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CinemaCon, the annual festival of love between studios and exhibitors, ended Thursday after a week spent pontificating the power of cinema and the potential of upcoming blockbuster movies, such as "The Lion King" and "The Lion King" It: Chapter Two ". The Vegas event is primarily an opportunity to promote a business that is often considered to be disappearing and being left behind, and for once, there was something to be happy about. The domestic box office broke a record in 2018 and many analysts predict that this year will take a new step.
But the industry also faces real threats, whether it's an aging public or a rising generation that prefers its smartphones to the big screen. Here are six recipes from CinemaCon 2019:
The Disney-Fox merger is too big to fail
Even Disney seems amazed by the magnitude it has today after buying $ 71.3 billion for most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets. "I'm always thinking about it and interiorizing it," Disney film director Alan Horn told exhibitors at the studio's presentation this week. There is certainly a lot of firepower available to Horn and society. Movie theater owners were breathless when the studio released a chart displaying all of its slate after the merger. Now that labels such as 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky and Fox Searchlight are joining Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel, Disney's choking on the market can only get stronger. The studio will now control nearly half of the national box office and will have a majority of the most profitable film franchises in the world – the Magic Kingdom will encompass everything from "Star Wars" to "Avatar". This lets Disney's rivals get noticed. and that means all the others will be destroyed by the power of what the studio can offer. The good news for exhibitors is that these films, along with their sequels and spin-offs, will satisfy their cinemas for years to come. The bad news is that Disney will be able to extract a cut from the box office more and more rich if he wishes. It's good to be the king.
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Everyone is afraid of streaming
Nobody wanted to recognize the elephant in the room. Helen Mirren dropped the blazon well placed … "I love Netflix, but f-Netflix," said the acting legend as she was on stage her film "The Good Liar". it hailed Mirren's comment about how movie theater owners blame Netflix for disrupting the media landscape.
The streaming giant was a hot topic as studios and exhibitors spent four days in Vegas talking about the magic of the big screen. If we had a dollar for each time they thought of being able to be in an obscure theater, enjoying the collective joy of laughing, crying, being terrified by a movie, well, we probably could have bought Fox. Anxiety is palpable. At the close of an annual press conference with the National Association of Theater Owners and the MPAA, John Fithian of NATO has reprimanded the press for his interest in streaming, disappointed that the check-in counter is not a more important topic of discussion in a room including MPAA chief Charlie Rivkin.
You have the feeling that theater owners need to inflate themselves. They need to believe that what they offer their customers is so unique and so compelling that they will be able to withstand any changes that affect their industry. And while the box office was up in 2018, they envision an uncertain future. As Netflix continues to grow, studios are increasingly gearing up to allow press cinemas to broadcast their films on home entertainment platforms, and media companies are investing more of their resources in creating their own streaming services. . While Disney, Apple and WarnerMedia are launching direct deals for consumers in the coming months and Comcast will launch its platform in 2020, it is not surprising to say that this debate will continue to heat up. Even Lady Helen should admit it.
Saudi Arabia is a sensitive subject
By 2018, Saudi Arabia was considered the next big opportunity for a movie company looking for growth opportunities. After the lifting of the ban on movie theaters imposed for 35 years, the first new cinema had opened in Riyadh and it was expected that the Kingdom could become a billion film market. dollars in a relatively short time. Saudi Arabia, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wanted to invest in the film and media sectors (the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is investing in Penske Media Corp., the parent company of Variety) and also hoped to attract studios to shoot films in his country, attracting them with generous grants.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Hollywood were threatened in October when journalist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated by Saudi government agents. The CIA then concluded that Bin Salman had ordered his assassination. In this context, the debates on Saudi Arabia were more mixed at this year's CinemaCon. AMC chief Adam Aron said the company was shaken by the killing of Khashoggi, but finally decided to push ahead with plans to build 40 theaters in the country.
"It made us think seriously about the right thing to do," said Aron. Variety. "And after a lot of thinking, we concluded that we are in this country for the benefit of the people. There are 33 million people in this country, 70% of whom are under 30 years old and love cinema. "
And AMC is not alone. Three other channels are trying to obtain permission to open rooms in Saudi Arabia, Fithian said at its press conference, and the Saudi government has announced plans to invest $ 35 billion. dollars in movie theaters by 2020. Like Aron, Fithian stressed the power of liberalization of the art.
"Films have been a freedom sword for a very long time," he told reporters. This may be true, but Khashoggi's shocking death has left some companies reluctant to get involved in this Middle Eastern country.
Sony sits
Sony missed us a lot in Sin City. It's no small feat dazzling cinema owners at CinemaCon, and studios can shell out up to $ 4 million for the desert. Yet Culver City's studio has one of the most anticipated slates in years with "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," "Spider-Man: Away from Home," the sequel to "Jumanji" and " Men in Black: International "All scheduled to hit theaters in 2019. With this kind of stacked line up, Sony would not have had to endure the cost of some private jets for some of its stars and some erotic dinners in Nobu? It may not have been time to tighten the old belt.
The felines are so hot right now
With Disney's "The Lion King" remake and Universal's adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" movie on deck for 2019, our four-legged friends are finally ready for their close-up. Cats can also play a leading role in this summer's "The Secret Life of Pets 2", though this gem focuses more on their dog, their hated rival.
In fact, cats are so hot right now, at least among those in the CGI category, that filmmakers have apparently had to come up with a technology called digital fur technology. Universal has not shared any footage of "Cats," citing a post-production job is needed to convince stars such as Idris Elba and Taylor Swift to convince Jellicles, but "The Lion King" is a marvel. Simba, Mufasa and the rest of the pride seem to have left the savannah. The Academy Award winners and A-Listers are putting a lot of effort into connecting with their internal tabbies.
"We spent a very, very long time watching cats or learning to be a cat," said Judi Dench in the backstage look of "Cats".
Inclusion, Inclusion, Inclusion
"Black Panther", "Wonder Woman", "Us", "Captain Marvel" and "Crazy Rich Asians" proved that the public wanted to be represented on the screen. Making films featuring people of color and women in the lead role is not only a moral good, it is good for business. And after largely ignoring the demographic of non-whites of the last century, Hollywood finally understood the message. Toby Emmerich, head of Warner Bros., a NATO member, and Donna Langley, head of Universal, have turned to the power of inclusion and pledged to support more projects of various castes. From studio blockbusters such as "Wonder Woman 1984" to police drama such as "Queen & Slim," a largely monochromatic and male-dominated film industry is starting to reflect an increasingly diverse audience and country.
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