WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar reiterated the studio’s commitment to movie theaters, saying blockbusters will debut in cinemas before heading to streaming.
Warner Media’s biggest movies will play on the big screen before they head to streaming services as of 2022.
The company’s CEO Jason Kilar reiterated the studio’s commitment to cinemas in a Vox podcast called “Recode Media with Peter Kafka.”
“I think it’s very fair to say that a big, you know, let’s say a big DC movie … it’s very fair to say that that would go exclusively to theaters first and then go to somewhere like an HBO Max after it’s in theaters,” Kilar told Kafka.
It represents a U-turn on Warner Bros.’ 2021 strategy of releasing films in movie theaters and on its streaming service HBO Max simultaneously.
Warner Bros. has made a number of deals with movie theaters that would permit it to bring blockbuster films to its streaming service or premium video on-demand in as little at 45 days starting next year.
“I suspect you’re going to see two types of motion pictures,” Kilar said in an interview with CNBC in March. “When it comes to strategy from WarnerMedia, one of which is going to be the big and epic in scope movies that you’ve come to expect from us which has an exclusive theatrical run.”
“But clearly, when you think about, you know the world of DC and Harry Potter and things like that big, epic scope movies, I think deserve and will have an exclusive theatrical run,” he added.
“But there will be other movies, a large number of movies that will go to HBO Max at the same day that those same movies were made available to exhibitors and cinemas around the world. So again you’re going to see, kind of, kind of different, different movies in different distribution strategies in terms of going forward.”
