The Hollywood Reporter - 30.10.2019

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 58 OCTOBER 30, 2019

a three-month theatrical window.
Now you’re moving away from that.
Where do you see the strategy
going in the next couple of years?
SALKE There was not a lot of
customer focus, which is what
the company’s North Star is all
about: Prime subscribers. So how
do we evolve our movie business
to be more focused on Prime
subscribers? When we release
something, when a new series
drops, we see what’s happening
in various countries all over the
world. We know our customers
love movies. We’re just trying to
shift — it’s not closing the door
on theatrical release. We will
continue to [make] and acquire
movies that will embrace that
strategy. But it really is trying
to get these movies to our Prime
subscribers as soon as possible.
Look at a movie like Late Night, for
example, that I know the industry
made an example of as a failure
from Amazon. The truth is, we
bought that movie [for $13 million
at Sundance] because I believe
the movie is commercial and that
our global customer would love
the movie. And in fact they do. So
it went through the contractu-
ally obligated theatrical release
that we were happy to support
for Mindy [Kaling] and Nisha
[Ganatra] and everybody. But
then it gets this horrible report
card. The truth is, the movie has
been watched. We only have U.S.
rights, but it’s been watched in
the U.S. more than any other
movie in the short time it’s been
on. Manchester [by the Sea] and
that movie are neck-and-neck.
[Editor’s Note: Amazon does not
release specific viewership num-
bers.] These movies are watched
by tens of millions of people. So
you begin to rationalize making
those purchases and paying for
an expensive marketing cam-
paign for a theatrical release for
Late Night, which did accrue a lot
of interest for people who were
waiting to watch it on Prime. But
would you rather push toward the
Prime premiere? It’s a case-by-
case situation for us right now.

Is there is any movie star that is as
important as strong IP?
ROTHMAN Yeah, I think there are
lots of movie stars. It’s one of
the great myths propagated out

there that movie stars don’t

matter. I would say movie stars

in the right role with the right

property matter more than

ever before.

So you would trade the Spider-Man

property for every Leo DiCaprio

movie for the rest of his career?

ALL (Laughter.)

ROTHMAN I’d love to have both.

EMMERICH Who is he negotiating

with?

ROTHMAN Well, I can tell you

this. The event nature of having

Leo and Brad [Pitt] and Margot

[Robbie] i n [Sony ’s] Once Upon a

Time in Hollywood was essential.

You had to make a great movie ...

but that movie was not based on

any IP at all. That is a pure origi-

nal. Came out of the imagination

and the headspace of one indi-

vidual. Because even Disney will

run out of animated movies to

remake. And we have to be careful

not to narrow our audience, not

to think that there isn’t room for

originality. I think there is. In the

pursuit of that, movie stars are

tremendously valuable.

EMMERICH The thing that we all sit

around talking about is “theat-

ricality.” IP and movie stars are

two huge ingredients. You have

to have one or the other. It’s even

better if you have both.

Alan and Tom, you recently had

a little dispute over Spider-Man.

What was the one thing above all

else that resolved that standoff

over Marvel producing the next

Sony installment?

HORN The fan base, which is

important to all of us, seemed to

really respond to what Tom and

his folks have done before with our

people. They like the fact that the

Marvel Cinematic Universe and

Kevin Feige were involved [in the

two Spider-Man films]. We heard

feedback out there that suggested

that joining forces once again was

probably really a good idea.

Will this partnership continue after

the trilogy? Tom, you’ve shown you

can do Spider-Man without Marvel

on the animated film Spider-Man:

Into the Spider-Verse.

ROTHMAN Yes, we have. But I agree

with my distinguished colleague.

This was a classic win-win-win.

A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a

win for the fans. The only thing I

would say is that news cycles and

the rhythm of negotiations do

not necessarily overlap. And this

is, in the words of Shakespeare,

a consummation devoutly to be

wished. We would have gotten

there, and the news got ahead of

some things.

HORN I agree with that.

Netflix says it does everything to

best serve the customer. But one

thing that customers like is to know

which movies are hits and which

movies aren’t. And Netflix has been

adamant about not releasing com-

prehensive viewership numbers.

Scott, why will Netflix not do that if

it better serves the customer?

STUBER We tell all the filmmakers,

so the filmmakers have —

But that’s not the same thing —

STUBER I understand. Let me fin-

ish. I also think part of it is just

the aspirational way that Ted

[Sarandos] and Cindy [Holland]

built the TV side, which Jen

understands, coming from

network TV. It was for television

creators to get out of ratings and

Standards and Practices and

actually free up their narrative

form so that they could tell stories

that weren’t [influenced] night

after night by those numbers. So

the methodology was right. And

now, as we have grown ... we are

used to it.

SALKE Mm-hmm.

STUBER We are definitely, as a

company, moving more ... and

you will see more [viewership

transparency]. We do it in some

of our earnings reports, and we

are going to be doing it more and

more because that filmmaker and

that actor and that actress want

to know that their movie got out

there globally in a big way.

For the rest of you, why is it impor-

tant to release box office numbers?

LANGLEY There are a number of

reasons why it’s helpful. It is help-

ful as an industry measure. It’s

helpful to keep us all honest. It’s

helpful for the creative talent for

that narrative to be out there.

ROTHMAN I can’t stand it.

LANGLEY I don’t love it either.

GIANOPULOS By the way, it’s not

our choice.

ROTHMAN If you [in the media]

would like to stop reporting on

it, I would be very happy to stop

reading about it. It reinforces [the

perception] that popularity and

quality go hand in hand. We are

guilty too because we feed it when

it suits us.

SALKE It takes you back to network

television [and] the overnight

ratings. When viewing habits had

changed and these shows were

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 YTD

10

5

15

25

20

30

35

40%

Source: Comscore

DOMESTIC MARKET SHARE:

A GROWING DIVIDE

Amid Disney’s dominance, Warner Bros. and Universal vie for

No. 2, while Sony gains and Paramount hopes for a comeback

DISNEY WARNER BROS. UNIVERSAL

FOX SONY PARAMOUNT

15.5%

36%

14.6%

10.4% 10.9%

4.9%

Disney’s market share includes

revenue from the 2019 Fox titles

it has released. Since 2014, the

studio’s market share has jumped

more than 130 percent.