The covid pandemic is upsetting the awards-season calendar, as televised awards shows postpone, cancel or become bland virtual events — creating ripple effects. A fallout is that awards-marketing spending looks to be subdued by the uncertainty, and prestige films are deprived of routine publicity bursts in the lead-up to the Oscars. Amid the chaos, the door is also … [Read more...] about Awards Season Compressed, Thinned
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‘Eternals’ Revives Cinema Promos
Walt Disney Studios’ comic book adaptation “The Eternals” opened to a hefty $71 million three-day premiere weekend, marking the return of film tie-in sponsors to prepandemic norms. For the superhero film from the Marvel comics stable, the movie has promotional sponsors Lexus cars, McDonald’s restaurants, Geico insurance, Urban Decay cosmetics, S. C. Johnson & Son’s Ziploc … [Read more...] about ‘Eternals’ Revives Cinema Promos
Paramount+ Pushes Discount Streaming Bundle
Corporate sibling video-on-demand streamers Paramount+ and Showtime roll out a price cut by selling themselves as a bundled package in the increasingly crowded and booming VOD landscape. The VOD package provides two options priced to consumers at $9.99/month in the Essential Plan or $12.99 for the Premium Plan, whose main differentiators are being more commercial free, 4K video … [Read more...] about Paramount+ Pushes Discount Streaming Bundle
Streamers Exalt Original Movies
If movies are supposedly “dead,” then why are video streamers producing them by the truck load? In just the past week, it was learned that NBCUniversal will spend $400 million to make a new “Exorcist” movie trilogy for to-be-determined play on its Peacock video streamer as well as cinema for October 2023. Elsewhere, the parent of streamer HBO Max announced plans to make 10 … [Read more...] about Streamers Exalt Original Movies
Video Game Builds ‘Avatar 2’ Ecosystem
The groundwork for a multimedia “Avatar” universe is coming into focus from Walt Disney Studios. Merchandise licensee Ubisoft Entertainment just unveiled “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora," a first-person video game that fleshes-out the sci-fi epic’s far-away world. The source sci-fi movie “Avatar” is the all-time box-office champ grossing $760.5 domestically (and $2.85 billion … [Read more...] about Video Game Builds ‘Avatar 2’ Ecosystem
Cinema Marketing Ignites ‘Quiet II’
Horror film “A Quiet Place II” scared up a blockbuster $57 million in domestic box office for the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend with a conventional cinema marketing campaign. The messaging included “Only In Theatres” as a key copy line; "Quiet" won't hit video streaming until 45 days after cinema premiere. The Paramount Pictures release bettered second-ranked weekend … [Read more...] about Cinema Marketing Ignites ‘Quiet II’
Digital Disciple Endorses Cinema
The digital native atop Hollywood’s largest major studio gave a full endorsement to cinema release, as the broader rebound of the theatrical film business takes shape post-pandemic. Jason Kilar, head of mammoth Hollywood enterprise WarnerMedia, told a recent MoffettNathanson investors' conference: “You should expect us to lean into theatrical distribution for decades and … [Read more...] about Digital Disciple Endorses Cinema
Analysts Map Cinema’s Future
Business analysts looking beyond the current Covid-19 pandemic disruption see a comeback picture for the silver screen. That's the case even though the customary 120-to-90-day window shrinks between theatrical and TV (such as video streamers like Netflix) and Hollywood trying different combinations of cinema/streaming sequencing for individual movies or batches of … [Read more...] about Analysts Map Cinema’s Future
Netflix Originals Challenge Cinema Habit
Netflix promises a new premiere movie each week, which could disrupt the traditional “let’s all go out to a movie tonight” habit. The video streaming service marshals billions of dollars in marketing and content spending for that original-movies ambition, though there are some chinks in Netflix’s armor. Netflix just reported very good calendar 2020 earnings with 203.7 … [Read more...] about Netflix Originals Challenge Cinema Habit
Indie ‘True’ Shines Amid Pandemic
An independent film, “True to the Game 2,” made an impact in national box office laid low by Corona-19 pandemic. Over the Nov 6-8 boxoffice weekend, the urban action film took in $290,000 from 247 locations with a per screen average of $1,174—a good showing in the virus social-distancing era. That per-screen average appears to rank #2 nationally among all films in … [Read more...] about Indie ‘True’ Shines Amid Pandemic