Movie Theaters Beg For 45-Day Window Before Streaming

I saw Black Bag opening night, and just a couple of weeks later, it's available at home. This is a movie that I thought was so much fun to see with a crowd, but now you can just watch it at home for $20, so what's the point? The theatrical window is shrinking, and it's putting a lot of pressure on theaters to make as much money as they can opening weekend, knowing that two weeks later, movies hit websites and people stay at home to watch them. Now, Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners, has come together to call for a longer window so theaters can remain profitable, As reported in Raw Story, Cinema United president Michael O'Leary said, "There must be a baseline," and advocated for a mandatory 45-day window before films hit streaming. Before COVID, 90-day windows were pretty much the industry standard. But after the pandemic, companies were eager to make money as fast as possible and saw streaming and studio-owned streamers as ways to pull in consistent cash. And streaming has rewarded them. Wicked crushed in theaters, but as soon as it hit VOD, it was able to make another $70 million before debuting on Peacock. Now, many people see that example as the exception, not the rule, but these tech-owned companies are looking to make money fast and then stock their streamers with "content" that keeps their subscriber base and allows them to add more. Theater owners are suffering because of it, and so is the essence of communal movie-going. We need to find a standard everyone agrees on, so all these businesses are able to thrive. I do think the 45-day window is a great idea. It gives people multiple weeks to see releases and also build word of mouth. I think that's long enough to also still have clout when it hits a streamer. This is a problem that needs to be solved quickly so everyone can move forward. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Apr 3, 2025 - 01:18

Movie Theaters Beg For 45-Day Window Before Streaming

I saw Black Bag opening night, and just a couple of weeks later, it's available at home. This is a movie that I thought was so much fun to see with a crowd, but now you can just watch it at home for $20, so what's the point?

The theatrical window is shrinking, and it's putting a lot of pressure on theaters to make as much money as they can opening weekend, knowing that two weeks later, movies hit websites and people stay at home to watch them.

Now, Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners, has come together to call for a longer window so theaters can remain profitable,

As reported in Raw Story, Cinema United president Michael O'Leary said, "There must be a baseline," and advocated for a mandatory 45-day window before films hit streaming.

Before COVID, 90-day windows were pretty much the industry standard. But after the pandemic, companies were eager to make money as fast as possible and saw streaming and studio-owned streamers as ways to pull in consistent cash.

And streaming has rewarded them. Wicked crushed in theaters, but as soon as it hit VOD, it was able to make another $70 million before debuting on Peacock.

Now, many people see that example as the exception, not the rule, but these tech-owned companies are looking to make money fast and then stock their streamers with "content" that keeps their subscriber base and allows them to add more.

Theater owners are suffering because of it, and so is the essence of communal movie-going. We need to find a standard everyone agrees on, so all these businesses are able to thrive. I do think the 45-day window is a great idea. It gives people multiple weeks to see releases and also build word of mouth.

I think that's long enough to also still have clout when it hits a streamer.

This is a problem that needs to be solved quickly so everyone can move forward.

Let me know what you think in the comments.