DC/WB Films/Worlds (No Spoilers)

[Samm]

Nolan is having a full blown meltdown as well.

And he’s being trolled on Twitter for it. Sorry if I don’t feel sorry for a bunch of rich millionaire celebrities complaining about not getting their millions in bonuses. Consumers have spoken, and we aren’t willing to risk our lives to see a movie in theaters.

[achilles]

I don't blame any of these people upset at Warner Bros if they were not even consulted on a decision that will very likely result in them losing millions upon millions of dollars they were expecting.

This is an extraordinarily stupid move on the part of AT&T's Warner execs and the long-term consequences for this are likely to be quite severe given that Netflix and Disney+, and AppleTV are both up and running and willing to pay through the nose for their films.

Apple was offering 800 million for Kong vs. Godzilla and then Warner does this to the producers without even consulting them? Eeesh.

It gets better; they're being sued for that by that production company, Legendary Pictures, for WW 84 and Dune and GvK. And Jenkins also got the payoff. Seriously, are the WB guys perpetually stoned and drunk at once? They act like it...

[achilles]

And he’s being trolled on Twitter for it. Sorry if I don’t feel sorry for a bunch of rich millionaire celebrities complaining about not getting their millions in bonuses. Consumers have spoken, and we aren’t willing to risk our lives to see a movie in theaters.

More like WB has spoken, and opted to not fulfill their contracts.

thats-a-bold-oczq7x.jpg

[El_Gato]

Have you seen the box office lately or the polls suggesting Americans won’t return to cinemas anytime soon? AT&T made the right call here. They were losing millions, maybe even billions sitting on all those films, at least now they increased interest in HBO Max and subscriptions have likely went way up (app downloads were way up). There’s way more money to be made in streaming than theaters (7B with current HBO Max subscribers vs 5.8B as WB’s highest grossing year ever in 2018).

They tried releasing a movie with Tenet, it bombed! This is the new normal and I actually like it! Now I can watch it in theaters or at home or both! Also those lawsuits ain’t going anywhere lol WB is still releasing them in theaters and they lowered the benchmark for bonuses (ie bonus at 150M instead of 300M world wide now).

[Frontier]

I get the problem with theaters but all around it just feels like a lot of corporate politics to me.

[Confuzzled]

Apparently the "emotional core" of the Flash movie is Flash's relationship...with Batman.

Such mixed emotions. As a Batfan I'm jazzed. OTOH after experiencing Spidey's "Iron Boi" MCU arc so far, I feel for The Flash fans.

[Tzigone]

Such mixed emotions. As a Batfan I'm jazzed. But after experiencing Spidey's "Iron Boi" MCU arc so far, I can feel for The Flash fans.

Oh, this is the first I saw that (don't normally hang out on movie threads). Now I have to skip the movie.... maybe I'll watch it sometime down the line when it streams cheap. But I certainly don't have any excitement. Particularly as I'm person who has a pretty big issue with Batgod, other heroes nerfed for him, and him dominating everything and getting all the glory/achievements, even in other characters' movies. I was already disappointed Superman didn't get a second movie (without Batman). So, if this is going to be the DCAU (and comics, really) all over again with regards to Batman being the center of the universe...nope.

[achilles]

Have you seen the box office lately or the polls suggesting Americans won’t return to cinemas anytime soon? AT&T made the right call here. They were losing millions, maybe even billions sitting on all those films, at least now they increased interest in HBO Max and subscriptions have likely went way up (app downloads were way up). There’s way more money to be made in streaming than theaters (7B with current HBO Max subscribers vs 5.8B as WB’s highest grossing year ever in 2018).

They tried releasing a movie with Tenet, it bombed! This is the new normal and I actually like it! Now I can watch it in theaters or at home or both! Also those lawsuits ain’t going anywhere lol WB is still releasing them in theaters and they lowered the benchmark for bonuses (ie bonus at 150M instead of 300M world wide now).

Those lawsuits may indeed go somewhere, depending on the contracts. More broadly, Legendary will probably never work with them again, as will many others, actors and production companies. There likely is some contract violation there unless Legendary had very bad contract lawyers. Which I doubt. That also means Chinese money will not flow like it did before. And they had offers from streaming services, which likely adds to any case Legendary may have.

[Frontier]

It's not like AT&T making dumb business decisions is unheard of...

[El_Gato]

Those lawsuits may indeed go somewhere, depending on the contracts. More broadly, Legendary will probably never work with them again, as will many others, actors and production companies. There likely is some contract violation there unless Legendary had very bad contract lawyers. Which I doubt. That also means Chinese money will not flow like it did before. And they had offers from streaming services, which likely adds to any case Legendary may have.

They legit have no case. Period! WB is the distributor and can distribute as they see fit, they’re still releasing in theaters so no contracts have been broken. Theaters also need WB because I don’t see any other studio releasing their films either.

Honestly let all those people throw a tantrum (Nolan, millionaire celebrities...etc), the consumer has spoken and this will be the future. Watch what happens on Thursday when Disney announces their films for Disney Plus and Universal, there’s for Peacock.

