2020 has been a strange year due to the pandemic and had a massive effect on the film industry. Studios have been struggling to deal with it and on 17th December Warner Brothers have announced there are going to release Wonder Woman 1984 in cinemas and on HBO Max at the same time. This could have big implications for the film industry.
Since the pandemic studios have tried to adapt in different ways. Most major films (e.g. F9, No Time to Die, Black Widow) have had their release dates postponed to 2021 and many smaller films have been sold to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Studios have released some straight to their streaming services like Artemis Fowl on Disney+ and The Witches on HBO Max. And there been attempts to release films as Premium Video on Demand but few major films have been successful through this avenue.
Disney infamously tried to sell Mulan on Disney+ for an extra $30. This ended up being a PR disaster and the film underperformed because of the high price tag. Many users simply waited for Mulan to come out as a part of the regular Disney+ subscription. MGM considered selling No Time to Die to Netflix or Apple TV but was unable to agree on a price. I personally argued that this would have been a bad move in the long term for the Bond franchise but this does show the desperate situation that some studios are in.
The plan for Wonder Woman 1984 is to release it in cinemas on the 16th December and come out on HBO Max on Christmas Day for a month as a part of a subscription. Warner Brothers are trying to avoid the same mistake some of their competitors. Warner Brothers have been stung because they released Tenet in cinemas and it only made $353.7 million at the box-office.
Warner Brothers want to please two different camps: traditional cinemagoers and advocates for digital releasing. Within the US, 50% of cinemas are still closed, including major markets like Los Angeles and New York. Wonder Woman 1984 director, Patty Jenkins, has tweeted that she wants people to see the film in theatres if safe.
It’s surprising that Warner Brothers didn’t decide to move Wonder Woman 1984’s release date to 2021. It is a big tentpole and the sequel to an acclaimed original that made $800 million at the box office. However, 2021 is a cluttered year, and depending on how the pandemic pans out films may be pushed back even further. It all depends on the potential vaccination program.
The other reason why Warner Brothers are putting Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max is to give the service a killer app. As of September 2020, HBO Max has 8.6 million users – significantly less than many of their rivals. Wonder Woman 1984 could be a tempting gateway for people to pay $15 a month. The month-long release window could drive demand for the service. The other potential reason why Warner Brothers are releasing Wonder Woman 1984 this way because the film might not have tested well and the studio heads are trying to save face.
Warner Brothers’ decision was an American centric one. Europe is going through a second wave. At the time of writing England is in Lockdown and the government is set to review the decision on 2nd December. Scotland has just extended restrictions in numerous council districts and the government in Northern Ireland is set to bring in new Lockdown measures. Within the UK Cineworld has closed all their sites until 2021 and it’s unlikely that other cinema chains will reopen at Christmas. Scientists within the UK have warned that for every day Lockdown is lifted for Christmas that five days of Lockdown would be required to compensate.
The other reason why Warner Brothers’ decision is American centric is HBO Max doesn’t operate in many other countries. Within HBO license their programming to other broadcasters: for example Sky shows many HBO programs in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Luxembourg, whilst in France, many programs are shown on OCS and Foxtel is the main broadcaster of HBO shows in Australia. This leads to the question, what will happen to the international release?
The two options would be either to wait and release Wonder Woman 1984 in the new year or do a PVOD release. I doubt Warner Brothers would sell the international rights to Netflix or Amazon Prime unless they pay a massive sum. Warner Brothers did release The Witches on HBO Max in the US and PVOD in other nations and I predict this is what will happen with Wonder Woman 1984’s international release.
The risk of this release strategy is piracy. When a film is put online it becomes easy for pirates to rip the files and put them on illegal streaming sites. Mulan became a popular film to pirate and Wonder Woman 1984 could suffer a similar fate, especially in international markets.
Warner Brothers’ rivals will be watching the Wonder Woman 1984 release. If it’s a success they could look to multi-platform releases – i.e. cinema, streaming, and PVOD at the same time. Many studios have their own streaming services, and they can use their big films as a way to draw new subscribers and do a wide release on other platforms so people who only want to watch one film. However, there are risks due to piracy, and if it fails then studios are back to square one. Wonder Woman 1984’s release could be a one-off and personally, that is what I would prefer.
