WarnerMedia took a shitload of heat for their groundbreaking decision to release all of their 2021 films in theaters and HBO Max simultaneously. In some cases it has worked out just fine, like with Godzilla vs. Kong, but not so much for others, such as In the Heights. But one thing is clear now as that practice comes to an end this year, and it’s that streaming is going to continue to be a very big deal for them going into 2022.
During an investor call, Jason Kilar, the CEO of WarnerMedia, revealed that 2022 will see 10 original films released exclusively to HBO Max. Kilar added, “Clearly motion pictures matter and will continue to matter. They also matter at home in terms of the response we’ve gotten.”
In other words, we’re going to be giving you a lot of both theatrical experiences and streaming. All of this is clearly an effort to elevate HBO Max to the level of Netflix.
This also means we should look for blockbusters to remain a very big presence in theaters, however, the 90-day release window is a thing of the past. You can expect to see movies out there for 45-days or so before moving to HBO Max and other digital platforms. The release window had begun to shrink before the pandemic but over the last year, it has been bitten right in half.
While Kilar didn’t reveal which movies would be HBO Max exclusives, we do know that smaller DC Comics projects such as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Blue Beetle are skipping theaters. They almost certainly won’t be the last. [Variety]
