Theater Owners CEO Declares Day-and-Date Is ‘Dead’ in CinemaCon Speech

thewrap.com:

National Association of Theater Owners President/CEO John Fithian declared that “simultaneous release is dead” during his opening speech at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. “Robust theatrical windows protect against piracy.

If a major title that people are clamoring to see in theaters is released too quickly to the home and then pirated, the temptation to stay home and watch pirated films becomes greater for many potential moviegoers,” Fithian said to applause from theater owners in attendance.“With the help of the global authority on digital piracy, MUSO, we closely track piracy levels.

When analyzing title after title it becomes very clear that spikes in piracy are most drastic when a movie is first available to watch in the home: it doesn’t matter if its available via premium video on demand or subscription video on demand,” he continued. “I am pleased to announce that simultaneous release is dead as a serious business model, and piracy is what killed it.”Amidst unprecedented uncertainty surrounding the movie theater industry last year with the COVID-19 pandemic still running rampant and vaccine campaigns ongoing, many studios turned to day-and-date models as a way to hedge their bets on a moviegoing populace uncertain on returning to theaters.

Warner Bros. got the most headlines — and industry heat — making this move by releasing all of its 2021 films simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters, but other studios also made attempts as Disney released “Black Widow” and “Jungle Cruise” in theaters and at a premium price on Disney+ while Universal released “Halloween Kills,” “Boss Baby: Family Business” and “Marry Me” as day-and-date titles on Peacock.