Over the past couple of weeks, since the announcement that WarnerMedia is releasing all of the 2021 WB films on HBO Max the same day as in theaters, it appears that almost every filmmaker that has publicly spoken about the move has disagreed with the idea of collapsing the theatrical window. And those that understand the decision are still upset that WarnerMedia didn’t warn filmmakers before the announcement. This has led many to wonder if WB will find it difficult to earn back the trust in filmmakers. According to the CEO of Sony Pictures, that’s exactly what he’s seeing.
Speaking to CNBC, CEO Tony Vinciquerra was asked about the impact that the WB/HBO Max deal has made on the industry. And the Sony Pictures boss was quick to point out the benefits that his studio has seen from WB’s move.
“The real benefit has been the number of incoming calls from talent—from creators, from actors, from directors— to us saying, ‘We want to be doing business with you because we know you’re a theatrical distributor and producer,’” Vinciquerra said. “That has actually worked very well for us.”
Ouch. Apparently, those filmmakers concerned about how WB has treated its talent with this HBO Max announcement have been flocking to Sony (and presumably other studios that are promising theatrical releases). Of course, one of the added benefits of Sony, as opposed to Universal and Disney, for example, is that Vinciquerra’s studio doesn’t have a massive streaming platform that it’s trying to grow. Sony doesn’t have a Sony+, for example, that would make the idea of collapsing the windows even remotely interesting. In fact, we’ve seen Sony stay true to the idea of just delaying until theaters can support blockbuster business instead of rushing things to streaming.
And don’t expect Sony Pictures to change the way it does business. The studio is apparently very happy with the idea of theatrical exclusivity. Well, at least for 30 days.
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“I don’t think we’ll be in the day-and-date release business, no,” assured Vinciquerra. “We think a 30-day window is probably best.”
We’ll have to see when Sony is going to be willing to begin to release major films again. There are plenty in the pipeline that should have already hit theaters but have been delayed, such as “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Morbius,” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
