Since last year, theaters had to shut down completely due to the ongoing pandemic causing major movie release delays. Movie studios had to completely reshuffle their release dates and figure out a new release strategy. This has caused movies to skip theaters completely and go straight to video-on-demand, pushed back a year or two, and/or get released on a streaming platform as well as a theater release.
Warner Bros. was the first studio to announce their new release strategy, which had all of their upcoming 2021 slate being released simultaneously in theaters and streaming on HBO Max (for no additional fee) beginning with Wonder Woman 1984 last year. While this seemed like a good idea, given the state of the world and the fact that it was unclear when theaters would open again, it came with mixed reactions.
Disney was next, announcing that they would be offering Premiere Access on Disney+ for the live-action Mulan for an additional price of $29.99 (the best part was you got to keep the movie). This also had mixed reactions as people did not like that they had to pay an additional fee on top of their monthly/annual subscription.
As 2020 went into 2021 and theaters still hadn’t opened yet, Disney made a lot of decisions regarding their slate. They added Raya &The Last Dragon, Cruella, Black Widow, and Jungle Cruise to their Premiere Access along with their theatrical releases, with Disney/Pixar’s Soul and Luca becoming Disney+ original movies.
Now, personally, I like this new strategy of releasing movies in theaters and streaming on the same day. As some who works in the retail industry, my schedule sometimes doesn’t give me the opportunity to go see a movie in theaters so if I can stream it at home that’s awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love going to the theaters, but there are certain movies (particularly Disney movies) that I would like to just watch from home and not deal with obnoxious kids. I happily paid the Premiere Access on Disney+ and also saw those movies in theaters as well.
I would hope this strategy continues going forward because I know that when this pandemic is over there will be a lot of people who still don’t feel comfortable sitting in a packed movie theater and would just rather stay at home and watch a new movie. I will say this though, there is nothing like seeing a horror film or a Marvel film in a dark theater. I will continue to see movies in theaters, but if I can also stream it at home on the same day, well that’s just icing on the cake.
What are your thoughts on the subject? Sound off in the comments!
