Globe and Mail seems to think differently, according to a buddy of mine. Apparently, if Toronto and Montreal cinemas are not open, the film might not get a release in Canada (at least not until weeks later than Christmas). And HBO Max in Canada does not have the same offerings as in the US. It’s quite possible, perhaps likely, that the movie won’t be available in Canada until late January or later.
Ah, I see. I got to be honest, should that happen, it wouldn't be the worst thing, at least for me personally. The Christmas week is usually extremely busy for me, and I don't see that being any different this year despite the pandemic. A late January release actually would be much more convenient for me anyway.
Here it's on course to be released on the 25th of December in cinemas and will probably make a nice bit of money. Tenet did pretty well here. Don't think there is a HBO max available. Sending you a socially distant hug.
My wife is excited it will be available on HBO Max the same day as theaters. She was leery about going out where there would be a crowd of people.
I don't mind paying for movies on top of a subscription if they release them on streaming services. My issue with Mulan was the $30 price point. Usually a movie ticket would have been $10 but if they charged $15 for premium movies, I probably would pay for it. Either that or add tier pricing to the streaming service. At this price point you get the normal service. At a higher price point you get premium content. Before the pandemic hit, I was a member of Cinemark Movie Club, which was a free ticket every month and 20% off concessions, and the movie tickets rolled over. I wonder if something like that could work for streaming services. Yeah I get the argument about not paying a fee on top of a subscription fee, but if the industry is changing and we can't go to the movie theaters anymore, these movies should still be released before they become "yesterday's news".
Yeah, it was the same thing for me. I wouldn't have minded paying another $5 or $10, but $30 was just way to much for me on top of the subscription.
Dan Murrell spends the better part of this week's episode of his Charts show talking about the WW84 release, the details and deals with theaters, and what it could mean to the business overall:
The film may still have an early international release. If lockdown restrictions are eased, It's expected to hit UK theatres on December 16th https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a34784543/wonder-woman-1984-release-date-uk/
My local cinema "may" be able to open on the 16th, but not before. I don't know how many other cinemas will be open much before given the recent tier announcements I think I might be waiting for home media.
Yeah as much as I would like to see this movie in theatres, home media is starting to look like the best option for me as well. We're now on lockdown again, and I'm not holding my breath that it'll be lifted before Christmas. I won't be getting HBO Max just for this, so I'll be waiting until it gets a more general release on the other streaming services and/or the physical media release.
i am sad to see the news of it going to HBOMax first... not because of the availability -- we already subscribe due to our cell phone service. But i feel bad in that it won't make very much money, and i saw WW84 as one of the top movies in a non-COvid 2020. That, along with Black Widow and Mulan, would have paved the way for MANY more women-led films being made, and breaking some barriers. It also would have helped the DC Film Universe. Now that will just be as much of a mess, especially with JL-Snyder version coming soon after on HBOMax (taking that thunder away form WW84). This decision seemed so rushed... now with products like DOritos putting up photos of Wonder Woman last spring... with those deals, who pays for those? If it was Doritos, WB should have told them to go print more ASAP, but with the HBOMax note. No cost in that scenario to WB, and Doritos can profit form the buzz. If it was WB...i understand not wanting to spend any more marketing money...but maaaan, should have been an easy thing to do , and would really help the film and HBOMax.
The movie studios and indeed the whole industry are way overdue for a reset in terms of the way they plan, budget and release the mega movies that have become their lifeline. So it took a global pandemic, but the whole rickety old system is crashing and burning. WW84 is far from the only big movie that will disappoint this year. It needed to happen someday soon; it's happening now. As movies slip and Regal shuts doors again, many theaters may not survive the maelstrom
Looks like the UK will get to see the movie on December 16 in theaters, with a PVOD release on Sky Cinema one month later.
The first reactions are coming out and so far they are pretty positive. A couple people complained about it being to long, but that seems to be the most serious complaint to far.
I really wish more big movies could stick to two hours or less. There are definitely some movies that need to be longer (like the LOTR and Avengers films), but it feels like every blockbuster thinks it has to be super long. Even really good films can sometimes stand to cut some fat, and all the long runtimes can get annoying at times. I'd say this about most movies, not just ones I think are going to be mediocre like WW84.
Yeah, I've been kind of surprised for a while now how many of these kind of movies are going up to 2 1/2 hours. For a while it seemed like most of these movies were right around 2 hours, but now that feels exceptionally short.
Agreed. I really don't want to be watching a movie for 2 and a half hours, and if it has to be that long, I hope it's a great movie.