JUNE 1: In this illustration photo HBO Max logos are displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen ... [+]
HBO Max is getting 10 exclusive new films, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said on AT&T’s
“Clearly motion pictures matter and will continue to matter,” Kilar said. “They also matter at home in terms of the response we’ve gotten… We feel very good about the response that consumers have given it in the home.”
Subscriber numbers for the second quarter showed impressive growth. HBO and HBO Max had a rise of 2.8 million US subscribers to an impressive 47 million in the US. They also exploded in the global market with 67.5 million as of the end of June (a 63.9 million jump from the previous quarter.)
While having HBO Max exclusives isn’t new for the company, it deviates from their current model. WarnerMedia stunned many when it made streaming and theatrical debuts on the same day for their 2021 slate given that COVID had changed the availability of theater-going experiences. While at first given theater closures, releases on the streaming service were close to exclusive, as theaters reopened, films like Space Jam: A New Legacy and In the Heights, received both in-person and online releases on the same day.
WarnerMedia will be moving away from this model in 2022. Instead, movies earmarked for theatrical release will run in cinemas exclusively for 45 days. Those planned for online release will stay out of theaters with the possible exception for limited runs in select theaters if they are expected to be Oscar contenders as per award show eligibility.
Kilar noted that he doesn’t see the industry shifting back to the 75- to 90-day window for theatrical runs before home releases even as theaters reopen.
While at-home releases are becoming important to the companies model, examples such as Godzilla Vs. Kong which had an at-home release but still took in $460 million at the box office as well, show that there is still a want for theatrical releases even when the film has a streaming option.
There isn’t a confirmation of what these 10 films will be when it comes to genre or IP, but from what WarnerMedia has already shown, there is a chance that these will be larger blockbusters than other streaming services’ slate of originals. While almost all of the popular streaming sites release original films, few are releasing the type of hyped-up debuts that WarnerMedia has brought over the last year. Hopefully, even as theaters reopen, WarnerMedia sees the appeal to audiences to see big releases at home.
