The Screen Addict Recommends – The Big Shift

What is happening in the world of film distribution at the moment, is a perfect storm of critical events – Covid-19 being chief among them.

As I life-long fan of physical media, I have always found the unshakable devotion to the theatrical experience puzzling. Why should I go to a theatre and shell out at least 20 bucks of my hard-earned dough when I can “own” the film for considerably less money a couple of months later?

Sure, the theatrical window is the first opportunity to see a film, but we all know this privileged position is unsustainable. The streamers are chipping away at the traditional distribution model by shattering windows and financing films that would have never been made in a theatrical-driven industry, while Disney and Warner are shaking up Hollywood by releasing films simultaneously in theatres and online.

I don’t know if the option of downright owning a copy of your favorite film – digital or physical – will survive the streaming wars, but as there are so few of us who still actually build a collection, it is not exactly a threat to the strategies set out by Netflix, Disney+, Warner Bros. Discovery et al. either.

Hopefully, all this will eventually lead to a complete collapse of windows – as predicted many years ago by industry titans like Jeffrey Katzenberg – and cinema enthusiasts worldwide will have the option to experience any film, anytime, anywhere and any way they want it.

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