Theatrical distribution will never go back to what it once was. These are the peremptory words of Disney CEO Bob Chapek , who a few weeks ago spoke about the way in which streaming, combined with the pandemic and the closure of cinemas, has profoundly transformed the use of films by viewers and the consequent choices. of film studios. With streaming platforms increasingly taking center stage, their power in creating original content and users accustomed to having the new releases on their TV, many, not just Chapek, think that the exclusive distribution model in salt is destined to disappear forever. Has the era of streaming really led to the end of theaters? technologywebdesign
Chapek's Words
" It will be unbearable to go back to the pre-covid
situation as regards the distribution of the new film titles ". With these
words Bob Chapek spoke to Disney investors, telling of how viewers are
radically changing their habits in a way that could transform, as is already
happening, even the actions of streaming platforms and film distribution and
production companies. " Consumers today are much more impatient than they
were previously - he continued - thanks above all to the opportunity to watch a
film directly from home and at any time of the day. Therefore, it will be
difficult to go back ".
Statements that have caused discussion and that make many
people worry. Chapek tried to sweeten the pill: " We do not intend to step
on the feet of traditional circuits, it is a fluid situation and in the process
of being defined that depends on both the number of open rooms and the habits
of consumers" . Yet the distribution on Disney + of the latest flagship
products leaves hardly anyone quiet.
Streaming First Of All
Disney's choices in recent times have been peremptory and
unequivocal. With films already scheduled to be released for some time and
calendars increasingly full of new releases and productions, the entire
industry could not think of stopping for a whole year waiting for the end of
the pandemic and the reopening of theaters. Hence the choice, for many, to rent
numerous products for theaters. Disney has released its latest three flagship
products, Mulan, Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon , directly on Disney +, with
the Pixar cartoon even arriving free for all subscribers.
The other two, a live action from a historical cartoon and
the last, highly anticipated, classic of Animation Studios, were sold to
subscribers in VIP Access, linking the vision to the payment of a supplement of
about 20 euros. A model that served to plug the losses of the non-release in
theaters, but which met with some success almost everywhere . People are eager
to pay extra for a new movie at home. An open breach in traditional
distribution and a future that seriously risks being very different from what
we could have imagined. Even more recent news is the arrival of Black Widow and
Cruella in streaming, which will be released simultaneously in theaters and on
Disney +, confirming a trend that is now becoming the norm.
New Distribution
Several times Disney and the other majors have reiterated
that they do not want to question the importance of cinemas in their
distribution model, yet it would be hypocritical to believe that the studios
continue to wait indefinitely for the situation to return to normal. In a world
where entertainment is profit, it is clear that everyone thinks first of all
about receipts and turnover, adapting themselves to the situation from time to
time. Almost all of them now have streaming platforms in their hands in which
to broadcast their content and all have alternative methods to bypass the
theaters.
The lockdown and the closure of cinemas are sending the
traditional distribution sector into severe crisis: the losses of companies in
the sector, with cinemas closed for months now, will be irreparable and many
realities will be destined to close. A rather strong downsizing, combined with
an audience that is getting used to having the latest products in their hands
right away . In this sense, Disney has fully exploited its platform, showing
itself ready for any changes.
The company that most of all has brought money to cinemas in
recent years, with record takings for each of its releases, seems to be the
most ready of all to welcome the change and leave cinemas hopelessly behind in
this moment of profound and serious difficulty.
What will become of the cinemas?
Much will be contingent on how and when the long-awaited
return to normality arrives for all of us. How will cinemas be when the
pandemic is over? What rules will they have to follow? How many spectators will
feel safe returning to the theater? How many will prefer to stay at home? Not
insignificant unknowns after more than a year - excluding the brief summer
break - in which we remained far from watching films in theaters. With
increasingly larger TVs and increasingly predominant streaming, many believe
the two experiences, cinema room and sofa at home, perfectly overlap.
Having the convenience of watching movies at home and,
especially for a family, spending on average less than buying 4 or 5 tickets,
could become a plus that can hardly be renounced for many, those who could turn
the habits of many towards others. shores. New ways of understanding fruition
that overlap with a cinema crisis that has been going on for years, saved only
by the big takings of a few and highly selected productions.
Dark Scenarios
If precisely those who produce these selected successful
releases decide to open up to change, emptying the halls of the few important
attractions left, how will cinemas be able to think about surviving? The
scenarios are turning out to be very dark and rather pessimistic . The pandemic
is continuing much longer than initially expected and this will lead to drastic
choices for the studios and new increasingly consolidated habits in users. If
this situation continues, we could find ourselves faced with a scenario in
which there will be fewer and fewer cinemas, the exclusives for theaters will
hardly exist anymore and the streaming platforms will pay the new releases in
their catalog.
The worst possible scenario, which would do away with what
has always been the strength of cinema: a large collective experience
impossible to replicate in the same ways in one's own homes. Precisely from
this it will be necessary to start again to save the cinemas and their
strength, from their uniqueness, from their being first of all experience, the
only one capable of making you fully enjoy the strength of the films.
The uniqueness of the room?
Christopher Nolan had reiterated this before the release of
his Tenet: the only way to fully enjoy his film was to see it in the cinema .
It will be essential to confirm that the production companies understand how
much the importance of the experience in the cinema is fundamental for the very
survival of cinema, which has always been very different from television and,
consequently, from streaming. The end of this year and the next will be crucial
to understand what will happen. Streaming and cinema are the sides of the same
coin, with the studios that should make it clear that one does not exclude the
other. The two distribution models can coexist, if exploited in the right ways
and with the right balance, with strong possibilities of becoming important
sources of profit if exploited properly and without abuse on both sides.
The pandemic will certainly lead to a new balance, to a new
game of checks and balances that we hope will reaffirm the importance of
streaming without however diminishing the strength of the theater in allowing
us to enjoy the cinematic medium to the fullest. It will be necessary for
production companies and distributors to sit down at a table to find a new
formula for their toy, which allows cinema not to die and not to be crushed by
TV, to reiterate that the seventh art must continue to have an important place
in our lives and that, in order to move forward, it cannot do without cinemas .