Less than three weeks before WarnerMedia would announce a radical and sweeping new release strategy — one that would alienate much of Hollywood with remarkable speed — its top executives shared a lunch on the Burbank studio lot that few knew would prove so momentous. At the time, the agenda seemed significant but contained: what to do about the studio’s long-delayed tentpole, Wonder Woman 1984.
Source: Rebecca Keegan, Natalie Jarvey, Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter
AT A GLANCE:
As the second wave Covid began to close down the planet once again, Warner Bros. execs ruminated over the fate of their tentpole feature Wonder Woman 1984. In mid November, the studio announced that the film would be released day-and-date to theaters and streamed through WarnerMedia’s HBO Max. Less than three weeks later, Warner Bros. announced that its entire slate for 2021, 17 films in total, would roll out in the same fashion. Rebecca Keegan, Natalie Jarvey, Pamela McClintock of The Hollywood Reporter look at Warners CEO Jason Kilar, how he’s ushered in the hybrid release plans, the blowback, and how one studio’s pandemic response may be a major step in the evolution of film exhibition.
Head over to The Hollywood Reporter to read the full story.