Weekly News Round Up: Streaming Leads Record Home Ent Revenues, Piracy Is Biggest Problem.
Streaming Leads Record Home Entertainment Revenues, Including Possible $1 Billion In PVOD
The huge haul of home entertainment dollars that’s washed into Hollywood during the pandemic set another record in the first half of 2021, according to new figures from industry organization Digital Entertainment Group. And that record $15.7 billion doesn’t even include as much as $1 billion in premium VOD revenues that studios aren’t reporting publicly, a top studio executive said.
The numbers set a record, up 5.2 percent to $15.7 billion on top of last year’s pandemic-fueled explosion of consumer demand, and up 32 percent compared to 2019. Streaming revenues dominated the totals, while other distribution channels generated about $2 billion in additional income.
"What happened with the pandemic, it really has had a sustained effect,” McCourt said. “We’re seeing growth on top that (record 2020). Going back to 2019, the growth is even more extraordinary.”
“The amount of new customers who’ve come into the space has been really quite tremendous,” Wuthrich said. “And they continue to transact. It’s really quite encouraging. We saw a lot of new customers coming in through premium (VOD), and then they stick around. This isn’t at the detriment of the streaming services. Consumers are adding multiple streaming services, and in addition, they’re continuing to lean into this content space and add (rentals and purchases) from the catalog.”
Piracy Is Biggest Problem For Day-And-Date Releases, Say International Film Distrib & Exhib Chiefs – CinemaCon
The worst takeaway from dynamic windows is piracy, plain and simple. Such was the message from CinemaCon’s first panel today “Globally Speaking: A Look at the International Market”. Citing a local film journalist’s media poll,CEO Cinépolis Alejandro Ramírez Magaña said that of 25K-plus respondents, close to a third watched Black Widow on a pirated site, to 13% on Disney+ and 28% in movie theaters. The exhibition boss mentioned that while previous forms of theatrical piracy entailed individual copies being made in different markets with different languages via camcorders, it’s a much simpler process nowadays for cinema thieves: “Day and date allows pristine copies to be made in all available languages.”
Sony Executives Slam Hybrid Releases as ‘Devastating’ for Film Industry
Sony is an outlier among major studios; it’s the only one without its own streaming service and the only one that has not used the pandemic as an excuse to premiere films in theaters and for at-home viewing on the same date, a move that his drawn ire from theatrical exhibitors. But Sony Pictures Chairman Tom Rothman put an even finer point on it when he congratulated 20th Century’s “Free Guy” on its box office performance, citing two reasons: “Number one, it’s terrific, and number two, you can’t watch it at home. Go fucking figure!”
https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/sony-executives-slam-hybrid-releases-cinemacon-1234659765/
French Theatrical Admissions Fall 41% as COVID ‘Health Bill’ Comes Into Force
French movie theaters, which reopened their doors mid-May after a six-month shutdown, have seen admissions fall by 41% over the last week (Aug. 11-18), according to the national exhibitors guild (FNCF).
Most exhibitors and distributors are blaming the steep decline in moviegoing on a COVID health pass that came into effect on Aug. 9 and requires every patron to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test in order to access cinemas and other cultural venues, as well as restaurants, bars and other public venues.
Admissions were down 34% the week of Aug. 4 and fell by 41% the following week, explained Stephane Landfried of the FNCF. “That’s significant because we can see the impact of the health pass law which came into effect, and every single cinema, from multiplexes to arthouse theaters, now have to apply it, whereas previously only the big chains such as Gaumont-Pathe, UGC and CGR were obligated to enforce it,” said Landfried. “Up until now, other venues were able to welcome guests without a health pass as long as they limited the audience capacity to 49 people per screen.”
https://variety.com/2021/film/global/french-box-office-covid-health-bill-1235043654/
‘The Addams Family 2’ Going Theatrical-PVOD Day & Date
Well, as reported earlier this week Sony decided to go into talks with Amazon to sell off their Hotel Transylvania 4, and now MGM?United Artists Releasing is taking their sequel Addams Family 2 theatrical day-and-date on PVOD for $19.99. The release date remains Oct. 1. All of this occurs due to the rising delta variant, the fact that kids are still unvaccinated and markets like NY and LA are requiring vax cards. When it comes to these family titles, you’ve got to give them an option to watch it where they feel comfortable, and that’s what studios are doing.
https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-addams-family-2-going-theatrical-pvod-day-date-1234819111/
‘Hotel Transylvania 4’ No Longer Going Head To Head With ‘Addams Family 2’ In Theaters; Sony Pic In Early Talks To Go To Amazon
Some studios are wary about releasing family movies during the autumn when the delta variant is spiking, kids under 12 can’t be vaccinated yet, and theaters in NY and LA are bound to check moviegoers’ vax cards before entering. Sony in moving Hotel Transylvania 4 off the calendar joins Paramount which recently moved its eOne Clifford the Big Red Dog off the schedule.
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/hotel-transylvania-4-amazon-streaming-rights-sony-1235042371/
BARB: SVOD in 66% of UK households
the number of UK households with a subscription to any SVOD service is now 18.8 million homes (66%), up from 17.4 million in Q3 2020.
Market leader Netflix increased to 16.8m households in Q2 2021, up more than 1.5m since Q3 2020. Amazon Prime Video saw a larger growth in households than Netflix, increasing over 2.3m homes to 12.5m. The largest percentage-change in the market was from Disney+, which is growing from a smaller subscriber base than Amazon and Netflix, having launched in March 2020. In Q2 2021, Disney+ was available in 4.8m households, up 24% since last time. Now also increased, to 2.3m homes.
The proportion of homes with an SVOD service that subscribe to two or more services has risen to 65.3%, up from 58.3% in Q3 2020.
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2021/08/27/barb-svod-in-66-of-uk-households/
AFM Moves Fully Online For 2021 Edition As The Pandemic Nixes Yet Another In-Person Event
The American Film Market, held annually at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, is moving its 2021 edition entirely online, the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) announced today. 'AFM 2021 Online’ will be held Monday, November 1 to Friday, November 5 – shifting one day earlier than its original dates.
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Trailer Shatters ‘Avengers: Endgame’s’ 24-Hour Viewership Record
According to Sony Pictures, the “No Way Home” trailer also earned the most-ever mentions on social media of any movie preview over the first 24 hours, with 4.5 million mentions worldwide. Domestically, “No Way Home” drew 2.91 million mentions over 24 hours, nearly doubling the 1.94 million mentions over the same period for “Endgame’s” trailer.
