You’re absolutely right to point out this model isn’t fit for every market; how could it? Neither is the coverage for these streaming models available everywhere, nor are the funds. Cinemas respond to this with different ticket prices in different countries, which I would suppose streaming services could, too.
But what we’re looking at here is a relatively new model and the exclusive price tag is meant for the event character of seeing the film’s ‘premiere’ run. A few months later it would also become cheaper. It’s perhaps a bit like driving a Porsche - if you can’t afford a new one you may be in the market for a pre-loved model. And if that’s still too steep you might afford to rent one for a few days.
I also think that markets which haven’t got the infrastructure for streaming yet will probably soon upgrade if at all possible. If necessary the streamers themselves will push for it. In the meantime films will also be shown at cinemas no doubt. But it’s a gamble and especially in the poorer regions it’s going to affect the fight against COVID-19.
I’m hungry to see the movie this year. If it’s via streaming, so be it. The coming months will be a strong indicator as to what happens. Tenet is set to release here in Australia this month.
Actually, I would not mind if all the box office comparisons were impossible in the future.
Since the late 80´s the discussion of grosses has become the main criteria for too many in order to decide whether to watch a movie or even to like it.
How much more interesting the movie experience will become again when people won’t know whether a movie has made more money than others. When it´s just one´s own personal opinion which decides.
Would a film like AMÉLIE get made for the box office potential today?
Would any Wes Anderson or Peter Weir film?
Would IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, NETWORK, APOCALYPSE NOW, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, TAXI DRIVER, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, À BOUT DE SOUFFLE, MIRAGE, CLOCKWORK ORANGE or hundreds of other classics? I have serious doubts.
The fixation on the profits of a film has narrowed down the potential of the art already. It’s a crude calculation about target audiences in relation to maximum possible returns and has lead to inbred franchising - ironically often starting out from mid-range or outright B class productions.
The particular potential of film as an art mostly defies being broken down to naked market considerations. In the books they talk about top sellers and long sellers - but few of last year’s top sellers will make the cut at the end of the decade. The long sellers may not turn around as many copies - but they often do it for far longer; Fleming’s books used to be in that latter category for decades.
Today, Hollywood concentrates on producing mostly the top sellers: the blockbusters and construction kit productions streamlined to the point of uniformity.
With a different release model there could be a chance for a more diverse output not dependent on marketing budgets. Word of mouth could play a greater role again, not as a troll device but as true recommendation by impressed audiences wanting to share their pleasure.
Those sort of films are still made, unfortunately they just don’t get the level of attention they would have received in bygone eras unless the director is a known quantity (Dunkirk, The Irishman, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood etc) which I think speaks more to journalism now; a slow build isn’t interesting, they just want quick hit so they can move onto the next one.
Ofcourse a movie like Dangerous Liaisons could get made today, but… now De Valmont has a sidekick played by Jackie Chan, who finds out that a dangerous group of killer ninja’s are infiltrating France, but don’t worry, after a couple of overlong funny fight scene’s he can defeat them! Oh and De Valmont is played by Ben Stiller, who realy falls in love with the girl he had to seduce and in the end of the movie he marries her. I think there was also a part for Glenn Close as someone called De Merteuil, but that is just a small part, lasting not more than 5 minutes, because otherwise it will be at the expense of the time of the fight scenes with Chan and that is the last thing we, the audience, want ofcourse!
It would get made for the streamers, adding more provocative content, neglecting the needed balance, and then get forgotten in the flood of new titles.
I do not think that it is only journalism which is affected. Slow builds in terms of narrative structure are not appreciated any more. People prefer/need narratives that are built through an accretion of short, straightforward doses of narrative, with one following quickly upon another. Older films implicitly promised a resolution/payoff within two hours (more or less). Today’s narratives hold off resolution for as many episodes/years as possible, which means that individual narrative segments/capsules have to possess their own mini-payoffs to keep a viewer’s attention. If it were made today, the second scene of CITIZEN KANE would have the nurse on TMZ Live announcing: “Right before the end, Mr. Kane asked for his boyhood sled, and then he died.”
Here in Poland in pre-pandemic world it used to be - more or less - 7 EUR (now it’s a bit less). So, for the assumed price of 30$ for PVOD I’d have 4 cinema tickets. That’s… a lot.
True. But my point was I hope that price for PVOD will vary depending on the market. Noone in Poland, save for hard core fans, will pay that much for 48-hrs rental. I certainly wouldn’t if it wasn’t a James Bond film. Plus I was wondering what is the ratio of the PVOD price to the ticket price in other countries.
I’d guess the thinking behind the pricing is that vod will be seen by 2-4 people in a household so one rental is in effect several tickets. I’d certainly pay it to see the film and avoid a busy cinema.
I actually cannot remember what I payed for RISE OF SKYWALKER. It was one of those 3D-Lounge seats that come with service-at-your-seat so it was probably a bit on the upper limit, maybe € 15 or a bit more.
Currently they show UNHINGED in the original version - not dubbed - for a few cents short of € 10. Which I would expect is the regular price for a Friday night in these times.
Depending on time and day, between 5 and 7.50 Euros. 3D movies are plus 1 Euro. Overlength depending on movie lenght is plus between 0.50 (120 minutes) and 1.50 (180 minutes) Euros at my preferred cinema. And that’s not because it’s a small local cinema out in the woods, just checked the large Cinestar next town, they’re not much more expensive.
