WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has made it clear – Warner Bros. Pictures will be returning to exclusive theatrical runs next year with no more HBO Max day-and-date releases planned.
In an interview on Vox’s Recode podcast (via The Wrap), Kilar talked up the success they’ve had with the dual-release format – especially with “Godzilla vs. Kong” recently.
However WarnerMedia also closed a deal with Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld the other week confirming a 45-day window of theatrical exclusivity on Warner Bros. Pictures films in 2022. That puts an end to Warners doing anymore HBO Max simultaneous releases.
Though it halves the old 90-day window, it is still the most traditional and conservative approach all of the studios are taking to future films with others having done deals for 17 & 31-day windows, while efforts like the simultaneous Disney+ Premier Access tier could continue. Talking about the decision, Kilar says:
“I think it’s very fair to say that a big, you know, let’s say a big DC movie, The Batman for example, it’s very fair to say that that would go exclusively to theaters first and then go to somewhere like an HBO Max after it’s in theaters.
I don’t want anyone to misinterpret what we’re doing right now as any indication that we’re not believers in the moviegoing experience. I don’t think you’re going to see the world go back to 2016. The world is changing and that’s the way the world is supposed to work.”
Kilar also spoke about the immediate backlash he and the company faced when the dual release strategy for 2021 was announced and scored blowback not just from exhibitors but longtime collaborators like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve:
“I think it would’ve been very hard to make everyone happy in terms of before an announcement was made. If I had the chance to do it over again, I think it’s very fair to say that we would have taken a couple more days to see if we could have had even more conversations than we were able to have. There is a challenge to that, which is you lose the ability to have your story, the rationale as to why you’re doing it, be cleanly communicated. There’s no doubt that it was bumpy back in early December of last year.”
Warners still has a ton of films to release before the year’s end with “Mortal Kombat” and Taylor Sheridan’s “Those Who Wish Me Dead” the next on the list.
