Following the announcement that “Wonder Woman 1984” will release both on HBO Max and in cinemas on Christmas Day in the United States, AMC Entertainment CEO and President Adam Aron has stated that the movie theater chain is ‘fully onboard’ with the release plan.
Aron also says AMC has been in active and deep dialogue with Warner Brothers to figure out how best the film could be seen at AMC Theatres in these unprecedented times and adds that the company remains flexible and open to evolving long-standing business models “provided that we do so in ways that improve the industry ecosystem for all players”.
It’s one of various new details that have cropped up via Vareity in the wake of the announcement and a complete turnaround from AMC’s comments earlier this year in regards to theatrical windows. Indeed cinemas are reportedly mostly onboard with this as they’re expected to receive a larger cut of ticket sales in exchange for allowing Warners to break their theatrical contract, though those deals haven’t been finalized.
With the first film having pulled in $820 million worldwide, the sequel was expected to surpass the billion-dollar mark in the pre-pandemic times. However the underperformance of “Tenet” and surging coronavirus cases in the United States means that any major domestic theatrical release for at least the next few months is likely doomed.
“Tenet,” another big-budget film that was headed towards close to a billion dollars in pre-pandemic times, arrived in September when 70% of U.S. theaters were back in business and the pandemic was in a comparative lull – even then the movie just barely made $50 million in domestic ticket sales.
Less cinemas are open now, the virus is much more prevalent, and Regal, the second largest theater chain, has previously said it won’t reopen locations for one movie. Even with several promising vaccines there is no guarantee of a return to any kind of normality even by next Summer.
The movie will likely end up losing money due to its $200 million cost and millions more to market globally where it is going theatrical. Audiences have shied away from cinemagoing even in markets where the virus is mostly under control, though the film is getting a full theatrical release in China on December 18th should help generate some profits.
WarnerMedia is also under pressure to make HBO Max a success – a service that has struggled to make waves so far. A media analyst at LightShed Partners says: “They’re going to make less money for the greater good of building HBO Max. This is putting the long-term future of the company ahead of profits. It’s far less about driving new subscribers as it is getting people to know HBO Max exists. They have people who pay for HBO Max and don’t use it. The whole initiative is getting people over to Max.”
Having seen the success Disney+ had with “Hamilton,” the hope is a new “Wonder Woman” coming directly to streaming will cause a similar stir though how many will cancel after the free seven-day trial could be an issue (Disney+ smartly pulled the free trial option before the “Hamilton” release, no word yet if HBO Max will do so).
Two other obvious questions have also been raised. The first is Roku, the last major media player to not carry the HBO Max app following Amazon Fire coming to a deal and finally getting it this week. HBO Max had already come to deals with Apple TV, Google and others back at launch in May.
Appearing at the RBC Capital Markets conference on Tuesday, Roku CFO Steve Louden said he didn’t ‘have any specific update’ on the company’s discussions with HBO Max, but adds: “we continue to talk to folks…hopefully we can get a deal done.” Rival service Peacock hit a similar roadblock but ultimately came to a deal with Roku in September showing that terms can be reached. Roku is available in approximately 46 million households across the United States.
The other is HBO Max itself and its notable lack of both 4K, Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos support to ensure the best quality presentation of the film. The service has suggested 4K is coming but has not locked in any dates at this point.