Earlier today, it was announced that ViacomCBS is spending $900 million to keep Trey Parker and Matt Stone around to make a ton of “South Park” content (14 films plus more seasons of the series, to be exact). Obviously, this is because ViacomCBS is desperate to make the Paramount+ streaming platform into a serious contender. And another huge part of that process is going to be with blockbuster films, which means the shortened theatrical release window is here to stay, according to the studio’s CEO.
Speaking as part of the recent earnings call (via Deadline), ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish not only admitted that the rising COVID cases might still impact film release strategies, but also that the 45-day theatrical window is here to stay.
“The [COVID] situation is a bit fluid,” Bakish said. “As a general principle, we do like the 45-day fast follow theatrical to [Paramount+ strategy]. That is the overall direction we’d like to go over time. But we’ve got to look at each title in this pandemic and figure out what is the right strategy.”
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As we saw with “A Quiet Place Part II,” the strategy is to release films in theaters exclusively for 45 days before shifting them to Paramount+ (as well as VOD and eventually Blu-ray/DVD). Before the Paramount+ launch (and before COVID, in general), ViacomCBS was like most other studios, willing to keep films in theaters for 90 days before shifting to VOD and eventually streaming. Now, that has changed.
And though it’s not a huge sample size, Bakish credits “A Quiet Place Part II” for showing the 45-day exclusive window is “the sweet spot of the model.”
He added, “We only have one title we’ve done it with…[but] we like what we’re seeing.”
The next major feature films that are expected to be released in theaters by Paramount are “Jackass Forever,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and “Scream 5.” Those are likely going to follow the aforementioned 45-day model, though Bakish did say that all films moving forward will be on a “case-by-case” basis regarding how fast they’ll hit streaming. This is because with the new “Paw Patrol” movie, the studio has decided to release it in theaters and on streaming at the same time.
