Amazon Netflix IMAX releases?

They may still buy or launch their own cinemas to showcase and monetise their original output, but discussions on IMAX screenings seem closer...

Once again, we see convergence - in this case between traditional media (cinemas, though IMAX and IMAX 3D are more recent as a relatively mass market feature) and the digital streaming upstarts. The traditional film industry, especially the distributors and exhibitors who are usually cut out by online-only distribution, have been openly hostile, with annual rows at the Cannes Film Festival the most high profile example of this (there have been protests over allowing Netflix films to screen - quickly blocked by rules which require a long gap between cinema and online release).

Here's a snippet from the article:

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gelfond, who has led IMAX for the past decade, was a speaker at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference earlier this week – the same conference where the new owner of HBO called Netflix the Walmart of streaming services. Gelfond, however, had nothing bad to say about Netflix or any other company. 

Instead, he said that his company is “in active discussions with all of the streaming [services] about an IMAX release”, so we may be looking at more than just a Netflix IMAX partnership, but a team-up between the large-screen exhibitor and every streaming service out there – assuming these talks lead to deals. Gelfond called out the fact that many of the streaming services’ original films are lacking an “opening day,” and implied that IMAX was the best way to cut through the clutter of the entertainment marketplace, saying “the number one way to event-size the size [of a movie] is in IMAX.”

Cinema $10 unlimited month pass brings Netflix style to theatres

NoFilmSchool brought my attention to a HUGE landmark moment in the US - a Netflix-style $10/month pass for 'unlimited' cinema screenings.

NoFilmSchool article.

The MoviePass homepage.

That brings the disruption of digitisation to the a new level, and undermines (though it may take time yet for its impact through user numbers to grow) the traditional cinema exhibition business model: movie 'prints' (just as likely to be streams, Blu-Rays or HDDs now) are rented by cinemas from distributors and a further share of ticket revenue passed back to distributors. There is variation in this basic model depending mostly on the power of the distributor and whether its a tentpole big six production they're touting, but thats a rough outline of how the production (sell all rights to or agree a revenue share with a distributor) to distribution to exhibition film cycle ends up (before further distribution and exhibition through TV, and distribution through physical media, downloads and streams - rental and purchase.

If the audience figures are no longer a simple guide to box office, that suggests a steep medium to long term decline in revenues. Unless its the cinema-avoiding public (non-noisy nuisances, ie kids/teens!) that mostly takes up these passes. The 15-24 age range is the key cinema market as you can see from this BFI chart (page 4):


You can find a great analysis of the older audience in 2017 here, by Stephen Follows. This US analysis by Nielsen also shows roughly 30% of the cinema audience as 12-24, or nearly 50% for 12-34.

There is dispute over how big a revenue driver concessions (popcorn etc) really are, but this certainly will (in the style of bucket airlines like easyJet) shift the profit-making onus onto food and drinks - which distributors are locked out of. See this post for details on how vital the huge mark-ups cinemas make on concessions (typically 85% profit on every dollar spent) are.

The unlimited is limited: one viewing a day, no IMAX or 3D (maybe a supplement charge for longer movies?), but that still means a possible 30c viewing!

This isn't actually completely new ... many moons ago I bought Virgin Cinema monthly passes - £15 if I remember right, back in 1999. That enabled me to be amongst the shellshocked hordes stumbling out of the Phantom Menace midnight premiere wondering what the hell we'd just seen, and what kind of evil madman could invent JarJar Binks - but get over it by going to see plenty more decent movies in the days and weeks that followed.

I figured Curzon, with its membership scheme, would likely do something similar, and sure enough they also offer an unlimited annual pass for its cinemas.

Here in Luxembourg you can also get a monthly pass from the monopoly chain.

UPDATE: PREMIUM FOR HOT NEW FLICKS + AMC LAUNCH RIVAL
MoviePass are selling this as working with the industry to help push passholders to their quieter midweek slots: charging a $2 premium for some new releases, though often specifically for weekend screenings; they're also adding 3D/IMAX to their offering.
MacRumors reported:

Surge pricing is a dynamic, time-based strategy that apps like Uber use when a large amount of customers are requesting rides in the app but there aren't enough drivers to taxi them around. 
Now this will extend to MoviePass, so on opening weekends or at particularly busy late-night showings of popular movies, monthly subscribers should expect to pay a bit more above their locked-in $9.95/month subscription price. 
For IMAX and 3D movies, users will be given the option to pay an added fee for the premium screenings, ranging from $2-$6 according to Lowe.
The MoviePass news comes after AMC just yesterday revealed its own movie subscription service, which will let customers watch three movies per week for $19.95 a month -- including IMAX and RealD 3D showings. 

...

NETFLIX worlds biggest media company as APPLE launches rival

2018 update: Netflix puts content above costs but is the policy sustainable?

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/may/25/netflix-puts-content-above-costs-but-is-policy-sustainable?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

I've written a few times that Apple's entry into the subscription TV streaming market is inevitable ... and here it comes, with an annual $1bn budget for 10+ new series and some incredibly high profile industry names signed up
Apple has Netflix and Amazon in sight as it hires British TV executive

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/25/apple-has-netflix-and-amazon-in-sight-as-it-hires-uks-top-tv-executive?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

More niche than Netflix: nine specialist streaming services you should try https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2017/oct/23/more-niche-than-netflix-nine-specialist-streaming-services-you-should-try?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

STREAMING Disney quit Netflix for own service. Fragmentation?

