There are few people in Hollywood that have serious power over the future of the industry. One of those men is John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T. Not only is he in charge of a massive telecom corporation but he’s also at the top of the food chain at a company that owns Warner Media, which controls Warner Bros, HBO, HBO Max, and a variety of other media companies. And unfortunately, Stankey isn’t optimistic about what the future of the film industry looks like right now.
When speaking on an investor call (via Deadline), the question was raised about the future of theatrical exhibition, especially in light of all the film delays and financial hurdles facing cinema chains. Unfortunately, Stankey didn’t provide much hope or comfort that there is light at the end of the tunnel, considering AT&T’s media company, Warner Media, is still recoiling from the punch in the gut it received after releasing Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in theaters last month.
“That’s still one of the things we don’t have great visibility on,” Stankey said. “I can’t tell you that we walked away from the ‘Tenet’ experience saying it was a home run.”
Now, on the surface, that sort of comment seems fairly muted. Saying a film’s release was not a “home run” doesn’t necessarily mean it was a complete and utter failure. And thankfully, the CEO can be careful with his wording because the terrible domestic box office has been greatly helped by the worldwide box office, which makes “Tenet” look like a box office disappointment versus a complete bomb. That said, normally CEOs take the time out to comment on how great something is and minimize the negative. So, to admit that “Tenet” wasn’t successful is a clear indication that AT&T (and thus, Warner Media) is not pleased with the film’s numbers.
Of course, now we are getting close to the end of 2020 and theaters are beginning to reopen in New York (though NYC is still shut down) and California. So, does this mean there is light at the end of the tunnel? Eh, not so much, according to the executive.
“We are expecting for this to be incredibly choppy moving into next year,” said Stankey. “We are not optimistic, not expecting a recovery into next year. As we move forward and see we will call the cards [about future plans].”
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Ouch. You have the CEO of one of the biggest media companies in the world feeling “not optimistic” about theatrical exhibition in 2021? Not a good look if you’re a theater owner trying to convince studios to release blockbusters so that you can keep the lights on. It just further goes to show that studios aren’t even considering 2020 to be salvageable and there is actually doubt that 2021 (at least at the beginning) is going to be much better.
If you’re a film fan and are hoping the theatrical experience survives this pandemic, there’s definitely cause for concern right about now.