[Bad Witch]

Have you seen the box office lately or the polls suggesting Americans won’t return to cinemas anytime soon? AT&T made the right call here. They were losing millions, maybe even billions sitting on all those films, at least now they increased interest in HBO Max and subscriptions have likely went way up (app downloads were way up). There’s way more money to be made in streaming than theaters (7B with current HBO Max subscribers vs 5.8B as WB’s highest grossing year ever in 2018).

They tried releasing a movie with Tenet, it bombed! This is the new normal and I actually like it! Now I can watch it in theaters or at home or both! Also those lawsuits ain’t going anywhere lol WB is still releasing them in theaters and they lowered the benchmark for bonuses (ie bonus at 150M instead of 300M world wide now).

I like it as well. Warner brothers , well at&t has surprised me. I never thought they would inovate, I figured they would follow and I suppose money is a good motive.

I don't like the theatre anymore. It was awesome as a kid. Now it's expensive, everyone is rude, people don't shut up. It's a nightmare. I always leave pissed off. I know I know, " ok Boomer" . For the last ten years I just wait until the film comes to digital or blu ray and watch it in peace.

I think the pandemic was just the excuse/motivator they needed. I love how the theaters are crying. It's not the studios job to carry them. The studious didn't step in to save video stores, why would they help the cinemas ? It's a dying medium, just like rental video stores were. Nolan crying about it isn't going to help it. Throw your money at it dude..that's what I thought. At least someone like Tarantino, who loves cinemas bought one and operates it with his money. It's over...it's dying..say your goodbyes and move on..

[Holt]

Watch what happens on Thursday when Disney announces their films for Disney Plus and Universal, there’s for Peacock.

Current buzz is that it's unlikely for Disney to announce that. The thing that's being missed in this discussion is that rather than some attempt at changing the game and innovating, the Max deal was largely born of desperation since not only could WB not release movies, but HBO Max was off to a dismal start. Disney doesn't have that problem. They've been hurt bad by not being able to release movies, but Disney+ has been more successful than Max by orders of magnitude, and they have the MCU shows coming up soon.

Sources say WarnerMedia insiders have been hoping that Disney will follow its lead and shift its slate to streaming. But Disney, which had seven billion-dollar-grossing movies last year, isn’t about to do that. Instead, it is moving some films to streaming, as it did with Hamilton and Artemis Fowl — likely Cruella and more — but an agent notes that the way Disney has handled the shift stands in stark contrast to what Warners has done. “They didn’t do a unilateral thing,” he says, adding that studio executives made pre-emptive calls to talent and their reps that helped smooth the process.

It’s also worth noting that Disney+, which has dwarfed HBO Max in terms of subscribers, has gotten a lot of mileage out of one original hit, The Mandalorian, which is based on an iconic movie property. “There’s never been a full-fledged franchise blockbuster launched on a streaming service,” observes an executive at a Warners competitor. “It starts with theaters and it starts with opening weekend.” And so far, those blockbusters have been the ones that generated merchandise sales and theme-park attractions.

This is also key:

Surprisingly to some in the industry, sources say the idea was the brainchild of Warner Bros. COO Carolyn Blackwood who, looking at a relatively weak 2021 slate, saw an opportunity to avoid the humiliation of potentially bad grosses while currying favor with streamer-obsessed higher-ups.

Basically, WB looked at their upcoming slate of 2021 movies and realized it wasn't looking like a big year for them, which was part of the reason for the shift. Outside of The Suicide Squad and MAYBE Matrix 4 (I say maybe because Matrix 3 grossed way less than Matrix reloaded), there weren't many surefire big hits for them. Disney, by contrast, has its three MCU movies lined up that I doubt they think are risks on that level.

[Vordan]

Current buzz is that it's unlikely for Disney to announce that. The thing that's being missed in this discussion is that rather than some attempt at changing the game and innovating, the Max deal was largely born of desperation since not only could WB not release movies, but HBO Max was off to a dismal start. Disney doesn't have that problem. They've been hurt bad by not being able to release movies, but Disney+ has been more successful than Max by orders of magnitude, and they have the MCU shows coming up soon.



This is also key:



Basically, WB looked at their upcoming slate of 2021 movies and realized it wasn't looking like a big year for them, which was part of the reason for the shift. Outside of The Suicide Squad and MAYBE Matrix 4 (I say maybe because Matrix 3 grossed way less than Matrix reloaded), there weren't many surefire big hits for them. Disney, by contrast, has its three MCU movies lined up that I doubt they think are risks on that level.

Lmao they finally realized “oh **** we just pinned all our hopes on a Zack Snyder movie again” and are desperately trying to plug the holes in their leaky ship. What a mess this company is.

[The Kid]

It's basically AT&T scrambling. I don't mind putting stuff in streaming at launch but how do you not tell any of your production partners and creatives. It really does feel like desperation on their part because HBO Max flopped.

And in other news, MCU is also doing multiverse with what looks like the old Spider-Man actors coming back in SM3. This is basically BvS vs. Civil War all over again lol. Hope DC puts a better effort this time lmao

[Nite-Wing]

Nolan is being an idiot and a lot of these celebs are essentially mad that their bonuses are being cut by the percentage of people not seeing the movie in theaters since WB has now given them the option to forgo the theatrical release and watch on HBO Max.

Its not going to get better even in 2021
The film industry has to at least see a return of confidence in the consumer FOR any movie to succeed in theaters same with the theater industry