Odeon, Alice and the future of release windows part 2
March 10, 2010
Well, it seems the battle of the theatrical window has well and truly begun, here in the UK at least, with the news that Odeon and UCI are boycotting Burton’s 3D Alice in Wonderland due to Disney planning to shorten the theatrical window to 12 weeks from 17 weeks. (http://www.screendaily.com/5011161.article and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7035592.ece and all over the trade press)
As I wrote in July last year, this really was inevitable. With dwindling DVD revenues, which were previously the major revenue source, producers and studios need to maximise the revenues from each film, and shortening windows even to the point of same day theatrical and DVD (plus VoD etc.) releases start to make sense (see http://verncinema.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/the-future-of-release-windows/ for full argument).
Apparently Disney first put this shorter 12 week window forward in December with Up, but backed down under pressure. Now it seems, they’ve got the bit between their teeth, with arguably what’s on paper a bigger star-led ‘event’ movie. And the chains aren’t happy. Which leads to a few observations; firstly, wasn’t 3D supposed to save cinema? This is a 3D film we’re talking about here, so the comparison between watching in 3D at the cinema as opposed to in 2D at home is quite different. It doesn’t seem as if that extra few weeks is going to make much of a difference to a large cinema chain, at least a lot less of a difference to losing out revenue to what is likely to be quite a major blockbuster. So this is more of a point of principle argument. Disney have said that they are only planning this with a few releases a year, but Odeon and UCI are adamant about the threat to their business.
Secondly, the chains might have had a bit of weight if they stuck together with a blanket boycott. But this is business, and a competitive business at that, and with several key players in the market, they were never going to hold ranks successfully. So Odeon and UCI make a stand, and Cineworld etc. get packed houses.
But even if Disney does suffer and Odeon and UCI win the battle, are they going to win the war? Hell no. These cinemas are running scared, with an outdated business model, and they know it. Trying to protect it isn’t going to work. The multiplex model took over from the inner-city cinemas because it enabled cinema owners to reduce overheads and maintain income, but now this model is under threat with narrowing demographics and poor atmosphere and is looking dated. If they’re not to follow the likes of EMI into the red, they need to re-evaluate their business model. Curzon Artifical Eye (who were behind several joint Sky Box Office / Theatrical releases last year) have already opened the first of what could be several if not dozens of cinemas above HMV shops and it looks like a very successful partnership for both partners. Oh, and the headline on their e-shot yesterday? “Exclusive to Wimbledon: Alice in Wonderland 3D”
As an update to this, Odeon have now backed down. A sensible business decision obviously, particularly given Alice’s massive opening week box office, but the war has just started, and they’ve already lost the first battle…
