THE END OF THE MOVIE INDUSTRY (AGAIN)

The Warner Brothers on the firing line.

Studios weren't happy when Warner Bros.' Vitaphone caught on in the late 1920s. One look at the grosses for talkies, and they knew that sooner or later millions of dollars would have to be spent on revamping their stages, equipment, and even contract players for sound.

Nearly a century later, Warners is again ticking off the industry -- or at least director Christopher "Bad Sound Mix" Nolan. The studio has announced that it will make available each of its 2021 releases in theaters and on the Warners-owned HBO Max streaming service simultaneously. 

Its reasoning is simple. Most theaters will be closed for at least the first half of the year. Why deprive movie-mad audiences of their celluloid digital fix?

"ONLY IN THEATERS", followed
by "PLENTY IN HOSPITALS".

Because Christopher Nolan doesn't like it! His latest movie, the sci-fi time-warp epic (meaning overlong) Tenet was delayed several times this year before he forced Warners to release it theatrically despite the pandemic, rather than going the $19.99 streaming route.

Since many cinemas weren't in operation, Tenet -- with a production cost of $205-million -- has grossed only $57.6-million in the US and Canada. When you add other territories, the take is roughly $360-million.

That might sound pretty good on paper. But thanks to Hollywood math, movies have to nearly double their cost in order to officially break even. Therefore, Tenet lost money by going strictly theatrical. Good going, Chris! (And now that it is streaming, people are watching with subtitles so they can understand the dialogue, if not the story.)

People like Christopher Nolan have quite a sense of entitlement. Speaking as a one-time wannabe screenwriter, I would have loved to have my movies go straight to streaming if that was the only choice. People get to see it from the comfort of their home? Great, that's how I do it, too! 

Sure, who wants Cinemascope and
stereophonic sound when you can
watch a 9-inch TV screen?

Too, this whole sky-is-falling routine has been around for almost as long as the movie industry itself. Radio, television, pay-TV, home video, cable, and Netflix -- all were supposed to have been the death-knell of movie-going. But this chart shows the highest grossing year for movies (so far) was 2018 with $12-billion.

Twenty-eighteen -- that's 11 years after Netflix streaming started, 40 years after home video, 70 years after the very first cable hook-up, 84 years after radio was in the majority of homes, and over 90 years after the invention of television.

All of the above are still around, as is the movie industry. Now keep in mind that the pandemic as we know it will likely be merely a bad memory by next Christmas. People like going to the movies. Even if I don't.

Don't worry, Mr. Nolan. Opening day of your next production will be sold-out nationwide. Just include subtitles and a program to explain what the hell it's about.

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I saw this anti-pay-TV ad at the Strand Theater circa 1970. If this been effective, you never would have seen The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Billions, Pretty Little Lies, The Undoing, or anything on TCM.