The recent news of Warner Bros. announcing that all of its 2021 slate of films will be released on the HBO Max streaming service at the same time as their theatrical release has raised eyebrows, created controversy, and inspired prognostication about the future of movies and whether movie houses have any kind of a viable future. This Variety article is a good overview of Warner’s audacious move. In turn, director Christopher Nolan’s angry criticism of the simultaneous theater/streaming release plans also made headlines over the last couple of days, as you can read in this Hollywood Reporter article.
Warner’s surprise move reminded me to post this New York Observer article I was interviewed for several weeks ago about the return of the TV miniseries. It discusses the increased investment of top Hollywood dollars, resources, and major A-list talent in television and streaming miniseries and ponders the question about whether the miniseries or the limited-series TV format is a trend here to stay.
I don’t just think that the miniseries is here to stay for a while, but I’m actually a lot less optimistic about the future of the movie theater than the Observer article. I do wonder whether the multiplex is an exhibition format that will soon go extinct. Certainly, filmmakers often talk about the shared social experience of seeing a film in a packed movie house and how theater attendance will return once the COVID pandemic passes. Nolan sounds very sure that the movie theater is not going anywhere. While I’m a very big fan of Nolan myself and own all of his films on DVD or Bluray – and can’t wait to add Tenet to that collection – I think his attitude might be Hollywood’s way of whistling past the graveyard. Movie attendance has been declining for several years now even before COVID, and mobile technology and home theater technology has been advancing in such leaps and bounds that one can take one’s favorite entertainment anywhere, enjoy it in solitude or within that “shared social experience,” and do so without paying the ever rising prices of movie tickets.
Now I certainly expect a momentary spike in theater attendance right after the pandemic passes. Many people will probably cut loose and want to go crazy with fun a little bit in ways they couldn’t while the disease raged. Remember how the crowds flocked to the beaches, bars, and restaurants over the summer when it looked like the COVID numbers were improving? We will see that again when the pandemic is over. But I think it will only last for a little while. Especially as it will take time for the economy to recover, how realistic is it to imagine a family paying over a hundred dollars – picture movie tickets for mom, dad, the kids, plus splurging on the ridiculously overpriced food at the dine-in theaters – for a movie night every weekend.
Furthermore, if Hollywood and the multiplexes want to offer little more aside from the repetitive noise and disorienting special effects of superhero films, epic scale entertainment that combines complex storytelling and character development might just be perfect for a limited series on television. As I explain in the Observer article, the miniseries ruled the TV ratings throughout the 1970s and 80s, after all. And watching them sure beats paying a hundred dollars for the family just to see a single episode.
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