The Motion picture business that has created a universe called Hollywood with its own star system is facing its biggest challenge as yet. It doesn't come from outer space but from the power of extremely fast digital streaming.
For decades there has been the traditional consumer buying tickets at the box office and settling down on cushioned seat to watch a tent pole cinematic recreation of a historic war or immersing in the darkness of the soul or rooting for the superheroes fighting for the survival of the planet or fearing an extra large size monster crumbling cities or even experiencing a life beyond our universe.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the billions of consumers who are now conditioned to watch movies, shorts, documentaries and shows on any device from smart televisions to smartphones and at any time they want.
With the stakes really high this year, Hollywood studios came out with its star power in full force at the annual convention of movie theatre owners - CinemaCon in Las Vegas in the last days of March 2017 raising their bets with their latest show reels. By all accounts the cinema audiences worldwide are in for a yearlong extravaganza from the cutting-edge "Spiderman: Homecoming" to the striking "War of the Planet of the Apes" and from Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hour" to Judi Dench in another period drama "Victoria and Abdul". The real scene stealers were the visually stunning "Blade Runner 2049" competing with Luc Besson's "Valerian", Jennifer Lawrence's spy thriller "The Red Sparrow" contending with Charlize Theron as "Atomic Spy" followed by the next edition of the visual effects laden "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Baywatch" with Priyanka Chopra playing the antagonist Victoria Leeds.
Not to be surpassed former Vice President Al Gore presented a new trailer for his environmental documentary 'An Inconvenient Sequel'. And then appearing before the galaxy of theatre owners "The Inception" and "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan introduced more than five minutes of spectacular footage from his World War II epic "Dunkirk" set to release this July. An impassioned Nolan who shot the film from his own screenplay on a combination of Imax 65mm and 65mm large format film firmly stated, "The only platform I'm interested in talking about is the theatrical exhibition". Without doubtNolan was the recipient of the loudest ovations heard during the four-day event.
Beyond the next generation cinema seats that spray and shake, digital IMAX screens, aural experience with popcorn and coke at the ready in a darkened auditorium, the theatre owners and Hollywood studios were in hushed tones addressing the elephant in the room.
The disruption caused by the digital streaming companies like Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube and Amazon Prime are challenging the way entertainment business was run for close to a century. The modern innovation of 'on demand and all access universe' is a game changer like never before. The Hollywood spectacle can never be duplicated on a small screen in a living room or in the palm but it is affecting the tastes and choices of the consumer. And both Amazon Prime and Netflix are going to be playing its movies in theatres near you. Amazon's Oscar-winning "Manchester By the Sea," was released by Roadside Attractions and grossed $47-million. The digital disruptor plans more releases adding to the growing theatre ticket sales.
According to the annual report of the Motion Picture Association of America cinema theatres tickets worldwide generated $38.6 billion in ticket sales, a new high but up just 0.5 per cent from 2015. Last year Japan was up 11 per cent to $2.0 billion while India increased about 19 per cent to $1.9 billion making them the second and third overseas markets vaulting ahead of the UK ($1.7 billion). China's box office at a humungous $6 billion is the largest market outside North America.
Clearly, the movie business is at an inflexion point. There is a new distribution model in the making to release studio movies on demand on streaming sites within weeks of their theatrical release (currently it is within a few months). In the years to come, the collapsing distribution windows will be the spectacle to watch in Hollywood.
Guest Author
The author is the Chairman of Lall Entertainment
