With an apparent rally at the theatrical Box Office no one quite expected, where to from here? WarnerMedia has now clarified how releases will work for its 2022 slate, so we turned to Blake & Wang P.A’s top entertainment attorney, Brand Blake, to walk through the announcement with us.
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar emphasized that ‘(they) believe (motion pictures) are going to matter for decades to come’, promising to invest in them over time. This is a bit of a flip from WarnerMedia’s 2021 stance, which was all about hybrid strategies. In fact, as one of the first to commit so emphatically to hybrid releases, they took considerable heat for it. This strategy saw films hit HBO Max almost immediately after theatrical release.
However, for 2022, it has been promised that tentpole films will see an exclusive theatrical release. Not that HBO Max will be neglected, either. Ten titles are being produced exclusively for the streamer, intending to drive subscriber growth.
This comes alongside the reveal of some promising figures for HBO Max’s AVOD subscription tier. Streamers have opted for a variety of strategies with their AVOD tiers. WarnerMedia has been to allow full content parity with the premium subscription service, but to not send new movie releases to the cheaper tier.
What of the company’s 2021 hybrid faux pas? Kilar has even admitted it was a bust, citing a rush to commit to any strategy at all left them too open to the wrong opinions. He should, he admits, have consulted the parties most affected over a longer time before deciding on the release strategy.
All in all, while it’s a conservative approach to 2022 releases, it’s also one that’s hard to fault and follows the patterns of recovery that 2021 has shown us. We will, as always, keep an eye on further developments.
