In a speech to CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav assured theatre owners that the company plans to continue supporting theatrical releases for all of its original films. Zaslav told the crowd “We believe in full windowing”. Also, the company’s leadership team is “in no rush to bring movies” to the newly-merged HBO Max/Discovery+ service.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav sought to rally the troops on Tuesday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. He proclaimed “content is more powerful than armies” and reiterated his company’s commitment to theatrical exhibition.
Warner Bros. Discovery Says No More Direct-to-Streaming Movies for Max
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav reaffirmed the company’s commitment to keeping the theatrical experience alive.
“We believe in full windowing. We are in no rush to bring movies to Max. It is a great service. Movies that open in theatres perform substantially better than any of the direct-to-streaming movies,” stated Zaslav during Warner Bros.’ CinemaCon 2023 panel (via The Hollywood Reporter). “
Zaslav’s comments come just over two years after former WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar announced that the entire 2021 slate of Warner Bros. movies would be released on HBO Max the same day they opened in theatres.
The hybrid release model was controversial, to say the least. Following WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, Inc. in early 2022, the company unveiled plans to embrace theatrical distribution. Several movies that were previously announced as HBO Max originals were changed to have theatrical releases. That also includes the upcoming DC Studios film, Blue Beetle.
Don’t Expect WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY Movies to Head Right to
HBO Max may have instantly brought theatrical releases to streaming. So, at least gave them very short theatre-only windows. But don’t expect Max to have the same kind of policies. Speaking at CinemaCon, David Zaslav made it very clear that Warner Bros. Discovery and its new platform Max do not believe in straight-to-streaming movie releases.
Zaslav directly noted, “We do not believe in streaming movies… Movies [in theatres] perform substantially better when we bring them to HBO Max than any of the direct-to-streaming movies. We said it nine months ago, and we said it six months ago. We have never felt stronger about it.”
Warner Bros is committed to cinemas, says CEO
Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has travelled to this week’s CinemaCon. He came to Las Vegas to tell them that the studio is ready to debut films in one place and one place alone” the cinema. Ahead of a preview screening of The Flash, Zaslav made an appearance to the partisan crowd to reassure them. So, the new rebranding of Max (formerly HBO Max) wouldn’t preempt another U-turn in strategy. Such as the company’s unpopular 2021 decision to send all of its theatrical slate straight to streaming.
Theatrical exclusivity windows may have shrunk across some parts of the world. That includes the US. But the ‘day and date’ dual release strategy approach. So not to mention straight-to-streaming releases, seems to be less common. At least for films that have a shot at succeeding in a cinema. Smile‘s stunning success for Paramount last October gave studios real pause for thought though. So, with the streaming-bound film making head-turning money when the studio instead decided to chance a theatrical run based on strong test screenings.
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