Disney now offering streaming TV.

Apple will have to join this suddenly crowded market, with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and more facing increasing competition.

If more of the big six follow suit, surely that will actually undermine the paid-for streaming industry and encourage a resurgence in piracy?

Not in Lux. yet, but a fullscale streaming option is being rolled out.

UPSTREAMING RIP DVD Netflix Amazon dominate UK TV by 2020

The outlook for cinemas is uncertain as home cinema continues to grow in the quality offer, all-you-can-eat ticket offers on the rise, the likes of NBC-Universal's Prima service offering home screening of cinema releases, and the falling appetite for 3D - the extortionate ticket prices of which have been boosting cinema revenues for years, a golden goose that is now shedding its feathers...

The music industry has had to accept the sharp decline of physical sales, but the film industry hasn't yet reached that point of acceptance - but DVD and Blu-Ray alike are heading for the same cliff-edge of sales that CDs reached some years ago, another huge revenue stream under threat.

The big six also need to consider the digital upstarts Amazon and Netflix (and surely Apple sooner or later, the music industry slayer!) as key rivals ... and partners, an uneasy relationship.

A UK study has concluded that in just 3 years (by 2020) UK pay-TV revenue will be below that of streaming sites - but cinema might be more resilient (given my points above I'm highly sceptical!)

Paying for TV content from on-demand digital video services will grow by more than 30% to £1.42bn at the turn of the decade, claims consultancy firm PwC. This rise in popularity will see revenue from video services edge ahead of an estimated £1.41bn from cinemagoers. 

While Apple and Sky have also made inroads with their download services, the rise of streaming has been the biggest competitive challenge to cinemas in recent years. 

“Demand for internet video shows no signs of slowing down,” said Phil Stokes, UK head of entertainment and media at PwC. However, he warned against forecasting the death of blockbusters or the big screens where they are shown. “The figures do not signal the death of film. Look at the box office performance of films such as Star Wars: Rogue One or Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to see the significant amount of enthusiasm for blockbuster movies out there.” 

Stokes said the UK film industry will remain in a “pretty healthy” position despite the boom in home entertainment. 

The report predicts movie attendance will grow from 172m admissions last year to 179m in 2021, and the number of screens across the UK will rise from 4,143 to 4,542. 

PwC predicts a “terminal decline” for DVD and Blu-ray sales from £1.22bn in 2016 to just £533m by 2021. The report predicts that internet video will overtake DVD sales this year, but some analysts claim this has already happened. 

Netflix and Amazon 'will overtake UK cinema box office spending by 2020'.

Streaming has already surpassed physical sales of film:

Total revenues from digital video – which includes services such as Apple’s iTunes as well as Sky’s store and Now TV – surged almost 23% to £1.3bn last year.The digital boost came as high street sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs fell 17% to £894m – the first time it has fallen below the £1bn mark. The once mighty physical rental market fell 21% to just £49m.

(2017 Guardian article)

VDIO: will streaming replace cinema?

The short-term answer is no, given what huge businesses cinemas are ... but then the CD market, and the high-street retailers linked with this, seemed bullet-proof not so long ago and even HMV has gone bust, with downloads long since passing physical CD sales.
Vdio is the latest launch of a company seeking to develop film streaming in the UK, but for now their prospects are limited by the absolute determination of the exhibitors to protect the exclusive cinema window. Netflix has recently pioneered releasing TV series in one go, before they've aired on TV, so its likely this will eventually happen with cinema too. IMAX, 3D and the huge improvements in sound are all defensive moves by cinema to protect its appeal with customers who can download movies to watch on phones, tablets, computers or home cinema setups, but they do face huge and growing pressure from online distribution - especially now 4G broadband is here and GB file sizes no longer rule out film streaming/downloads for most.

Here's an excerpt from Stuart Dredge's article on this, Vdio streaming TV and film service goes live in the US and UK (4.4.13):

In other words, TV shows and movies are bigger than songs, which for a while meant piracy was less of a headache for rightsholders in those industries than in music – although faster broadband connections and better data on the scale of TV and film filesharing is changing that.
Even so, by protecting the idea of release windows – where shows and films get staggered releases through cinema/TV, DVD/Blu-ray and digital services – startups like Vdio have to license content where they can.
"They've embraced digital, it's not like they haven't," says Larner. "There are a ton of digital services out there. But movies and TV – and movies especially – are holding on to their windowing as long as they can, to squeeze as many dollars as they can out of the initial theatrical release, then the other windows."
For now, Vdio will focus on refining its technology for buying and renting, ready to add subscriptions when it thinks the time is right. Larner says the company is also focused on expanding the number of devices Vdio is available on, including TVs.
"For a video service, it's critical to be on the TV. Right now, Vdio is web and iPad, and the way to get on TV is you need to take your iPad and use it with an Apple TV, which is a great experience," he says.
"But no doubt about it, we need to be on TVs in other ways, and we have that on the roadmap, whether it's [set-top box] Roku or doing apps for Samsung or LG TVs. We need to be there."