In a lot of ways it seems contrary to logic. Yet it’s now a proven fact. Warner Brothers choosing to release all their 2021 movies to livestreaming via their platform, HBO Max, on the same day they release them to theaters, may have given a nice boost to the streaming service, but it hasn’t taken the expected bite out of their theatrical profits, at least in terms of the cumulative take. (We can’t factor in how much the studio is paying to the various directors, producers, and actors involved in those movies to pacify them after the move rubbed them all sorts of the wrong way. But that isn’t germane to this present point.)
I think, people who want to see new movies in the theater, they’re going to go see those movies, even if they *could* just sit at home and watch them instead. What we’re seeing so far this year is the effect of those people, the theater-lovers, taking advantage of new opportunities after a year of largely being denied new blockbusters on the big screen. Under ordinary circumstances, I do think we’d be seeing a noticeable impact on the box office cume by the simultaneous livestreaming. But this is a unique time for the movies, and right now, expectations are different. Right now, livestreaming is almost a non-issue. People who want to see movies in a theater are making it a point to do so. And I for one couldn’t be happier to see it. Livestreaming is for the birds.
