John Stankey, the CEO of WarnerMedia’s parent company AT&T, says that one way or another Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will be released theatrically first.
That’s not surprising, but what is interesting is that Stankey is more open to other Warners titles making the jump either to Premium VOD or HBO Max – especially if the coronavirus pandemic drags out.
Speaking on a recent quarterly earnings call, Stankey says that “there is no question the longer this goes on, there is going to be some content” which is better served with a different distribution arrangement. He adds “I love the fact that we have that option now.”
Asked if “Wonder Woman 1984” might skip cinemas he says: “I would be very surprised if that was the case” which sounds a bit more open to interpretation than his answer to that question regarding “Tenet” which he says: “that’s not going to be the case.”
He also says traditional theatrical releases continue to have an “absolutely important role” but there is a need for “some adjustment in the theatrical construct”. Warners proposed staggered release plan for “Tenet” did not get mentioned in the call.
Stankey was happy to mention HBO Max, saying the service had a “flawless launch” in May. Around 4.1 million overall subscribers have signed up for ‘Max’ in itself, 2.1 million of which migrated over from regular HBO. This also includes about one million wholesale subscribers to AT&T.
The service has not yet reached terms with Roku or Amazon Fire which together reach about 80 million U.S. homes.
Source: THR
