Earlier this week, WB made a huge announcement that they will be releasing their 2021 movie slate simultaneously on HBO Max and theaters. This is similar to when they said they would release Wonder Woman 84 on Christmas day on HBO Max at no additional cost. Like many, I thought they were going to be testing the waters with Wonder Woman 84, since they hadn’t seen success with the messy theatrical release of Tenet. There are many countries with their theaters still closed due to Covid restrictions, and also, the service HBO Max is only available at the moment in the US only. This decision undoubtedly turns a huge tide in the movie release market since most theaters depend on the movie studios to provide content for them to show. With theater chains dwindling in business, there’s no doubt that this has cast major bad news for the future of the theater business. Will other large movie studios follow suit?
WB is the first major movie studio to make such a bold decision. Disney had similarly released Mulan on their streaming platform service Disney+ at an additional cost of $30 US dollars in order to access the movie. Most found it outrageous at that price tag, since you’re already paying for the actual streaming service itself. WB, will not be charging extra to watch their movies if you’re already paying for their HBO Max service, which as a consumer, is a steal. In the long run, after seeing how things have been going, WB may be thinking about cashing in on their streaming service to give other platforms like Netflix, and Disney+ some healthy competition.
Do you believe this was a good decision on their part? Is it time to invest in a projector to give our homes that movie theater experience? Only time will tell.
Below is a list of all major movies dropping on HBO Max and movie theaters same day:
- Wonder Woman 84
- Mortal Kombat
- The Little Things
- Tom and Jerry
- The Many Saints of Newark
- Reminiscence
- Godzilla vs Kong
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
- In The Heights
- Space Jam A New Legacy
- The Suicide Squad
- Dune
- Elvis
- King Richard
- Matrix 4
- Judas and The Black Messiah
- Malignant
- Those Who Wish Me Dead
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