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On March 2, Sean Baker made history by winning four Oscars for Anora, including the prestigious Best Picture award — the highest number any filmmaker has achieved for a single film. This night may also be remembered as the moment when the long-standing truce regarding theatrical windows came to an end. During his acceptance speech for Best Director, Baker passionately addressed the sensitive issue of how long films should remain exclusive to theaters before becoming available for home viewing.

“Distributors, please prioritize the theatrical releases of your films,” he urged, advocating for a return to a 90-day window. “Let’s restore things to how they used to be.”

Just days before the Oscars, AMC Entertainment’s CEO, Adam Aron, known for his bold and sometimes controversial stance, informed investors during a February 25 earnings call that the relaxation of theatrical windows needs to be reassessed in the post-COVID landscape, as attendance levels remain significantly off balance.

“I sincerely hope we can implement longer windows because I believe the current industry experiment has failed,” Aron remarked, reminding everyone that prior to the pandemic, most films in the U.S. were not available for home viewing until at least 74 to 90 days after their initial theatrical release.

What Aron didn’t mention is that AMC was the first to forge a groundbreaking agreement with Universal in the summer of 2020, reducing the window to 17 days for films that opened to $50 million or less, and 31 days for those that opened to more. Universal, a subsidiary of Comcast, had long sought to experiment with a new premium video-on-demand window, offering titles for rental at prices of $20 or more. This agreement set a new standard, although most studios still prefer to wait more than 40 days (depending on a film’s performance).

Notably, Disney, with a few exceptions, has maintained a commitment to a 60-day exclusive window. During the earnings call, Aron stated that a 45-day window should be considered “sacrosanct,” adding that “17 days and 30 days are too short.” He expressed a desire to explore options for 60 days or more.

Sources have informed The Hollywood Reporter that Aron has engaged in discussions with at least three of the five major studios, but many are hesitant to revert to previous practices. “That ship has sailed,” remarked one studio executive.

Despite this, Aron remains optimistic. “These discussions are ongoing between studios and theaters,” he told investors, as he believes both parties could benefit financially from a minimum 45-day window.

Meanwhile, Cinemark, another major player in the industry, has not made any definitive statements regarding the length of theatrical windows. However, CEO Sean Gamble suggested at a March 4 Morgan Stanley conference that shorter windows might be causing confusion.

“On the positive side, we haven’t observed a significant decline in a film’s trajectory through its lifecycle after its theatrical release,” he noted. “That trend has remained consistent with pre-pandemic patterns. Even when films transition to home viewing on a PVOD service, we haven’t seen a sharp decline at that point, which is encouraging. However, as consumers become more aware of these short windows, could this ultimately lead to a reduction in overall attendance? That’s something we’ll need to monitor over time.”

 

Persons

Sean Baker, Adam Aron, Sean Gamble

Company Names

AMC Entertainment, Universal, Comcast, Disney, Cinemark

Titles

Anora

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