In a surprising move, Warner Bros has revealed that it will stream all of its major upcoming blockbusters on HBO Max on the same day as their theatrical releases, at no extra cost to subscribers.
This hybrid release plan comes in wake of the Coronavirus pandemic which has causes a seismic shift in movie watching trends. Warner Bros’ recent release — Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”, did not sell many tickets due to theatres being closed, forcing the studio to consider alternative approaches.
The first movie to release under this system will be Gal Gadot starrer “Wonder Woman 1984” on December 25 followed by a colossal list throughout next year.
Some of the biggest names in that list include “Dune”, “The Suicide Squad”, “Tom & Jerry”, “Godzilla vs. Kong”, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”, “Mortal Kombat”, and “The Matrix 4”, among others.
Talking about this huge step, Ann Sarnoff, chief executive of WarnerMedia Studios said:
“Given the unprecedented time that we’re in, we needed a creative solution to address our fans, our filmmakers and our exhibitors. Big and bold is a necessity right now.”
However, there are a few catches that need to be kept in mind. This plan is just in place for a year and is exclusive to the US since HBO Max isn’t available outside the country.
Furthermore, the films will be available to stream for a limited time only, post which, they will run only in theatres. According to another disclaimer, their release dates are also susceptible to change
A major con to this move is a higher risk of piracy these huge blockbusters will face, outside America, due to their presence online.
Check out the announcement by HBO Max here:
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