You've seen them, they are abandoned buildings, converted private gyms and fast food restaurants - I'm talking about Blockbuster Videos that use to populate almost every street corner in 2005 suburbia. They became a thing of the past, mostly due to Netflix Subscriptions and the very beginning of online video streaming, but with the apparent boom of online streaming services we should question, will movie theaters follow the same fate?
It's no secret that the Academy has not been a fan of Netflix and other streaming services movie platforms, it took a very serious campaign Netflix trail blazed last year with Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma" that they pitched and although it won in prominent categories, it begs the question - would it have won more if it was backed by a major studio? Honestly, yes. It had all the elements making of a Best Picture - beloved director and poignant story that the Academy loves, but it came up short. It was released via Netflix v. Major Studio that backs The Academy.
I don't want to under play it - it was a huge deal that the first Irishman trailer debuted at the 2019 Oscar's capturing the first scenes of DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci and as the trailer came to an end, we saw the flash of the solo white screen and red font - Netflix (bah-dum). And with "Roma" breaking barriers last year, we see six more prominent movies in the conversation for Best Picture at Oscar 2020 with "Marriage Story", "Irishman", "Two Popes", "Dolemite Is My Name", "The Laundromat" and "The King" all being featured on the platform in some form. While not all of these will be nominated for Best Picture, I can guarantee each of them will be nominated in some way in March.
Movie Theaters have been failing - that's obvious. It might seem like they have never been better, with huge blockbusters climbing the charts (Black Panther, Avengers: End Game, The Joker....all Comic Books Movies, but whatever) but movie theater tickets have not been growing at the booming rate they had been in the past. People aren't going, ticket prices have soared, the best way they can attract people to the big screens is with comic books, spin-offs and re-boots. Movie Theaters have to find a way to compete and they did...kind of.
Remember Movie Pass? Ah Movie Pass, it was such a simple concept, you pay as low as $15 / month to see as much as a movie a day. It was a great and people used it....so much that it went out of business not even two years after it launched. Although it was deemed a short failure, it did part of its purpose - it helped increase revenue at the movie theaters in 2017 and 2018, but not enough.
Now I don't want to sound morbid, theaters aren't ending that quickly - in fact, 5/6 movies that will be released on Netflix will also be released in limited theaters approximately 4-weeks before it appears on the streaming site. It's a new release schedule, one that we should pay attention to as movie studios start to get creative about their release dates and content.
And with six of these movie's in the Oscar Race in some capacity, it will be interesting how The Academy changes its views of streaming services and its relationship to Best Picture content, it also opens the door to new services and how they will begin to change their distribution and content patterns to align with its competition.
Also, never forget Helen Mirren's reaction to Netflix - "F** Netflix."
And that's the stich.
Release Dates and information listed below:
1. Marriage Story: Theatrical Release: November 6th; Netflix Release: December 6th
2. The Irishman: Theatrical Release: November 1st; Netflix Release: November 27th
3. Two Popes: Theatrical Release: November 27; Netflix Release: December 20th
4. Dolemite Is My Name: Netflix Release: October 25th
5. The Laundromat: Theatrical Release: September 27th; Netflix Release: October 18th
6. The King: Theatrical Release: October 11th; Netflix Release: November 1st
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