It’s also worth noting that these agreements don’t apply to international distribution. How would this affect platform releases? (Under the terms, a first weekend is just that, not the first wide release.) How will this impact specialized companies, which always release in a small number of theaters? For exhibition to remain healthy, it needs the full range of budgets, genres, and release strategies. It means that only blockbusters will remain synonymous with theaters, but in 2019 blockbusters only provided 55 percent of the annual gross. It makes theaters less viable, and home viewing more viable. It trains customers to keep an eye on PVOD release dates. That would further reduce opening numbers, as well as domestic exhibitors’ share of total revenues and their centrality to the ecosystem. As more films take advantage of shorter windows, the audience may presume that, for the price of two tickets, top titles can be seen at home within a month of release. The element out of everyone’s control is consumer behavior. Whatever the strategy, it’s in the studios’ hands. They could shift marketing to other platforms, which might reduce initial interest and bolster later revenues (studios see an 80 percent return from PVOD, and between 55-60 percent for theatrical).

Studios can easily reduce opening gross by limiting the number of theaters that open a film, or limiting the number of screens they play in each theater. We don’t know when (or if) theaters will provide that level of gross again.

Cinemark universal studios