on november 22nd 1995 toy story was
released in theaters in the u.s
you couldn't take it home to watch it on
your vcr until october 29th 1996 11
months after it opened
this is called the theatrical window
when a movie is shown only in theaters
and it's gotten way smaller over time
toy story 4 was released in june of 2019
to watch it at home you only had to wait
about 3 months
this shrinking window is the result of a
decades-long fight between movie
theaters and movie studios
but how much smaller can the window get
are movie theaters close to becoming a
thing of the past
thanks to a supreme court case from the
1940s movie studios and theater owners
in the us are separate entities
for a while the only way to see a movie
was to go to a theater but pretty soon
television vhs dvd
the days of theaters being the only way
to watch a movie are long gone
to defend against those new competitors
theater owners have struck deals with
movie studios to give them a window of
exclusivity before a movie could be seen
in any other format
movie studios agreed because it worked
for them too we created these windows
because they were really good for the
motion picture business that's mark
zarate a former disney executive from
1980 until 2010. but today he's the ceo
of cinemark theaters the third largest
theater chain in the us and canada
theater owners generally want a longer
exclusive window because they only make
money while the film is in theaters
and even then they're splitting ticket
profits roughly 50 50.
but movie studios have the opportunity
to keep making money long after a film
is shown in theaters
in fact it's become essential for
studios to recoup their investments on
expensive films in order for you to
break even then you've got to go right
down the line at multiple bites in order
to make that all back
in the beginning the minimum theatrical
window was quite long but obviously over
time that's that shrunk with the
introduction of dvds you had a window
get roughly six months the window prior
to the pandemic was essentially 74 days
before a movie would go to electronics
that means a digital release you can buy
on a platform like itunes and then at 90
days they would take it to dvd vod and
then after that they would take it to
pay television or streaming that's kind
of how the sequences
but studios haven't always gotten their
way in 2010 warner brothers parent
company proposed a window of 30 days
which theater owners didn't agree to
netflix challenged the window a few
years later planning a movie release in
imax and on netflix at the same time
major theater chains banned their films
one studio has been really persistent
though universal has been probably the
most public and aggressive about wanting
to shorten the theatrical window in 2011
universal made plans to release the film
tower heist on demand 30 days after in
theaters
some chains threatened to not show the
film at all
universal ultimately backed down and
kept their window at 90 days
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ultimately theaters need studios because
they need movies to show
studios need theaters to make big money
and get big press
and that mutual need kept things stable
for a while
until theaters shut down due to the
globalizators were forced to close their
door trying to survive the coronavirus
pandemic
bankruptcy could be in amc's future
the power dynamics shifted a lot during
the pandemic in 2020 studios had
newfound leverage and one company struck
while the iron was hot universal had
this movie trolls world tour and they
had two options one they could delay it
or two
they could test what they've always
wanted to do
and put the movie in theaters and on
video on demand on the same day and the
caveat there is that there weren't any
movie theaters open to play it trolls
world tour quickly became the highest
grossing digital release ever it made
more money for universal in three weeks
at home than the original film did in
its theatrical run
nbc universal's head of film told the
wall street journal as soon as theaters
reopen we expect to release movies on
both formats
in other words in theaters and on demand
at the same time
the two biggest theater chains in the us
fired back by saying they'd never show
universal films again
but things were different now the major
film studios had restructured to make
streaming their primary focus
warner brothers released their entire
2021 slate in theaters and on hbo max at
the same time
disney and universal made a similar move
with that upset came time for theater
owners and
universal and the other studios frankly
to start having those conversations and
and working out about what the future
looks like and what a post-pandemic
model is
in 2021 the major theater chains made
deals to shorten the window
disney paramount and warner brothers
agreed to a 45-day window in 2022 and
onwards
but universal got its own deal with the
big theater chains they agreed to give
theaters a portion of their video on
demand revenue and in return they
secured one of the shortest windows ever
31 days for their biggest movies
17 days on their smaller movies
but one thing that's noticeably absent
from all these deals is any sign of a
same-day release strategy where a movie
comes out on demand and in theaters at
the same time
at what seemed to be their most powerful
moment studios decided to keep the
theatrical window in place
that's partly because movie theaters are
still pretty big money makers for
studios
but it's also because movie theaters can
sort of change how the public sees a
movie streaming customers value
theatrical release more highly it
carries with it sort of an aura of
quality it eventizes a movie it's a
shared experience that helps become
almost like a psychic within the culture
the pandemic shifted the power dynamic
towards movie studios and away from
theaters
but it also showed that they still need
each other
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that doesn't necessarily mean theaters
will be around forever
but if they can survive a pandemic
maybe they're stronger than we thought
you