The Academy declined to comment, but here’s what’s going on, based on my conversations this week with studio executives and Oscars insiders. For the past few months, and really since Kramer took over for Dawn Hudson last summer, the Academy has been talking with studios, streamers, and small distributors about how to better leverage the Oscars to promote moviegoing. The Academy has always tried to stay out of the business of movies, but it does maintain a requirement—relaxed during the pandemic, but reinstated last year—that films play theatrically for at least a week in one of six markets: L.A., New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, or Atlanta. A streamer can put the film online day-and-date, but it can’t stream it before it appears in a theater.
That’s a pretty minimal theatrical requirement, and Kramer and some governors want to mandate a bigger footprint. The goal isn’t to hurt streaming, they argue, but to support elements of the art form—especially crafts like sound and visual effects—that were designed for theaters. The move would effectively force distributors to play their Oscar contenders everywhere from Orlando to San Diego—at least in one theater, or a handful of theaters, in 15 to 20 markets.
Oscars: Fear not, Movie Theaters, I'll save you! Movie Theaters: But Oscars, who's going to save you? Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this seems like a pretty transparent excuse on the surface. If...
Oscars: Fear not, Movie Theaters, I'll save you!
Movie Theaters: But Oscars, who's going to save you?
Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this seems like a pretty transparent excuse on the surface. If people wanted to see more Oscar movies, then I feel like theaters would already be showing them more so that everyone involved could make more money. I guess the goal is actually to hurt streaming, counter to what they've said. That or some ham-handed attempt to boost Oscars viewership. Dunno why else they'd be doing it.
Oscar viewership has steadily increased since that article was written, which was right in the middle of the pandemic when viewership took a free fall. The Oscar’s still provide box office bumps....
Oscar viewership has steadily increased since that article was written, which was right in the middle of the pandemic when viewership took a free fall.
The Oscar’s still provide box office bumps. EEAAO was re-released in theaters the week it won all those Oscar’s and it increased nearly 300% to get a million dollars for the weekend a full year after its initial release.
However, it is definitely trying to throw the book at Netflix specifically (other streamers like Amazon and Apple have already announced a commitment to theatrical releases) so that they have to give their movies actual releases and marketing campaigns instead of only showing it in one theater in New York. Theaters have actually been begging the academy to do something to give theaters more product. So this is that.
Oscars: Fear not, Movie Theaters, I'll save you!
Movie Theaters: But Oscars, who's going to save you?
Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this seems like a pretty transparent excuse on the surface. If people wanted to see more Oscar movies, then I feel like theaters would already be showing them more so that everyone involved could make more money. I guess the goal is actually to hurt streaming, counter to what they've said. That or some ham-handed attempt to boost Oscars viewership. Dunno why else they'd be doing it.
Oscar viewership has steadily increased since that article was written, which was right in the middle of the pandemic when viewership took a free fall.
The Oscar’s still provide box office bumps. EEAAO was re-released in theaters the week it won all those Oscar’s and it increased nearly 300% to get a million dollars for the weekend a full year after its initial release.
However, it is definitely trying to throw the book at Netflix specifically (other streamers like Amazon and Apple have already announced a commitment to theatrical releases) so that they have to give their movies actual releases and marketing campaigns instead of only showing it in one theater in New York. Theaters have actually been begging the academy to do something to give theaters more product. So this is that.
Thanks, appreciate the extra context.