Studios push to bring audiences back to cinema

Regardless of the studio, there is no theatrical movie poster or TV ad today that doesn’t have the phrase “in theaters only” as prominently as the movie title.

It’s no coincidence. It is a form of damage control.

Hollywood’s consolidated marketing push comes after a two-year period in which film distribution patterns were constantly changing and nearly every major film was released in a different way. As movie theaters began to recover, studios veered once again to a one-size-fits-all approach to bringing films to the masses. However, industry experts believe the effects of the COVID era are still reverberating.

“Because of these hybrid strategies, the lines are blurring,” says Paul Dergarabedian, comscore senior analyst. “It caused consumer confusion that will have to be dealt with over time.”

In that period of mass experimentation, traditional studios were able to test strategies that were unimaginable before the pandemic, which is why Marvel’s “Black Widow” debuted in theaters and on Disney+, and “The Matrix Resurrections,” and Dune and the rest of Warner Bros. The slate also premiered on HBO Max, and Paramount’s “A Quiet Place Part II” moved to Paramount+ just 45 days later. These changes may have pumped a few million more rents and subscriptions into the studios’ pockets at a rough time, but they also provided the industry with a renewed appreciation for the money — and cultural awareness — that can be created in films.

Now, as concerns about COVID-19 infection in the transmission complex subside and beta patterns recede, marketing managers are working to undo that confusion to help regular moviegoers keep track of where they can watch the latest blockbuster movies. This means that theatrical movie posters must include more than just the release date on the label.

Josh Goldstein, chief marketing officer for Warner Bros.

With the already vague selection between live broadcasts (thanks, Netflix!) and theatrical releases, traditional studios are working up to speed to re-educate audiences that “Elvis” isn’t available to watch at home on HBO Max. And no, paying an additional fee will not allow Disney+ subscribers to stream Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder movie.

“We use every piece of paid or earned media as a medium for in-theatre messaging,” says Danielle Mesher, co-head of global theater marketing at Sony. It’s not just billboards and trailers promoting that information; Cast members from films such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Where the Crawdads Sing” have accentuated the theatrical experience in morning shows and late night appearances. “We repeat it constantly until it’s clear,” says Mischer.

The marketing push is starting to pay off. According to new information from industry researcher Guts + Data, the concept of theater windows — the industry term for the period when a new movie is shown only in theaters — is much clearer to consumers. Of the 600 active moviegoers surveyed, nearly half were able to distinguish where blockbuster movies would be available to watch first. The hope, among the executives tasked with selling the film to the public, is that greater awareness drives weekend ticket sales.

One week before the release of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” 52% of those surveyed knew that a Marvel adventure would be shown exclusively in theaters. But there is still work to be done. Case in point: 38% incorrectly believed that the fourth installment of “Thor” would have a hybrid release on Disney+, while 10% incorrectly believed that the movie would only be streaming.

For Universal and Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which opened the weekend of July 4, 48% correctly knew that the animated comedy was available exclusively in theaters for the first time, while 40 believed % incorrectly believed that the film would have a simultaneous theatrical and digital debut and 12% believed it would only be broadcast.

Part of the problem is that the lines between digital and theatrical began to blur before the pandemic, with modern gamers like Amazon offering shorter play windows (compared to the traditional 75-90-day window) and big-star Netflix movies mostly skipping the big ones. Monitor. As a result, when consumers watch an ad on TikTok or walk past a movie poster on the subway, there can be no assumption that the movie is being shown in cinemas.

And there’s evidence to support the idea that the average consumer can’t differentiate a movie from old-school players like Paramount and Sony versus newcomers like Apple or Netflix. About 38% of consumers polled by Guts + Data believe Ryan Gosling’s thriller The Gray Man will be available for the first time on the big screen even though Netflix movies rarely have strong theatrical performances. Although the film will have a limited theatrical release on July 15 before landing on Netflix on July 22, “The Gray Man” will not be shown in most cinemas in the country.

All the more reason for these campaigns, studio executives say. “A lot of content is marketed on a daily basis,” says Mark Weinstock, Paramount’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution. “It helps consumers, whether they’re subconscious or overt, know that it’s a theatrical film.”