Disney borrows HBO Max’s hybrid release for Nomadland on Hulu

Very well well. Watch who else jumps on the train from the “hybrid” exit.

According to many electrical outlets, Searchlight Pictures, owned by Disney, has announced the release of its next film Nomadland on Hulu on the same day as its big theatrical release on February 19, a few weeks after the film debuted on IMAX January 29. This means another studio is taking the controversy HBO Max approach to distinguish between giving movies to theaters when no one is going to the theaters and simply putting those movies on a streaming service to help subscribers.

the Directed by Chloé Zhao Nomadland, featuring Frances McDormand, has already received rave reviews and has managed to many top rewards during his festival. It focuses on a character named Fern who, following an economic crisis in rural Nevada, explores the life of a nomad in the American West.

While Disney has insisted that its Disney + platform isn’t just a service for kids, Hulu remains the logical home for indie releases and adult drama. And it’s not necessarily a surprise that Disney decided to release a film previously slated for theatrical release on one of its services – it’s a fact that one handful of times already with films like Mulan sure Disney +. But using a hybrid release model for such a critical darling seems like an odd move from a seasoned studio like Disney, especially because the Fall of HBO Max’s decision to employ a two-for-one rollout for all of its 2021 films was swift.

The problem with this specific type of intermediate output is that it’s not particularly important for theaters, which rely on – or account on, rather, in the olden days – exclusive exit windows to get paying customers to sit in their auditoriums. This is not a good result for filmmakers, who probably wanted their films to be seen in theaters. And it’s not a fantastic prospect to have a great talent relationship that the studios of course rely on to, you know, make movies.

It is, however, ideal for consumers who prefer to pay nothing for immediate access to a movie through a service to which they already subscribe. It’s also not a bad deal for people who would rather sign up for a new service in order to stream a movie at home rather than being in a public space like a movie theater during a pandemic. Plus, who wants to pay the per-head ticket fee when the whole family can stream a movie from the comfort of their own living room?

But it really feels like the studios are setting a new standard at a time when theaters are not in a good position make requests. And if we’re going to have cinemas to return to in a post-pandemic world, they’ll need to be able to keep the lights on until then.