I know what you are thinking. I f you want to spend 50 dollars to see a movie you can stream it at home and light some bills on fire. And you are right. You can say the food is too expensive, and anyone who has seen a giant box of milk duds at the Dollar Store will know you are absolutely right. And if you saw Trolls World Tour at home this might seem like vindication. But You know who else I think is right? The National Association of Theater Owners CEO John Fithian.
“Universal does not have reason to use unusual circumstances in an unprecedented environment as a springboard to bypass true theatrical releases,” NATO President and CEO John Fithian said. “Theaters provide a beloved immersive, shared experience that cannot be replicated – an experience that many of the VOD viewers of this film would have participated in had the world not been sequestered at home, desperate for something new to watch with their families.”
Desperate might not be too strong a word. Universal studios can’t possibly expect that everything they release straight to streaming is going to make 100 million dollars for the rest of time. The first Trolls movie made over 153 million dollars in the US and 346 million worldwide during its entire run. So in just a few weeks of steaming Trolls World Tour has made more than a fourth of the first entry. Even more, there are some movies that really should be taken in on the big screen. Sure, there are people who would have paid to see Avengers End Game for $20.00 at home. But, and I am totally guessing here, I think that a lot of people would rather see a movie that big at a movie theater in IMAX with super dolby audio, maybe even in 3D. I myself am looking forward to taking in Dr Strange that way. The Marvel Multiverse just will not seem to have enough madness if the first place I watch it on my own TV. Film makers do not want to make TV movies. That’s why they don’t make TV movies. They are filmed for the big screen. Sure some folks have a very nice set up at home, but its not hundreds of feet wide. None of my favorite spectacles feel the same at home.
The studio wasn’t expecting a big hit
You know what is not streaming or playing at the movies right now? The live-action adaptation of Mulan. The film was going to be released in July regardless but if you take a look at the planned release date for Trolls World Tour it is obvious that the studio was not expecting it to be a tentpole. Tentpoles don’t roll out in April. Much like Sonic The Hedgehog, which undoubtedly would have been a summer release if the studio had expected it to take off like it, over performed.
Why has it done so well? Because of the same reason that all off the streaming services have seen their numbers go through the roof. Everybody is home. At least everybody who hasn’t been deemed essential. But every kid in the country is out of school. Since March 17, Netflix has seen over a 300% increase in use, Disney+ saw over a 250 percent increase in use. And these are two content providers constantly attacked in comment sections and Facebook groups for not having enough big new movies. Right now, anything that can entertain us and help us forget that most of us are not home all the time by choice is going to be a winner. Especially if it is a high quality product. I was happy to watch Onward with my family until of course we all cried at the end, like I mean some of us had to rehydrate. But part of the excitement of the movies online right now is that we have no other way to take things in. On a personal note the last movie I saw at a theater was the Sonic movie. Why, because I wanted to sit in a heated recliner one more time before things shut down and it was the one that was playing with enough time for me to pick my daughter up from school one last time before schools closed never to re-open again here in NC.
The conflict for the studios has got to be with smaller pictures. The movies that bring in the big returns are typically the sorts of things that I highlighted. A story may be incredibly well told but never come close to the box office numbers of King Kong VS Godzilla. Because movies like the former translate so well to the big screen, while you might be able to watch a movie about a scandal at Fox News just as easily and enjoyably as you watch an NBA Finals game, which we probably won’t be able to do either this year :(. Smaller films maybe should find their way to the small screen instead of the big screen. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock and other would probably pay good money for fare that could drive revenue. Things that appeal to a different audience than the summer blockbuster crowd have plenty of fans but those fans are also people who say “I don’t like the movies bc there are too many loud people there”.
Universal should want people to go to the movies to see Jurassic World 3 or The Fast and the Furious. The ones who do not see it at the movie theater bc they don’t appreciate it on that format or consider it too much of a hassle will still be there to stream it after the normal window. And I think people want to see those things on the big screen as much as they probably would not pay to see Law and Order play at a movie theater. Would you go see “The Great British Baking Show” at the movies? I doubt it.
So many things feel more exciting on a big screen in a dark theater. I think the theater owners know this and I think the studios know this. The shared experience that happens when everybody cheers at the right places as though the characters can hear you or the shared gasp when we all saw fat Thor become stories that we remember years later and never experience the same way if when we see them on TV. That’s why in the end AMC, Regal Theaters and Universal will all play nice as soon as we get things back to normal.
Now about those 7 dollar hot dogs………..
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