The writing has been on the wall for a while now, amplified by the catastrophic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, but no one with any real power or clout in the studio system has outright said it until now—the theatrical experience is in trouble. After weeks of studios and the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) explaining that times are tough but that cinemas will recover, it appears that AT&T COO John Stankey isn’t so sure.
READ MORE: WB Sending ‘Scoob!’ Straight To VOD Next Month After Theatrical Release Was Canceled
Speaking on a recent conference call (via Deadline), Stankey warned that WarnerMedia (a subsidiary of AT&T) is “rethinking the theatrical model” in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. (If you stop and listen closely, you can hear the screams of theater owners around the world.)
As mentioned, this very public condemnation of the theatrical release model, as it exists right now, is the first time an executive at a major corporation has openly discussed this. And making matters a bit worse, this news comes on the heels of WarnerMedia announcing that one of its big summertime animated films, “Scoob!” is forgoing a theatrical release and heading straight to VOD next month. It’s the type of one-two punch that sends the folks at NATO for a loop.
The problem that the executive sees is that the effect of the global pandemic isn’t going to be fixed overnight, once social distancing regulations are lessened. Stankey explained that he doesn’t “expect [theatrical exhibition is] going to be a snap-back” recovery.
He added, “I think that’s going to be something that we’re going to have to watch, the formation of consumer confidence, not just about going to movies, just in general about being back out in public.”
Interestingly, this is the same studio that is banking on the recovery to be fairly quick, as WarnerMedia is prepping the summer releases of both “Tenet” (July 17) and “Wonder Woman 1984” (August 14). So, it’ll be interesting to see if there are changes in those releases coming up if one of the bosses at the WarnerMedia parent company isn’t so sure about how quickly theaters will bounce back.
NATO, for their part, has come out publicly multiple times talking about how theaters will rebound and prosper after the pandemic has run its course. And the organization has already called out Universal for taking a theatrical release (“Trolls World Tour”) and releasing it on VOD. So, it’ll be interesting to see how the group responds to this news.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Stankey might have been worried about theatrical exhibition, but the executive is confident about one thing—streaming.
“We were right about the streaming model and HBO Max,” he said. “Streaming to all demographics is in high demand.”
HBO Max is expected to launch at the end of May, while WarnerMedia is expected to release “Scoob!” on VOD on May 15.