The History & Changes Of Theatrical Windowing

Theatrical windows are a contentious subject that ruffle the feathers of both studio executives and theater owners alike. Shorter theatrical exclusivity windows have changed the way film studios and theater owners operate, with streaming releases acting as a fail-safe for studios while slashing revenue and creating scheduling headaches for theater owners. Recently, Universal made a monumental change to extend its releases to a theater-exclusive 45-day window, which is 7 weekends. This is a major win for theater owners, as it gives most theaters the time to play the film without the threat of streaming consuming their audience.

Before the 1980’s, windowing was not even a topic of discussion. Theatrical exclusivity was a given, considering home theaters were only available to the lucky few who were wealthy enough to purchase home projectors. During this period, it took major Hollywood movies 3-7 years to appear on your TV screen, and movies were not available on demand in any capacity. In 1975, Sony created a machine called the Betamax LV-1901, the first consumer VCR. This VCR weighed about 220 pounds and cost $2,495 back in 1975, or $15,000 adjusted for inflation. The Betamax LV-1901 allowed consumers to record movies directly from their TV and access them on their own schedule, which was revolutionary. Although Sony was exalted in the eyes of consumers, Disney and Universal were not so pleased with this innovative technology. Disney and Universal filed a lawsuit against Sony that made its way up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled against Disney and Universal, stating that consumers could record and view movies without prosecution, and Sony could continue to manufacture VCRs. This ruling opened the floodgates to the videocassette boom of the 80s. Because of the VHS boom, studios shortened the window for theatrical exclusivity to 6 months. Back in the 80s, theater owners and studios were not as threatened because the cost of VHS players was still out of reach for many. Theaters were still the primary source for watching films. From then on, as technology advanced and became cheaper to the consumer, the theatrical window shortened as well, eventually landing at 90 days for DVD releases/streaming dates. Although DVDs did affect the theater industry, nothing was as damaging to theaters as the day in date streaming era that was caused by the COVID-19 virus in 2020. In 2020, AMC signed a deal with Universal that they would shorten the theatrical release window to 17 days in exchange for a cut of any money made on digital rentals. AMC was the only theater chain to capitalize on this agreement, and other theaters still feel the ramifications to their revenue. 

Universal’s recent windowing policy has been based on grosses. If a film opened higher than 50 million, the film had a 30 day window before it would be available on PVOD (paid video on demand). If the film opened to less than 50 million, it would be on PVOD in 17 days. Out of almost 569 movies released theatrically in 2024, only 16 films opened over 50 million. For theater owners, the majority of their ticket sale revenue depends on the long runs of films that open over 50 million dollars, but when that same film is on PVOD after only 4 weeks, it limits the attendance theaters can bring in on these films. For the majority of films that open under 50 million, the attendance is even less. The Wild Robot, released by Universal on 9/27/2024, was a great success as an original film and is now a beloved DreamWorks animated title. Although this is now a well-known title, it opened to 35 million, so policy allowed it to be released on PVOD 17 days into its run. This is confusing to consumers, as they often correlate direct-to-streaming movies as studio failures, hurting the studio’s brand. Additionally, these short windows combined with streaming platform releasing after 45-90 days have effectively put dollar theaters out of business for good, with very few remaining in large metros. If these theatrical exclusive windows were to be reduced, more theaters in rural areas especially, would have a hard time surviving.

From the studio’s perspective, putting films on streaming early has multiple benefits. The first and most obvious benefit is additional revenue from PVOD. In 2024, Wicked generated $70 million dollars in the first week of its release on PVOD, almost mirroring the total revenue studios received from film rental the first weekend of its theatrical release. Another benefit to studios is to the marketing budget. When a film is released on PVOD within 30 days of the original release date, the studios are able to extend one marketing campaign, instead of creating 2 marketing campaigns months apart from each other.  Although this makes financial sense in the short term, it creates a strained relationship with their primary business partners, the theaters. In turn, actors, directors, screenwriters, and many more creatives have refused to work with studios that either release their films straight to streaming or limit their product to shorter windows. One of these creatives is Christopher Nolan, director of the upcoming film The Odyssey. Christopher Nolan is a staunch proponent of long theatrical windows, often requesting 100-120 days of exclusive theatrical windowing. It is speculated that Christopher Nolan has heavily influenced the decision for Universal to extend their theatrical windowing to 45 days. 

For the sake of optimism, there has to be a way that long theatrical windows and streaming can coexist. The $50 million threshold Universal used to justify streaming PVOD as soon as possible was much too high. We believe $10 million would be a more reasonable number. When a film opens to $10 million or less, 30 days provides a sufficient run for multiplexes as well as the opportunity for a single week commitment at rural theaters if they are interested. Once the 30 days are up, the film is likely no longer in theaters and is available to watch at home. For 50 million plus titles, at least a 90 day window is preferred for scheduling purposes. This gives the film the chance to gross for a number of weeks, then when theaters have exhausted their attendance, consumers are able to watch the film at home. When a film leaves theaters, the film should be available on PVOD so consumers still have access and the studios can continue to make money. Studios and theater owners are partners, so they should be working together to create a mutually beneficial, standard policy regarding streaming releases. As always, the team at Clark Film Buying would love to hear your thoughts.