Could Longer Theatrical Release Windows Save Entertainment Industry? AMC CEO Says…
By Movieguide® Contributor
AMC CEO Adam Aron is adamant that longer theatrical release windows are critical for the future of the entertainment industry, and he urges studios to keep their movies exclusive to theaters for longer.
“We would like to convince all the major studios that they should keep movies in theaters longer,” Aron said, noting that the new industry trends are killing theaters. “What it coalesced around is that the old 74-day window became a 45-day window. And some movies have gone quicker, to 30 days or 17 days.”
“In our view, 17 days or 30 days are too short, [and] this is a conversation that is front and center, live,” he added. He also noted that some studio executives want to reestablish the 45-day window.
Aron argued that when viewers have the option to either see a movie in theaters or wait less than a month before it comes to them on streaming platforms they already subscribe to, the majority of people will choose to wait. However, as that waiting period extends, more and more people choose the theater option instead. Additionally a longer window allows movies to gain momentum at the box office through word of mouth, rather than having its entire release depend almost entirely on the strength of its debut.
“A general consensus has emerged in Hollywood — not by all, but by most — that the most successful movies on streaming platforms are those that go to theaters first and those movies that have a great theatrical release often wind up being the most-watched movies on streaming services,” he said.
READ MORE: AMC THEATERS PLAN MAJOR UPDATES FOR MOVIEGOING EXPERIENCE
Theaters are also hoping that streamers will allow more of their content made in-house to have a theatrical release before they hit their platforms, rather than keeping them exclusive to the streamer who created them. Some streamers, like Apple and Amazon, buy into this model while others, like Netflix, largely do not.
“There are some streamers who have actively embraced the actual [theatrical] releases — Apple and Amazon come to mind. And we’ve had superb meetings and conversations with both Apple and Amazon MGM,” Aron said. “We’re highly encouraged, for example that Amazon MGM [is adding] distribution personnel because they would like to dramatically increase the number of films they are releasing.”
“Similarly, Apple is so excited about F1, coming out in June, which they’re hopeful, we’re hopeful, is going to be a major blockbuster, gangbuster hit,” he continued. “Their embrace of theatrical is something that’s quite exciting to us.”
“You notice that there is another major streaming service that I talked about that is not as enthusiastically embracing theaters, that being Netflix,” Aron added. “But we continue to reach out to Netflix. And right now, NARNIA is scheduled to play in on AMC Imax screens. We would love to be able to convince Netflix that embracing theatrical releases is good for them. They did it with GLASS ONION. They are doing it with NARNIA. We’ll see where this goes.”
READ MORE: WILL GRETA GERWIG’S NARNIA DEBUT IN THEATERS? NETFLIX SAYS…
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