AMC Theatres has extended their newly-formed deal with Universal to other studios, such as Disney. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the movie industry has seen some drastic changes over the course of 2020. Back in March, when movie theaters began to close down indefinitely, Universal made the then-unprecedented decision to send Trolls World Tour straight to VOD instead of waiting for a theatrical run. When this proved to be something of a success, other studios followed suit, but it was Universal that really took to this new strategy with gusto. NBCUniversal's CEO made comments that suggested the studio would prioritize early on-demand releases in the future, which sparked a fierce battle with AMC.
At the end of April, AMC announced they would no longer show any Universal films on their screens. Many wondered how sustainable it would be for the theater chain, seeing as Universal has several big name franchises that draw in a lot of customers. For several months, nothing changed between the two companies, but then yesterday, news broke that they had come to an agreement. Universal now has the ability to put their movies on VOD seventeen days after their theatrical release if they wish, including on AMC's own on-demand platform.
According to Variety, AMC has begun offering similar deals to other major studios. The terms are slightly different for these studios: AMC would receive 20% of gross revenue from the rentals and would have to pay 2% less for each film it distributes. So far, however, no other studio has accepted this deal, with Disney being cited as one that is especially uninterested. Disney is worried the shortened theatrical window would impact the profitability of their family films.
The debate over shorter theatrical windows has been raging for years, and many are shocked Universal has managed to whittle it down to just three weeks. Theaters have been cautious about cutting runs on their screens too short, but AMC seems to feel okay about only three weeks for Universal films. Of course, if a movie is performing exceptionally well, Universal can decide to keep it in theaters for longer. Therefore, in some cases, things might not be too different. At the same time, it's hard to deny that these are some serious changes within the movie industry.
It'll be interesting to see if any other studios agree to AMC's new plan. Universal was the one studio to be especially interested in earlier VOD releases at the start of this year, so there's a chance others don't feel the need to shorten their window so drastically. Every major studio this year has shifted at least one release to VOD or streaming instead of a theatrical run, but Universal has done it the most. Unless AMC can make these deals especially appealing to other studios, they might be left with just Universal. Only time will tell if this changes.
Source: Variety