Hollywood drama.
Warner Bros. Studios have decided that all of their films slated for 2021 in the United States, including the highly anticipated
Matrix 4
and
Dune
, will be released on their HBO Max video-on-demand platform alongside their theatrical release.
The production company thus intends to limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their activity.
Read also: The great silence of French actors in the face of the crisis
The announcement, which overturns industry codes and practices, testifies to the difficulty for Hollywood to adapt to the health crisis in the United States which has forced most of the country's cinemas to close.
For Jeff Bock, industry analyst for the specialist company Exhibitor Relations, it is quite simply the "
biggest earthquake the film industry has ever known
".
"
Warner has made a sharp turn that could change the industry forever,
" said the expert. "
We are living in an unprecedented period, which requires being creative to find solutions,
" said the CEO of Warner Bros. Ann Sarnoff in presenting this decision.
A decision for the moment reserved for the United States
It will only apply immediately to the United States, the HBO Max service is not available at this stage in other countries, where the Warner Bros catalog will normally be released in theaters next year. .
For several American observers, this bombastic announcement is also intended to revitalize the HBO Max platform, which suffered from a mixed launch across the Atlantic in May, reports the site
Le film français
.
The service is expected to be extended to certain countries in Latin America and Europe in the second half of 2021.
In mid-November, Warner had already announced that
Wonder Woman 1984
would be released in the United States simultaneously in theaters and streaming on Christmas Day, in an attempt to offset the impact of the pandemic that has rocked Hollywood and the schedule of super-productions. .
Experts expected
Wonder Woman to
be an exception to the rule, at least long enough to judge whether the operation was a success or not.
Traditionally, big Hollywood productions are only screened in theaters for 90 days before being broadcast on other media.
But the closure of cinemas in many American regions, including New York and Los Angeles, has forced distributors to find fallback solutions.
“
No one wants to see movies on the big screen more than us.
We know that new content brings screenings to theaters to life, but we have to take into account that most theaters in the United States are likely to operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021,
”argued Ann Sarnoff in his press release.
The
Tenet
lesson
Under this “
hybrid
”
business model
announced by Warner Bros., the new films will be available on HBO Max from the day of their theatrical release in the United States, and for a period of one month.
The decision is expected to affect at least 17 titles next year, including a "
prequel
" inspired by the
Sopranos
series
and a sequel to the DC superhero film
Suicide Squad
.
The biggest production is undoubtedly
Matrix 4
, sequel to the saga which has already grossed more than $ 1.6 billion in the world and for which Keanu Reeves will reprise his role as Neo.
Its release is scheduled for December 2021.
Another highly anticipated film,
Dune
, a new adaptation of the legendary science fiction novel published by Frank Herbert in 1965. The feature film directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Timothée Chalamet in the role of the hero Paul Atréides, was to be the highlight of the 2020 film season. But its release, initially scheduled for November, has already been postponed twice due to the health crisis.
Read also: Netflix well placed to hold a heist on the 2021 Oscars
Major Hollywood studios are desperate for ideas to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is having a heavy financial impact on the industry.
Warner had released
Tenet
in theaters this summer but had to settle for rather disappointing US receipts, marked by a bloodless box office.
Others have also started to postpone some of their streaming, such as Disney, which released its
Mulan
remake
on its Disney + platform in September.
Soul, the
latest production from Pixar Animation Studios, will air on the same platform in the United States on Christmas Day.
In France, the chronology of the media under the yoke of a reform
Warner and Disney have both completed their restructuring with their own video-on-demand platform and for analyst Jeff Bock, the health crisis could have profoundly accelerated a process already underway: the relegation of traditional cinemas to the background. of the economic model, behind streaming.
“
Now they're just the Robin alongside the Batman that is HBO Max,
” he says.
In France, the media chronology, which allows a film to be made available on video on demand at least three years after its release in the cinema, should protect for the moment dark rooms, the first losers from this change of system. .
Under discussion for several years, a reform of this rule could however see the light of day.
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot recently indicated in
Les Echos
that the government could relax the treatment reserved for Netflix and others if they invest in French cinema.
