grossed $760 million worldwide, of which nearly $370 million came from the domestic market. MGM’s success in film There’s no time to say.and ($774 million worldwide), Disney’s Dr. Strange in many worlds of madness ($933 million) and Sony Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.9 billion) – Theatrical Archers Exclusive – appears to have settled the argument that the theatrical window strengthens the box office and increases the momentum for the film’s final broadcast.

“There’s no doubt that moviegoers want to go back to the cinema to see a great movie,” said Tim Richards, CEO of VUE International, a film crew that operates about 2,000 screens in nine international markets.

“It’s proven to be very difficult to launch a big franchise on a streaming service, which is one of the reasons Wall Street didn’t like subscription services,” says Richards. “Can you imagine seeing best weapon ANY Spider man Instead of a big screen on a streamer?

Studios and exhibitions found common ground along the theatrical window, an obstacle to negotiations for a long time. If the 75-90 day window was standard before the pandemic, now the waiting period between a movie’s release and an online arc is typically around 45 days in the US. “We all agree on that,” Richards said. “I don’t see any more discussion about the future of the window.”

But France and Italy are different. At Europe’s two biggest cash registers, the new battles for windows were in full swing, as the industry depended on them elsewhere. Disney has announced that it will miss the animated film’s theatrical release on June 8 a strange world In France it was decided to release the film, which would be released in November, exclusively on Disney+. Explaining an unprecedented move in France for such a massive title, President of Disney France Elena Etz He cited local window laws, which he called “unfair” and “anti-consumer”.

Disney is protesting French regulation that not only implements a strict four-month exclusive movie window, but also puts pay-TV broadcasts in front of the broadcast window (movies that are released on pay-TV six months after their movie), meaning Disney wants to put French Wait 17 months before switching to Disney+. France, which is exclusively European, also has a strict free TV window, which means that studios have to remove new movies from streaming platforms for a period of time, typically 22 to 36 months after their theatrical release. , so they can be broadcast commercially only. TV.

For studios trying to use their blockbuster titles to build a global streaming business, French restrictions could hamper global distribution and marketing plans. Dr. Strange in many worlds of madnessFor example, it debuted on Disney+ everywhere on June 22, 48 days after its US debut. Everywhere except France where subscribers will have to wait until October 2023.

“For platforms, it might be cost-effective to skip French cinemas and switch directly to streaming,” he said. eric march, General Manager, France, Comscore Box Office Analysts. “Before, the idea of ​​studios exclusively streaming movies was just a threat, now Disney and a strange worldThe danger is real.”

March points out that Warner Bros., which will launch HBO Max in France in 2023, may also follow Disney. “Not every movie will be released in SVOD, but even if we’re talking about two or three movies a year from each studio, it’s missing 10-15 American movies from theaters, which could mean 15 million lost revenue. “It’s going to be a real blockbuster,” he says.

Disney could shorten the French movie streaming window for movies if it agrees to invest more money in French cinema. Netflix has done just that, promising to spend around $45 million a year on independent French films. In return, Netflix will have a shorter movie window and will be able to stream the movies it wants to release in France “only” 15 months later. In practice, these will likely be the only French films co-sponsored by Netflix that would, in any case, be released online only in most parts of the world.

“The French system is incredibly fair: if you pay more, you go first,” said Marc-Olivier Sebag, managing director of the French exhibition group FNCF. “Pay TV has a window before streaming, because [French pay TV group] Canal+ invests 200 million euros ($208 million) a year in French cinema. If Disney did that, they could jump the line. ”

Italy has traditionally taken a much more flexible approach. Films receiving state funding must adhere to strict window rules (there are currently 90 days between cinema and online arcs), but for non-Italian films, releases were considered on a case-by-case basis. Jane CampionOscar winner dog power s Paulo Sorrentinoyea God’s handBoth Netflix titles had a theatrical release in Italy in November before being released on Streamer a few weeks later.

But the Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschkin He stunned many industries in March when he announced plans for a law that would mandate a 90-day cinema window for all movies, including studio titles. The legislation, which has yet to be enacted, is an attempt to revive the Italian film industry, which is far from recovering from COVID. Even after theaters opened in 2021, audiences, especially older viewers, stayed away. According to the European Audiovisual Observatory Analysis Center, Italy was the only major European market with a drop in box office from 2020 to 2021, less than 12.2% of tickets sold. Last year, Italian cash registers were 75% below the 2019 pandemic rate.

By forcing studios to keep movies in theaters longer, Francine hopes to revive the local industry. The minister cited French rules, 15 to 17 months from theater to broadcast, as a model for Italy.

“This is absurd, real stupidity. It’s trying to protect one industry, cinema, by destroying another, through streaming,” she said. Pierluigi BernascoPresident of Univideo, an Italian home entertainment lobby group that includes Disney and Warner Bros. among its members.

In Italy, Bernasco points out the three best Hollywood performances of the past year: Spider-Man: No Way Home, there is no time for death s Dune – He won as much money as the Italian “Top 150” title. “Maybe Italy pays less attention to telling people where to watch movies and more to the movies that viewers want to watch,” he laughs.

The European markets where cinema windows are defined individually, such as the United Kingdom and Spain, are one of the fastest growing after the reopening of cinemas, which indicates that flexibility instead of strict regulation can be the best way.

“If you talk to most people in the industry, they don’t want longer windows because it won’t help theaters and it can hurt streaming, which is now a huge source of growth,” Jamie said. Ondarza, president of the Italian Union of Audiovisual Media Publishers, of which Disney, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Paramount Global are members. “ᲛᲔIf we create this artificially imposed theatrical window, it basically creates a window of exclusivity for another industry called piracy.

So far, in the struggle for stiffer and longer theatrical windows, France and Italy have stood out. Across Europe, in most countries, including the UK, Spain, Belgium and Denmark, studios and exhibitions can open windows in each case, or in places like Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, to repair windows for sponsored films only. state subsidies.

But studios shouldn’t underestimate the political power of local theater owners, especially if they are mobilizing anti-Hollywood sentiment.

“In France, there’s always the possibility that politicians will say, ‘America, go home, let’s protect our industry,’” Mart said. “And Disney, as a symbol of American cultural power, are wonderful villains.”

A version of this story appeared in the June 22 issue. the hollywood reporter Daily. Click here to subscribe.