Well well well. See who else is entering the “hybrid” launch movement.
According of several outletsDisney-owned Searchlight Pictures has announced that it will release its next film Nomadland on Hulu on the same day of its theatrical release on February 19, a few weeks after the film first debuted on IMAX on January 29th. That means that another studio is taking the controversial HBO Max approach to go to the limit between giving movies in theaters at a time when no one is going to theaters and simply releasing those movies on a streaming service to help attract subscribers.
O Direction by Chloé Zhao Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, has already obtained significant critical acclaim and has of several featured awards during the festival. It centers on a character named Fern who, after an economic crisis in rural Nevada, explores the life of a nomad in the American West.
Although Disney has insisted that its Disney + platform is not just a service for children, Hulu remains the logical home for independent releases and adult dramas. And it’s not necessarily a surprise that Disney decided to release a movie previously scheduled for a theatrical release on one of its services – it was done so that a handful of times already with movies like Mulan in Disney +. But using a hybrid launch model for such a critical darling seems like a strange change from an experienced studio like Disney, especially since the fall HBO Max’s decision to employ a two-by-one release for all of its 2021 films was swift.
The problem with this particular type of mid-roll release is that it’s not an especially big deal for cinemas, which depend on – or trusted rather, instead – exclusive launch windows for paying customers to settle in their auditoriums. It is not a great result for filmmakers, who probably intended his films to be shown in theaters. And it is not a fantastic prospect of maintaining great relationships with talent, which, of course, studios count on, you know, to make films.
However, it is great for consumers who prefer to pay nothing for immediate access to a movie through a service they have already subscribed to. It is also not a bad deal for people who prefer to sign up for a new service to broadcast a film at home rather than being in a public space like a cinema during a pandemic. In addition, who wants to pay admission fees per person when the whole family can broadcast a film in the comfort of their own living room?
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But it seems that studios are setting a new standard at a time when cinemas are not in a good position to make demands. And if we’re going to have cinemas to go back to in a post-pandemic world, they’ll need to keep the lights on until then.