Over the past two weeks I have rented and watched two
movies, Blood Father and Imperium, which had limited releases in theaters and
are now available to rent on demand. Since there weren’t any movies that looked
great in theaters I checked these out instead. I enjoy watching new independent
movies this way since they were not playing in my area. Should more Independent
movies release on demand while they are still in theaters? Would theaters even
allow them to do this and still be played in theaters?
Theaters are not going to want a film to play on their
screens if they don’t think people are going to come out to see it. If an
independent film releases online at the same time they release to theaters, and
theaters turn them down, then they run the risk of not getting the exposure of
being in the theaters. I don’t know if this is really a bad thing. Smaller
independent movies don’t make much money in the theater and it might be more
advantageous to release films digitally and try and promote through those
services. This also has a downside.
There are so many movies which come out every week the new independent films
which don’t have much buzz can get lost in the shuffle. I can spend an exorbitant
amount of time browsing Netflix and Amazon Prime and may not land on an
independent film because they don’t get pop up on my suggestions. This could an
issue with online stores which allow you to rent movies digitally.
I recently heard a great idea on Collider Movie talk which
might make releasing films at the same time doable. If a film is having a
limited release in LA and New York let it also be released online for rental.
Film nuts like me are going to search out and know about bigger independent
releases. If I lived in a bigger city I would go, see them in the theater.
Since I don’t and some limited releases never make it to my mid-west city it
would be nice if these films were released to be rented digitally at the same
time. Doing this would make the film more money and spread word of mouth. I
have talked about Blood Father to almost everyone I know recommending they
check it out because of Gibson’s performance.
I also think it would be easy for theaters to establish a
blackout area. If a movie is playing in a theater within a certain distance
from where the person lives, then it could be blacked out from renting it
online. If major league sports leagues can do this, so can movie theaters and
online stores. Fandango would be perfect to pioneer this type of project. They
acquired a movie streaming service where you can rent and buy movies, and they
already are a leader in online ticketing. It could work both ways for them. If
a movie is not playing in your area, here go rent it from our streaming store.
If it is playing, instead of renting these are the show times in your area.
I think the way we currently consume movies is changing.
Netflix and Amazon Prime are starting to acquire the rights and produce movies
on their own. Beast of no Nation was a fantastic movie to come out last year
and it was produced by Netflix. Many theaters wouldn’t show it because it was
released online at the same time as it was released to theaters. If Netflix
would have tried the blackout idea, then it might have been played in more
theaters and maybe more people would have gone out to see it. I think it is
great that independent films are getting these opportunities from the streaming
services and I hope it continues to give more freedom to artists to create the
stories they want to tell.
People say Hollywood only makes remakes or sequels, but
there is a vibrant independent film community which is producing original
content all the time. I think allowing streaming services to release the films
at the same time as they are in theaters could grow the popularity of the
films. There were a few times this summer where I wanted to see a movie, but it
wasn’t playing in my area. I would have gladly given them my money if it was
only available for me to watch. The landscape of streaming and the way movies
are viewed and consumed is constantly changing, and I hope it leads to more
good films being made.
Let me know your thoughts and if you be more likely to rent
a film in limited release on a streaming service or wait for it to come to your
area.
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