AMC Theatres and Universal Pictures’ deal to dramatically shorten the amount of time that movies play exclusively on the big screen is resounding like a thunderclap across the film business. …
’ deal to dramatically shorten the amount of time that movies play exclusively on the big screen is resounding like a thunderclap across the film business.
“I can’t underscore how big and monumental this is,” says Rich Greenfield, a media analyst with LightShed Partners. “I think [NBC’s CEO] Jeff Shell will be remembered for what everyone thought was impossible.” In the short run, however, AMC’s competitors are proceeding with caution. The theater chain has reached out to the other major studios to offer them slightly different terms from what Universal has agreed to, but has yet to find any takers. Universal is believed to be getting more generous terms because it made the deal first. Under its proposal to other studios, AMC would receive 20% of gross revenue from the rentals.
That doesn’t mean sequels “Jurassic World,” “Despicable Me” or “Fast & Furious” — three of Universal’s biggest franchises — will arrive in people’s homes in less than a month. These blockbusters have the potential to generate hundreds of millions in ticket sales, and shortening the timeframe could result in money lost for both parties.
Already, rival exhibitors in other parts of the world have expressed similar frustrations. Universal communicated its plans to select global exhibitors mere hours before publicly announcing its deal with AMC on Tuesday — a last-minute gesture that bent some senior exhibition executives sorely out of shape. One European exhibitor, who spoke toon the condition of anonymity, said “The level of animosity, globally, against Universal is like nothing I’ve ever seen.
There are anxieties about whether the Universal and AMC model can work across varied international markets, which each adheres to a different set of economics.
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