Theatrical and At-Home Releases at the End of 2020
Wonder Woman 1984.
Recently, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the much delayed Wonder Woman 1984, originally pushed indefinitely into the next year at some point, will now be a Christmas release. The catch is that it will be put into select theatres and released for home viewing via HBO Max (U.S. residents only). It’s the kind of strategy that I feel many cinephiles have been requesting for nearly the entire pandemic, now. Especially with limited theatrical released currently still happening (as to abide by social distancing laws, whilst making some sort of an income at all this year), this almost felt like a no brainer. Why aren’t more studios doing this? Maybe studio executives were hoping the pandemic would subside sometime soon, and we would be bursting into cinemas in no time (news flash: that sadly wasn’t the case), but the waiting game hasn’t really sufficed much.
The problem is that there is some legitimacy to the waiting game. Relying strictly on streaming (even for now) means all of those problems would arise sooner (distribution rights, digital piracy, figuring out fair financial gains for all, and more). I’d argue that grinning and bearing it right now is wiser than loosing lots of money (shoots have been going since earlier this year, when appropriate social distancing measures were figured out as to complete films in progress). The main thing is that this is a dilemma for North America, and other similarly effected areas, but not all parts of the world are still going into lockdown or struggling with rising illness numbers. There are cinemas that could be releasing new features in places like Australia, and still making at least some sort of money for now. Doing both releases at once makes sense (although the home release of Wonder Woman 1984 for American residents only, while likely a rights related issue, doesn’t).
Soul is also releasing on Christmas, so maybe Disney+ will attempt something similar.
Clearly, just doing this every time a new film is meant to come out isn’t feasible in all instances. What I’m trying to say is that this should be happening at least a little more often. The waiting game is not working, and we’re clearly at a weird place right now, where some countries are doing fantastically well and others have rebounding numbers. Adaptation is key for businesses and industries to survive, if possible. This is a potential idea that has a major blockbuster sequel as a guinea pig (on Christmas, as well). Let’s see how this goes. Even though other studios have had different plans (I’m not going to forget that insane Mulan one, nor will anyone else), this one actually seems to try to make the most of the situation. Chances are Wonder Woman 1984 won’t be making even remotely as much money as it could have in a normal year, but it’s something. If Trolls World Tour can break records at home, and Tenet can do decently (in a pandemic, anyway, otherwise it’s completely a bust), then both worlds might not be such a bad idea.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.