When 2021 began the big question was did the exhibition have a future. A year later, Spidey’s powerhouse pandemic premiere hammers home that moviegoers are back in cinemas.
The question now is streaming’s future. When analysts claimed the exhibition was on its deathbed, studios turned to stream as a lifesaver. What they found is that while it accelerated some revenue streams, it actually reduced films’ earnings. Pictures competing with themselves from Day One streaming were often doomed theatrically.
Audiences quickly learned how to subscribe for a month to catch an event movie at home mid-pandemic and then move on to another service that had next month’s must-see movie.
What’s generally worked best for streamers is original content — like Netflix’s comedy action thriller RED NOTICE with Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot & Ryan Reynolds; and Disney+’s 468 minutes long series THE BEATLES: GET BACK from directors Peter Jackson and Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Amazon has a likely winner 12/21 in its bio-drama BEING THE RICARDOS (pictured) from director Aaron Sorkin with Nicole Kidman & Javier Bardem. Of course, all of these could have made exhibitors’ holiday season even merrier.