Would Straight to Digital Continue to Work Post-Virus?
With the Covid-19 pandemic going on, the entertainment industry has taken a hit and has been trying to figure out how they are going to recover. One of the biggest ways they figured out how to do this is straight-to-digital releases for films. This is currently helping production companies recoup costs on films that are finished but can’t be played in theaters. However, this virus is wildly unpredictable and could have long-lasting, unforeseen consequences which are now starting to show themselves. The starting part of this being the long delays being put on movie productions and not just releases.
Delays in mind, the obvious answers in peoples minds are whether digital releases would just pay off more at the moment and in the future. If companies wait too long, then they might miss out on an opportunity to have their film out there and making money earlier. This would also keep release schedules from getting backed up by clearing more openings for film releases. Numbers are on the rise for companies right now as well because streaming services are pushing pretty good numbers for them and their movies. Is what’s happening now even relevant to how things are going to play out when the time comes for theaters to re-open?
The answer to this can actually vary and is open to speculation until the time comes, but for now the most likely answer is that it won’t help companies to stay to this straight-to-digital format. They are going to have to return to the theatrical release format when the time comes. For now, this format works because people are stuck at home with nothing else to do and unfortunately many people are unemployed at the moment. This, of course, inflates the numbers that they are seeing when they look at the number of people who are watching their movies and will affect the industry going forward.
Even after this pandemic ends and we are looking at the dust settle, we, and production companies, will look and see the numbers still inflated. Unemployment will not simply end when this does, and we will most likely see the worst of everything after the pandemic ends. So while companies like WarnerMedia might see this as a change to the release format that could be permanent, it could just be something that will need to exist for awhile until unemployment numbers drop. Until then, perhaps this is the way forward, but it is not going to be the best way.