So, remember "The Interview"? Barely a month ago it was the only thing the movie world was talking about, and now the comedy is a distant memory. But for Sony, the picture proved to be a grand and ultimately successful experiment about what a star-driven, highly publicized, straight-to-VOD release could accomplish. Granted, it was an extraordinary situation, but numbers from earlier in the month revealed that the studio earned $31 million for digital sales and rentals of the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy, which, coupled with $5 million from its limited theatrical release, puts the total at $36 million — not a far cry from the movie’s $44 million budget. But some are arguing that Sony missed out on earning more, and, not surprisingly, it’s the theater owners who are making the argument.
In an opinion piece for Box Office, Patrick Corcoran, Vice President & Chief Communications Officer of the National Association of Theater Owners, runs down the numbers to make an argument that nothing about Sony’s release of "The Interview" was a "game changer." And while no one has necessarily argued that it won’t be business as usual in Hollywood for a while yet, the fear that theater owners have about VOD is expressed quite clearly in this paragraph:
Essentially, VOD and streaming — which offers everyone the chance to watch a movie in the comfort of their own home at a fraction of the cost of going to the theater — is the real threat to cinema owners. Whether or not the game is changed is beside the point — change is coming. And it’s interesting to note that the piece never really gets into NATO’s own role in reportedly balking at showing "The Interview" when threats were made before it was scheduled to be released. However, they claim that "in this simultaneous-release game, Sony is $30 million in the hole and almost out of cards."
Anyway, you can continue the conversation below but here’s another revenue stream coming for Sony: home video. "The Interview" will land on DVD and Blu-ray in both standard and "Freedom Edition" variations, the latter loaded with extras of course, on February 17th. Check out the cover below.
I <3 The Interview! Funniest comedy in a year comedy was virtually absent. For the large theatres, they are only saying this in hindsight, because they ended up getting ZERO of the revenue and to top it off, they realized their fears were unwarranted as no attacks took place at those who screened it
Mofos. Interview wouldn\’t have collected whatver money it made if it wasn\’t for the fame and controversy attached with it thanks to the Sony hack.
@John, "American Sniper" sucks, sorry to break it for you, but there\’s more then IndieWire to hate that piece of clunky propaganda.
Theatres take almost a 50% cut of box office receipts from opening week. How re you not including that in this coverage, which completely negates the so called "loss"? VOD is only about 10% max…
I do love me some bad math.
Movie theaters are moving in the direction of hiking their ticket prices in exchange for recliners and overpriced beer. VOD is simply an option being extended to give viewers what they want. Michael Bay will never go away. Therefore, the movie theaters will still be there with open arms for whomever wants to pay that ticket price. But for those looking for alternatives? I say the VOD revolution is terrific.
PS The Interview sucks. And the fact that you gave that turd a positive review and a negative one to American Sniper shows how pathetic and useless you guys are and how no one should trust your opinions.
Why are you so against movie theaters, Indiewire? You seem to want them to go away. You\’ll regret it if shuch a thing were to occur