Warner Bros. Will Apparently Not Have the Simultaneous HBO Max/Theatrical Release in 2022
“There is no way Warner Bros. is doing this only for 2021.” Well, it looks like I, along with most people, were wrong.
Collider is reporting that the studio has signed a new deal with Regal Cinemas to bring back the theatrical window in 2022, which effectively would put an end to their idea for 2021 of releasing all of their movies on HBO Max the same day they hit the movie theaters.
For the uninitiated, the theatrical window is a clause written in the contracts between the movie theaters and the studios when the former agree to distribute each movie; it forces the studio not to release that movie on any sort of home platform before a set window of time. This includes streaming services, video on demand, and DVD/Blu-ray releases. This window of time used to be, before March 2020, 90 days. It was the key for the movie theaters to survive.
In the new contract signed between Warner Bros. and Regal, this window of time is being cut in half, so that in 2022 HBO Max will have the power to release WB’s movies after only 45 days. This includes the highly-anticipated releases of The Batman or The Flash. This will not be an isolated event. The report also states we should hear similar deals between the studio and the rest of the big theater chains in the coming weeks.
Beyond that, WB will not be the only studio doing this. The theatrical window is a very fragile agreement between the distribution companies and the exhibitors. The first are always trying to shorten it, while the second cannot survive if that were the case. If one studio has achieved their goal of shrinking the window, the rest will follow soon. In fact, Paramount already is, as they announced last monththeir upcoming A Quiet Place II (May 28, 2021) and Mission: Impossible 7 (November 19, 2021), among others, will be coming to Paramount Plus 45 days after their theatrical release.
This piece of news comes out a few days after The Hollywood Reporter dropped results from a study which show that audiences are apparently readier than ever to go back into theaters.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
