With only 52 weekends in a year, you’d think Hollywood would stop wasting them.
But that’s exactly what we saw this weekend when only a modest horror remake, FIRESTARTER (pictured), went after a slice of boxoffice pie in the MULTIVERSE shadows. Studios used such weekends pre-pandemic to counter-program with specialized films for moviegoers who aren’t into superheroes.
These wide-open weekends typically follow tentpoles’ success, and multiplexes could benefit from filling them with alternative films for adults. The best source for such movies would be streamers like Netflix & HBO Max, which always have the high-quality products they could debut with one or two-week domestic theatrical runs.
A new Mini-Theatrical Window would benefit both exhibs & streamers. Exhibs would fill seats that would otherwise be empty, providing new revenue to share with streamers, which can use it these days. Those moviegoers, of course, would also spend money on concessions, a key profit center for exhibs. MTW releases could be done with custom ticket pricing and no reporting of grosses.
Streamers would also benefit from the marketing & publicity their MTW releases received, enhancing their value because reviews & word-of-mouth heighten subscriber awareness — a much-needed win-win for all!