The coronavirus pandemic has rendered everything related to movie theatrical windows and release strategies in a state of flux.
Right now the options on the table for any release are varying wildly from a delay of up to a full year to a traditional theatrical rollout in the few cinemas open to a PVOD release, to an SVOD release or some sort of hybrid with shortened windows of just a few weeks. That instability is expected to remain in place for much of next year.
One of the big experiments amidst all this is what WarnerMedia is doing with “Wonder Woman 1984” and putting it out both via cinemas where available, and simultaneously via HBO Max in the United States where it will get a one-month limited run before being pulled and otherwise sticking to a regular theatrical window and eventual home video strategy.
Today, a new report in Variety indicates that this won’t be a one-off but rather a testbed and several other Warners releases may follow in its wake. According to their sources, several smaller films may follow the same strategy “Wonder Woman 1984” is doing including the black panthers drama “Judas and the Black Messiah starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, crime thriller “The Little Things” with Denzel Washington, and the “Tom and Jerry” movie.
One film that was also apparently been under consideration for this approach but has instead been delayed is the new “Mortal Kombat” reboot originally slated for January next year. The fate of other films at rival studios – including “The King’s Man,” “Everyone’s Talking About Jamie,” “Cinderella” and even Marvel & Sony’s “Morbius” – is expected to be revealed in very early 2021.
