During a record-breaking night, Sean Baker used his Academy Award speech to call out distributors and plead for better theatrical release windows for movies.
On March 2, Baker’s “Anora” obtained five Oscars, one of which being for Best Director. With many accolades in hand, Baker addressed the growing dominance of streaming services that in turn discourage the need for movie theatres through his speech.
“Distributors, please focus first and foremost on your theatrical releases of your films,” said Baker. “NEON did that for me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for movie theatres to stay open amidst the rise of mandatory lockdowns and threats of widespread disease shutting down numerous facilities across the nation. To combat the lack of in-person movie screenings, Hollywood looked toward streaming services like Hulu and Netflix alongside others to distribute their movies.
AMC, the biggest movie theatre chain in the U.S., made a deal with Universal to shrink theatrical releases for movie theatres to 17 days, or 31 days if the movie makes more than $50 million during its opening weekend.
The deal resulted in the lowest grossing movie year since 1981. The audiences benefited from waiting only around two weeks to watch new releases from the comfort of their homes, but it negatively affected movie theatre sales as online viewing became more popular. This streaming has resulted in theatre chains brainstorming the best way to regain their popularity and profit.
Because the box office has failed to bounce back to their pre-pandemic numbers, over 3000 movie theatres have faced a permanent closure worldwide.
Indie movie theatres are especially concerned with this drop, considering the disadvantages they already face in competition with theatres of higher demand.
On a recent call with investors, AMC CEO Adam Aron said he has started to campaign for the revival of pre-pandemic practices.
“17 days and 30 days are too short,” said Aron.
Aron said he wants a minimum of 40 days before a movie is available on streaming services, including that both streaming services and movie theatres would benefit financially from the change.
The longer theatrical release allowed more time for people to catch a movie in theatres, and the 40-day wait between streaming releases created anticipation for movies when showcased on streaming platforms.
Sources from The Hollywood Reporter said Aron met with at least three out of the five major film studios, but executives were not willing to revert back from current industry standards.
“That ship has sailed,” a source said.
Baker went on to highlight the art of cinema in his acceptance speech for Best Picture for “Anora.”
“Long live independent film,” Baker said.
